last post

Really Dont have much to say at this point. We never did end up redemming our bottles, which was a little dissapointing, but at this stage in the semester not much can be done, nor is it worth the extra time and effort. All thats left to say is I'm totally going skydiving again next summer.

bottle collecting

Since our adventure, I'm really not sure what to say this blog. One we went skydiving, I legitimately felt like I could die happy. Skydiving is the one experience you have try at least one in your life time. I'm already organizing a trip to come again this following summer with some friends.

Other than that, Really not much to say. hopefully this weekend we will bring our bottles to redeem them in Maine and get some partial reimbursement. We may also have a bake/pizza sale to generate the rest of the funds we used for this adventure. Additionally we are hosting a very enthusiastic speaker from Skydive New England who will be distributing coupons and other parapanhalia. The date for this is to be determined, there was some confusion as to the original date, and the presenter could not make it for the actual day.

We went for real this time!

Wow, that is all I have to say. wow. Skydiving is by far the most extreme thing i have ever participated in, and hopefully Ill see if I can get some friends to go back next year. I can die happy now, knowing that I willingy swan dived out of a plane at 14,000 feet. So much fun, and whats even better was that our plan finally came to fruition. i was almost have expecting some last minute problem to come up, and this trip was so easy to plan, i wonder why we didnt just plan independently in the first place. it would have been so much easier, several times the outing club almost screwed us and we should have been the ones to go when is was initially scheduled. Either way today was incredible, the weather was nice it was a bit chilly, but totally worth every cent.

On a different note, this is a very good example of flow. According to Csíkszentmihályi, flow is an altered state of conciousness, or the state of being "in the zone" so to speak. I mean while in free fall, it was like nothing else mattered, time had come to a stand still, and just an awesome indescriable feeling of freedom. It is this feeling that i am trying to describe that i believe attracts people to adventure. Then again, when you falling at 120 mph in 10 degree air, its hard to think about anything else.

Lastly, we still need to raise money for reimbursement purposes. We are getting $15 back from the outing club each since we did not go with them, and that coupled with our bottles weve amounted so far and the pizza's donated from tim's dads resaurant, it think we should do alright.

Link to photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57123&id=530967099

source:

Mihaky, Csíkszentmihályi, (1997). Finding Flow. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Postponed

Dammit
We ended up not jumping today. I tell you hearing the words: "Sorry, but there is only room for these 7 people today" was like being a kid and Chrismas and hearing Santas not coming. So dissapointed. Either way, we have rescheduled for tuesday at 11. We had better go or else everything we had worked for will be for nothing, and I will nto stand for that. At this point We have decided to just stay with the outing club, for if we withdrew now and did this on our own, it would just take more time and money.

debate/ pre trip meeting

This ought to be a good chance to finalize our views on adventure. Our team has taken the side that adventerous activities should be required/highly recomenneded. Now, we have formed a variety of arguments in addition to our central position to the question at stake. I have decided to interview two people who have attended or are attending private schools that highly recommend or require an adventurous outing as part of the orientation process. One is a good friend of mine who attended the Community School, a school that teaches without the pressure of grades. The second is my brother, who is currently a sophmore at holderness academy. In addition, I will also research the statistics on death related incidents for adventure activities, with this data I hope to prove that more people are killed/injured via drugs, etc. than adventure activities.
On a different note, we went and met with outing club leaders for a pre skydiving meeting. Not much went on, tenativley we are meeting at the outing club office at 9.30 on sunday, and hopefully if the weather is not inclement, be jumping sometime during the afternoon. I can't wait, so excited.

sherpa John

Such an amazing presentation today. I was able to connect with what he had to say on so many levels. I am not much of a runner, but he brings the concept of running to a whole new level. We have all heard of some self-determination story about some runner finishing a marathon, but today as we heard, a marathon was just the beginning. Before I forget, I just want to record my thoughts on several of John's statments I found very enlightening. The first of which is the pain that you endure. Similar to how Im feeling at a 24 hr enduro bike race. The morning laps are the worst, it sucks, your cold and tired, and all you want is a hot shower and sleep. But then once you finish, all the suffering you went through just makes the sense of achievement you get when you finish better. I think half the time people to all the ridiculous adventures is to simply say the did it, just for the hell of it. It is for that reason that I have riden on numerous century rides. I get bored, and just feel like doing it for the hell of it.
I also want to comment on what he had to say about thought. First off, I can't stand running or riding with out music. My mind begins to become overactive and suddenly everything is a distraction. Aside from that, the places that you can take yourself or the things you can accomplish while in this state of mind are limitless, and thus this phenomenon ties into the "Human Potential"

