<p>i am quite interested in the outdoor activities at USAFA. i understand that a lot of the academy is wildlife reserve…i can imagine this gives way for some cool outdoor stuff like hiking, mountain biking, camping possibly, etc. are there clubs that entertain these interests? can i do them by myself or with just a friend or two? will i even have time on the weekends? thanks</p>
<p>I know they have a mountain biking intermural and I believe hiking is one of the few things four degrees can do since they can't leave Academy grounds.</p>
<p>Just don't fall from 200 feet up like the cadet on the cover of the magazine. Glad to know he is doing well now.</p>
<p>There are a lot of trails to run on here, plenty of hiking too. The base is huge. There's a lot of stuff to do outside in Colorado too. I'm going camping and white water rafting during dead week, there's skiing all winter... Colorado is the perfect place to be if you like being outside.</p>
<p>I have done a good bit of hiking here. There are a staggering amount of 14ers here, especially down by Buena Vista. If you can find a car to borrow and a buddy to go with on a free weekend your freshman year, there's not much stopping you from attempting to claim a few.</p>
<p>what is dead week and what is a 14er?</p>
<p>Dead week is probably where no one has classes and a 14er is a mountain 14,000 feet or above</p>
<p>dead week is the week after finals and before graduation. there are random briefings and certain summer programs have training (your BCT cadre wake up real early and finish learning how to run BCT), but after 4 dig year there's a lot of down time. its been my fav week at the academy so far: lots of frisbee golf, volleyball, movies, and hanging with my squad mates</p>
<p>I'm really looking forward to Dead week. I just love hanging out with people, which I will be doing a ton of.</p>
<p>thanks, you guys are a lot of help. but yea, i am mainly concerned with outdoor activities and opportunities on base, because i won't be going off base too often.</p>
<p>As long as you don't go on Ac Pro, even freshmen can go out pretty often, thanks to the free passes everyone gets when the football team wins.</p>
<p>speaking about passes: it seems like it just isnt what it's all made out to be... from what my host said, as long as you're not on probation, and with the silver (duty) weekends, it's almost hard to use all your passes... especially if you make one or more of the lists (ac, phys, military).</p>
<p>There's no way I'll ever be able to use all my passes. Don't worry, you'll get plenty - just stay off probation.</p>
<p>Are fourth degrees allowed to have their own bikes?</p>
<p>haha I don't know who told you that it's actually hard to use all of your passes, but that is not really true. As a 4 degree you will have very limited passes. You can still basically find ways to get out though even if you're short on passes.</p>
<p>There is also a Mountainering Club, I have a friend in it and all they do is mountain climbing, hiking, biking, camping etc, so that might interest you. Like everyone said the area around is completly free to explore on your own if thats more what you have in mind. There are quite a few other clubs that exist just for the outdoors, all of which you can find out about during the club days, which occur both during Basic and the once the school year starts, so just be ready for those and you'll be fine.</p>
<p>Ashley, I don't know about you, but I've got 37 basic and performance passes, plus discretionary passes, plus sponsor passes, plus another three coming from a positive Form 10 that was just sent up.</p>
<p>Word of advice for you, 2012: volunteer for things. As a four degree, the only way they can really reward you is to give you extra passes, hence the reason I have 40+. Be a good little freshman and you can leave almost every weekend (assuming you can find a car). :)</p>
<p>i will definitely look into the mountaineering club, it sounds great.</p>
<p>...get on probation though, and you never get to leave. Trust me, I've been there.</p>
<p>What exactly is a pass? Is it 2 hours or 6 hours off the grounds? What about over nights? Is that something different? Also, we just returned from orientation and were surprised that the newly recognized 2011 cadets were allowed to be on academy grounds in civilian clothes in the evening. What are the restrictions for the different classes regarding uniforms and when they have to wear them? Just curious.</p>