{"id":307,"date":"2014-09-23T14:11:11","date_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/currents.winonastateu.com\/?p=307"},"modified":"2014-09-23T14:11:11","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:11:11","slug":"hooked-on-winonas-great-outdoors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/2014\/09\/23\/hooked-on-winonas-great-outdoors\/","title":{"rendered":"Hooked on Winona\u2019s Great Outdoors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Eric<\/a>

Eric Barnard rock climbing in the scenic Mississippi River Valley.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Joel Badzinski<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eric Barnard had been so busy developing the Winona State University Outdoor Education and Recreation Center (OERC) that he never took time to step back and see what he had accomplished.
\nUntil one memorable evening last spring.
\nBarnard and a few of his student assistants were hosting a weekly open rock climbing session at Sugar Loaf. Several local families attended, learning the basics of rock climbing. At one point, a small child worked up the courage to give climbing a try.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the parents and staff together cheering on the child,\u201d Barnard said. \u201cIt was pretty cool because the community members up there completely trusted their child with our students and didn\u2019t even question it. That kind of hit me \u2014 we\u2019re providing experiences here and we have to remind ourselves how important they can be. I feel like the community has embraced us and trusts us,\u201d Barnard said.
\nJim Reynolds, who retired from the WSU faculty in 2004 after 35 years as a sociology and criminal justice professor, was introduced to the OERC through the WSU Retiree Center\u2019s Senior University.
\nReynolds and wife, Nancy, joined the outdoor adventure class, which offered geocaching around Lake Winona, a ropes course, rock climbing, kayaking and canoeing.
\n\u201cIt was a wonderful experience,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cHere you have a set of activities that some people were hesitant to try and didn\u2019t know if they could do it, but through encouragement and support, people pushed themselves. We had women 65 and 70 years old climbing up the face of Sugar Loaf and they amazed themselves!\u201d<\/p>\n

Barnard built the programming for the OERC from scratch. The center\u2019s headquarters are located at Wabasha Recreation Center, but Barnard and his assistants lead outdoor programs and activities around the Winona area and beyond.
\nIn addition to open rock climbing, the OERC hosts indoor climbing, open paddling, outdoor clinics, day trips, weeklong trips, family and senior adventure programs, and offers equipment rentals and certification classes. Students and community members alike are welcome to participate.
\nIncoming freshmen may enroll in Warrior Expeditions, a three day summer pre-orientation session that familiarizes new students with outdoor activities in the Winona area.
\nAs a freshman in 2012, Avery Prondzinski was undecided when it came to his major. A Winona native, he tried an outdoor pursuits class and something just clicked. Last year he joined in an OERC trip to Utah.\u00a0 Today, Prondzinski is a junior majoring in recreation and tourism and works for the OERC.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t necessarily have to be an outdoorsy person to want to go hiking in the bluffs or climb Sugar Loaf,\u201d Prondzinski said. \u201cYou can scratch the surface or you can get really involved with OERC. I think there\u2019s going to be a real boom in outdoor recreation here in the next three or four years. It\u2019s already happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the big things is getting people to experience the outdoors,\u201d Barnard said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to use outdoor recreation so people can develop a more personal connection with the environment.\u201d
\nBarnard, 38, grew up in Baraboo, Wisconsin, near Devil\u2019s Lake State Park, one of the state\u2019s top rock climbing destinations.<\/p>\n

Hooked on the outdoors lifestyle, Barnard attended Idaho State University for its outdoor education program. His wife, Amber, is an ’02 WSU graduate. When they returned to southeastern Minnesota for visits, Barnard took note of the natural beauty and its possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d always come back here for vacation and we noticed that WSU didn\u2019t have anything like what we had at Idaho State,\u201d Barnard said. \u201cLooking at this area, it\u2019s a no-brainer for outdoor programs.\u201d
\nBarnard and Amber decided to enroll in graduate school at WSU in 2012. His goal was to build up an outdoor education and recreation program modeled after the one at Idaho State.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I wanted to see if I could develop an outdoor program,\u201d Barnard said. \u201cI spent two and a half years working and working and writing business plans to start this from scratch and we finally got it approved with my position. Now having finished up year two, it\u2019s definitely been fast-forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until recently, when student assistants joined the OERC staff, Barnard ran the facility and the programs by himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been exciting and hands-down the hardest thing I\u2019ve ever done in my life,\u201d he said.
\nThe OERC had 5,000 users last season and estimates 8,000 users in the 2013-14 season, which ran through the summer. About 75 percent of the participants were students and the rest were community members.<\/p>\n

Barnard praised Winona State and city officials for being open to the idea of a university outdoor program that would be closely tied to the community.<\/p>\n

The OERC is poised to become one of the area\u2019s top indoor climbing destinations when the climbing wall at the Wabasha Recreation Center expands from 2,000 to 6,000 square feet after renovation. The project is expected to be completed by January 2015, at a total cost of $300,000, half of which was donated by the community.<\/p>\n

Barnard has no plans to stop there. He wants to establish outdoor leadership classes for credit at WSU, begin hosting \u201chigh-end\u201d alumni trips whitewater rafting and mountain climbing, and work with city officials to develop an ice climbing area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really just trying to bring outdoor education and recreation to the forefront,\u201d Barnard said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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