risk

I am not sure what to make of these past two readings. By comparison didnt offer much insight on the risk aspect of adventure. The only connection I was able to make was that the authors main point was similar to that of Mark Twains "The Danger of lying in Bed." According to the article more children die from childhood obesity as a result of a lack of of physical exercise/ adventure.
On a different note, Geoff Coopers "Disconnected Children" reveals many problems with todays genration, that parents are overprotective. I cannot think of an instance personally where my parents have been over protective, however Some of my friends' parents have. One friend was not allowed to climb with us until he took a class. Rather than sit in a classroom and have an instructor bore me to death, I prefer to learn by trial and error, which I acknowledge is not the safest method, but risk is good for you. As Jessica Dulong Suggests: "Whether your piloting a single engine plane, careening through rapids, dangling from a cliff, successfully navigating risky situations teaches you about yourself, increases you self confidence, and helps you beter manage life's inevitable uncertainties." This statement reveals much about adventure, this theme of self-knowledge is also briefly discussed in William Quinn's "Essence of Adventure.

Source:
DuLong, Jessica. (2006). Swallow your fear., 1-4.

accounts

Having finally got around to accounts, some of mitchells statements on the reasons people pursue dangerous activities. Some go for the peace and quiet...the "sublime", while others just can't seem to understand why people go on adeventure. Personally, I agree with what mitchell has to say on natural accounts. Generally, When I got out for adventure I see it as a natural activity, some that is complelely normal. "There are some who feel that the climbing of the mountains requires no explanation, that it is a natural activity." Mitchell begins the section with this quote, and if applicable I am hoping to incorporate this section into the final project.

On a different note, It is difficult to classify McCandless's account. Our group generally settled on a mixture of the sublime and the purposeful. He did have a purpose behind it, but then again Alex had just wanted to live off the land just for the hell of it. So it does make perfect sense why many alaskans viewed his account as ridiculous.

Mitchell, Richard G. (1983). Mountain Experience: the Psychology and Sociology of Adventure.

Into the Wild

Into the Wild was the most Amazing movie I have ever seen. Rarely am I left with an awestruck feeling at the finish of the movie. My first words were "Holy Crap, that was intense." Based on the Article and book Krackauer wrote, Mcandless seemed to have a strong need for a sensation of independence. We all like to be able to think we can taek care of ourselves, but not the degree we witnessed in the film. It is incredibly difficult to put my thoughts on McCandlesses adventure in words. His drive and thirst for self-reliance far surpasses any of my experiences I can Connect to. In the entire Article, there was only one quote I could form a personal connection with: "McCandless Viewed running as an intenseley spiritual exercise akin to meditation." While I am not much of a runner, any I view any form of exercise as a form of meditation. With emphasis on cycling, the carefree feeling of bliss I experience while out on a biking adventure or scaling some local cliffs in simply indescribeable. The senstation of being cut loose from society with nothing to care about is just so refreshing, perhaps this is what attracted McCandless to his wilderness demise.

I would also like to make a footnote that I have been considering writing about adventure as a form of mediation for my final project. I am still attempting to formulate a question.

Source:

Krakauer, J. (1993). Death of an Innocent: How Christopher McCandless lost his way in the wilds. The next generation. Outside Magazine, page numbers unavailable.

meeting/fundraising

We have finally met with rachel, as it appears that we nearly there. All we have to do is complete a TCP (which we already have) and find out the logistics. By next week we should have the logistics confirmed, and hopefully we will have transportation as well. In the event that the outing club is not providing us with a van, Rachel has offered to drive. So either way we will not have to use personal transportation, which wasn't quite factored into the cost of this adventure. Additionally we have simplified our findraising plan, we have found a vendor that will buy our cans/bottles for 27 cents a pound. Not only is this a greater price than bringing it to maine, it is also legal, and saves us a trip. We will also most liklly continue fundraising after our adventure, since we will probably not reach our $1000 goal in two weeks. The problem we are running into is that the weekend before the trip no one will be around, as it is fall break weekend.

