Would-be spelunkers, hang-gliders and white water rafters lacking the skills, but not the desire, for outdoor activities can embark on their own wilderness odysseys through the Georgia Outdoor Recreation Program.

GORP trips provide University students with the opportunity to explore interests they might otherwise have never explored, with help from professional guides who have the proper equipment and training.

“GORP trips give students the chance to escape from classes and do fun things outdoors with like-minded people,” said Ted Lord, a trip leader majoring in geology. “I love meeting new people and getting to educate them on the things that I love. I am a geology major and so all participants get more than an ear-full of paleobiology, sedimentary processes and chemistry on trips.”

Jay Manalo, a graduate student from Vienna, Va., working on his Ph.D. in psychology, is a white water kayaking instructor for GORP. He also said he believes University students can benefit from GORP outings.

“All our white water kayaking instructional courses are based off the American Canoe Association curriculum,” he said.

Manalo said many participants finish a GORP trip with a greater understanding of both the activity and its connection to the outdoor setting.

Lindsay Ward, a natural resources and tourism major from Oakhill, Va., went on one of her first GORP trips, a caving excursion led by Lord, as a freshman in 2006. Now a trip leader herself, Ward said that trip showed her that GORP activities are more than opportunities for educational enhancement. She said she realized the trips are also great chances to meet people with similar interests.

“It was a football weekend and I had to miss the game,” Ward said about her first trip with GORP. “But on that trip, I found out that there were other fun things to do at UGA besides watching football and going out.”

GORP trip sizes vary depending on the outing. A canoe trip, for example, cannot take any extra participants once the available number of seats in the canoe are booked.

Each excursion can cost up to $200, but most are significantly less. Equipment use is provided within the cost – and University students get a discount.

Trip leaders meet monthly to hone their skills and bond as a group. One leader and one assistant leader usually lead each trip, but guides are allowed to shadow excursions outside their area of expertise to learn more about the specific activity or to improve their leadership skills.

Ward became interested in taking on a GORP leadership role after her freshman experience with “DAWG Camp,” an outdoors bonding experience created to help students transitioning from high school to college.

Manalo and Lord both said there’s one thing required of any potential GORP trip leader: patience.

“You have to be able to sit and work with someone, to struggle through with them,” Manalo said. “And I love seeing former trip participants become instructors.”