<p>I’m curious as to if I’ll have any time to maintain my hobbies and interests while I’m attending the AFA. </p>
<p>1) Do “they” encourage outdoor sports such as rock climbing, mountaineering, and snowboarding?
2) Will these opportunities be few and far between, or will I have them on a regular basis?
3) Are these group activities with other cadets, or would I be able to do some of it on my own? Does this pertain to the fourth-class year?</p>
<p>Yes. There's even a cadet mountaineering club that will sponsor trips for this short of thing. There are also ski/snowboard clubs and lots of other sports related activities. USAFA's a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts. You can hike/climb/mountainbike/etc right from the dorms with a 20+ mile Falcon trail around the Academy reservation, mountains (Eagle Peak) to climb to the west, fishing, etc. I loved it during my time and still take advantage of the opportunities.</p>
<p>You'll have as much time as you can afford. It's all about making wise choices.</p>
<p>I would assume that as my time spent at the Academy progresses, I will have more opportunities to do such things. However, I had heard that getting off base your first year is very very rare. Is this true? </p>
<p>Another question I had is that since I am from Casper, WY (about 5 hrs from Colorado Springs), I still would want to do an occasional climb or hike with some of my friends from there. (over the weekend or something) I realize the fact that I won't have a vehicle may make it a bit difficult. But would they even let me do something like that?</p>
<p>Getting offbase your first year isn't nearly as rare as it used to be. You're just limited by the amount of money you have and whether or not you can find an upperclassman to borrow a car from.</p>
<p>You want to climb HERE with your friends? There'd be no problem with that. For "dangerous" hobbies, you'd have to get it cleared through the necessary channels, but there wouldn't be a problem with you doing it with non-cadets. They'd just frown on you wanting to do such things alone.</p>
<p>As it's already been mentioned, there are clubs here for certain hobbies/sports which you can look into. The good thing about these is that they may give you the opportunity to getout more often to do these things that you would otherwise be able to, due to the number of passes you'll have.</p>
<p>I have a similar question. My son has his private pilot's license. Assuming he has enough free time (and money) , will he be able to rent a cessna at the airfield? Is there a flying club at the academy?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>daves123: Yers, there's a cadet aero club that allows plane rental, and even a cadet flying team that he can try out for.</p>
<p>A lot of outdoor stuff can be done right on base at USAFA or within hiking distance. Remember, the place has 18,000 acres, of which at least 80% is forest, hills, undeveloped land.</p>
<p>Great rock climbing can be found just a few miles away in Garden of the Gods for qualified, permit-carrying climbers. Cadets can be found climbing Eagle Peak behind (west) of USAFA most weekends.</p>
<p>Getting out is not a problem much any more either, as Uncynical says. Your weekends these days are only limited by scheduled training on some Saturdays (maybe 1/3 of the time), home FB games, money, transpo and your priorities. Remember that if you get in academic trouble, the review board won't care too much if you say you've been spending your free weekends on outdoor (or indoor) sports/games. Lots of cadets get themselves in trouble with the amount of "freedom" they have to spend time doing other than military/academic things. Maybe the most important lesson every cadet learns (some harder than others) is how to prioritize and find balance for success in multiple endeavors.</p>
<p>There seem to be a lot of clubs, look here. </p>
<p><a href="http://atlas.usafa.af.mil/wing/clubs/%5B/url%5D">http://atlas.usafa.af.mil/wing/clubs/</a></p>
<p>I don't even know what Aikido is...</p>