citation for article

Citation for the article I just summarized:
An Exploration of High-Risk Leisure through Skydiving

R.L. Celsi, R.L. Rose, T.W. Leigh (1993 June). An Exploration of High Risk Leisure Consumption through skydiving. Journal of Consumer Research, 1-23. Retrieved October 4, 2008, from Chicago Journals.

exploration of high risk leisure rheough skydiving

In our search for why individuals partake in sensation seeking, I came across a fairly interesting, albeit lengthy and somewhat boring article. This article essentially thoroughly analyzed how individuals come to participate, willingly, in such high risk activities. The article's authors developed a dramatic behavior model that includes several key findings:

1. an evolution of motives that explain initial continuing participation in high risk activities, and (2) a coinciding evolution of risk acculturation that leads to the normalization of risk. Basically, that the motivation for participating in these activities is constantly evolving as an individual becomes more "normalized" worth the risks, weather they be controllable or uncontrollable to their given actividy.

After reading this article, I would like to comment on several things. First, that personally, I beleive that most people who participate in these dangerous actividies don't have a death wish, they have a life wish. I say if you are going to get maimed/killed, why not it be doing something that you enjoy.

Also, the article first discussed the essence of risk. I would like to expound upon this theme of risk in that i agree with the statement that risk "is an agquired taste", that when you start out thinking that something is really risky, then get used it, it loses its risk appeal. more to follow on this subject.

meeting

We finally have a confirmed meeting with rachel on thursday, at this point all we have to discuss is logistics so we can finish our trip plan. I am getting so excited for this trip, I can't wait for the moment in which we actually get to jump out of the plane.
On a different note, depending on how much we actually make in our bottle drive, we may end up paying out of our pockets for now, and continue fundraising through alternate means after the trip for reimbursement purposes. Tim's dad own a pizza place, so we may investigate this opportunity and see what we can do.

bottle collecting

We are still making heady in our bottle fundraiser. Although we may not reach out goal of $1000, we hope to raise enough to at least defray the cost for each member of our group. Today we went through SERC A, and about 3 other frats and collected probably around 500 or so bottles. If we can go around and collect like this again next weekend, we should be moderately close to our goal, as the date is fast approaching. I am also coming to realize that we we have accomplished two objectives according to Ewerts method of adventure programming. We have completely sold the idea, as every one is our group is agreed to go, and so far we have all worked as a team to make this bottle drive a success. Our fundraising efforts have also greatly fostered group camraderie.

Miscommunication

We ended up not meeting with Rachel this thurday. I am guessing that we did not confirm the time to meet, so since we have called and left a message. Additionally, I have also emailed her to confirm a later meeting. While this a minor setback, what we really need to focus on is our fundraising. All we need to do with Rache (I believe) is to pass in our forms, and then discuss logistics, etc.
As far as fundraising goes, we are progressing at a decent pace. we have probably collected roughly 1500 or so bottles, so we are making headway. Some group members have offered to pay for their share of the cost of the trip in its entirety, so that is less money we need to raise. Fundraising will accomplish two things: build team camraderie and defray all or part of the cost.

fundraising up date

It is confirmed that we will have another group meeting on Thursday. We will be meeting with Rachel/Jared to discuss our medical forms, logistics, and possibly how to begin an expedition plan. Hopefully, we can also touch down on where we are financially, I know right now we are slightly behind the 8 ball. Additionally, we have decided to forgo the grant meeting. After doing some research on the criteria for receiving a grant,we decided it would not be worth the effort for something that probably wont work out. The Alumni association doesn't even make the announcement as to who receives the award until November, which in our case we will have already been skydiving.

I have since email Rachel and will hopefully have a group meeting orgazined for october second at 8.30pm. Hopefully during this meeting we will finalize logistics, transportation, necessary paperwork and other expedition deatils. At this point, we should all be committed to the adventure, so the only things left to discuss are food and clothing. We need to get together as a group again and checkin to see where we are at for fundraising.

expedition check-in

We still need to meet with our outdoor ed rep for forms etc. We have yet to collect bottles for this week, so hopefully we can rally and collect more bottles today. We cant afford for our fundraising efforts to loose momentum.

