Announcing the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge

This fall, Bates is participating in the Campus Challenge sponsored by Outdoor Nation (ON), a nonprofit whose mission is to increase engagement in outdoor recreation among millennials.

Led by the Bates Outing Club, Bates is competing against 56 other schools nationwide to get the most members of our respective communities — students, staff, faculty, alumni, friends, and family — engaged in the outdoors through Oct. 17, 2015.

If we win, the Bates Outing Club gets a new outdoor gear library from REI and the North Face. There are also many individual prizes — backpacks, tents, hats, and more — which all those who participate are eligible to win!

All you need to do to participate is document any outdoor activity lasting at least 30 minutes with a smartphone photo and a few words about what you did — and then upload the image and write up to ON via your a free online account.

This can all be done in about 30 seconds on your smartphone! Be sure to toss up a picture of your activity on your favorite social media channel — and tag your photos with #outdoornation.

Each week, members of the Bates Outing Club will raffle off gear to participants contributing to the Bates total. The weekly giveaways change based on weekly sponsors — on Osprey’s week we’ll give away two backpacks! Also, every person who logs activities will be entered into weekly gear raffles organized by ON. Finally, the person with the most logged activities within each school community and in the whole competition will be completely decked out in new gear by the competition sponsors.

Join the Challenge

Other things to know about the challenge:

  • Each person can log a single group activity separately (e.g. each person at a soccer practice can log the activity independently.
  • If the activity is outside and lasts for at least 30 minutes, it counts!
  • Each activity is awarded 10 points that go towards both individual and school totals.

Contact Jordan Cargill at jcargill@bates.edu for more information.