On a different note, I am still working on an adventure definition. This past weekend I went on an adventure to a festival the celebrates climbing, culture, and conservation. While there were some logistical snags, and the weather was terrible, it was still an adventure. A weekend spent in the back of a compact SUV combined with good music and friends sounds good to me. This is precisley why adventure is difficult to define, There were so many variables that influenced the outcome of this endeavor. Quinn Said: "Without question, when complete confidence and competence reign, adventure cannout exist."

I was not sure of the logisitcs. However, I have been camping before and I had confidence in that aspect of the trip.

Source:

Quinn, W. (Date Unavailable) The Essence of Adventure. The Social Psychology of adventure programming, 149-151

Noreaster

What an adventure! althought the weather for the noreaster was absoluteley terrible, we were soked the entire time and the food wasnt great, it was still fun. All the bands were really good, especially this new one called Rustic overtones. However according to Ewerts Guide to adventure programming, some elements of this adventure were overlooked.

1. finances:

Make sure you have the money and people are definately commited before you buy tickets.

2. transportation:

ensure that the group has adequate transportation for the duration of the event, and that no one has to leave early. If someone has to leave early, bring another car.

3. Unforseen mishaps:
makesure all members are present before you leave, that way you dont have to drive 2 hours out of your way to find them.

Other than that it was a good time, save for the weather.

Adventure Definition: is there one?

Personally, I believe a concrete definiton of adventure is relativley difficult to come across. Although we have generally agreed upon as a group that adeventure is "any activity that puts a person willingly outside of their comfort zone; it is contingent upon the person," if you conisder everything that could qulaify as an adventure for anybody, almost any definition has holes in it. For example, this weekend I am going to a 3-day festival that celebrates conservation, climbing and music. We will be camping in an open campground, and I am considering it an adventure. However, I have been camping many times, and the only way if will take me outside of my comfort zone is if it ends up raining the whole time. The problem in Ascertaining this definition is that it is contigent upon so many things: the person, the environment, the activity, etc. Quinn states that adventure "lies deeply within ones self, within the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual spheres of personhood. (Quinn 150)" It is with this statement I believe Quinn is trying to convey that fact that what is and what is not an adeventure lies within the individual. Based on this I will try to come up with a personal definiton of adventure. To me adventure is a break from the normal world, an activity in which you cannot be bothered (i.e. cell phone, etc.), it is when you are at peace with oneself, generally this is outside or in this wilderness. *

* This is a rough definition, that will most likley under-go frequent revisions as I come across new expericenes, materials, thoughts, etc. I would also like to note, that Quinn also states that adventure generally results in self-knowledge discovery, which I think represent a signifigant psycological aspect of this subject.

Source:

Quinn, W. (Date Unavailable) The Essence of Adventure. The Social Psychology of adventure programming, 149-151

Brief History of Skydiving

Believe it or not, parachutes in general go back thousands of years. Both Da Vinci and the Chinese are credited with coming up with the intial concept. However, it was during the 18th century in France that parachutes were actually used. In 1797, the first drop was made by Andre Jacques Garnerin. Made of silk and supported by internal supports, the chief material of this parachute was silk, which still is still the main material parachutes are made of today.
Skydiving as a sport however, did not fully come into being until early 20th century (after the Wright brothers flight). Pilots were not even equipped with parachites until the mid 1920s, when it was deemed necessary to a pilot to abandon his craft if necessay. Althought it was not recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (World Air Sports Federation) as an aeronautical sport until the 1950s, it is now the largest aeronautical sport recognized by the FAI.



Source:
(2008). History of Skydiving. Retreived September 23rd, 2008. From British Parachute Organization. Web Site http://www.bpa.org.uk/history.htm

planning

Our trip to the UNH Browne center proved to be a good team building experience, Id like to think I can trust the people who are holding the rope while I jump throuhg the air.

Finally, our expedition is beginning to take momentum. We have started our bottle drive, and we were met with much success, just in one day we must have collected over 500 bottles. Additionally, # of us will be attending a meeting regarding grant funding for our expedition from the UNH parents association. We will be meeting with an outdoor ed representitive on thursday, and from there all that is left is to reach our fundraising goal of $1000.

?

Might as well start my blog. Not sure what to put here other than we have started our fundraisiers efforts and will hopefully be on our way to an adventure quite soon.