Oct 11, 2007
You can learn more about the great outdoors at your local retail camping store -- and usually for free
An adult scoutmaster recently told me that he frequently takes the boys to a nearby REI store for free clinics in such outdoors skills as backpacking, mountain bike maintenance, winter camping, and wilderness first aid. REI, as you may know, is a travel and outdoors cooperative with 99 stores in 27 states. Its programs, and those of other similar stores, include one- or two-day trips developing the skills of hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, fly fishing, photography, GPS navigation and geocaching.
Many of the classes are free. Others -- especially the hands-on ones where you bike or kayak for a full day -- might run anywhere from $20 to $90 (sometimes a bit more for advanced courses). Individual REI stores also post numerous opportunities to join in local walkathons, bike-athons, runs, and hikes. For more information, go to its Web site (www.rei.com) and click on "Stores & Events" -- the section labeled "REI Adventures" takes you to the company's multi-day active vacations, not the short, inexpensive-to-free classes and clinics.
Another top-rated chain, LL. Bean (www.llbean.com) -- with nine stores along the East Coast, from the famous flagship in Freeport, ME to one in Tyson's Corner, VA -- offers "Outdoor Discovery Schools" in fly fishing, kayaking, bike tours, and outdoor skills such as first aid. Most of the more involved trips take place in Maine and Maryland, though every store does offer shorter "Walk-On" adventures from May through early October. These cost $15, including round-trip shuttle bus from the store, for 1½ to 2½ hours of introductory kayaking or fly casting clinics (the Maine store also does archery and clay pigeon shooting).
EMS (www.ems.com), with 80 stores throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, conducts its programs -- kayaking, rock climbing, and winter sports (Telemark, backcountry, and ski mountaineering plus avalanche courses) -- at a dozen of its locations throughout New England and New York (plus, for climbers, Pennsylvania and New Jersey).
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Many of the classes are free. Others -- especially the hands-on ones where you bike or kayak for a full day -- might run anywhere from $20 to $90 (sometimes a bit more for advanced courses). Individual REI stores also post numerous opportunities to join in local walkathons, bike-athons, runs, and hikes. For more information, go to its Web site (www.rei.com) and click on "Stores & Events" -- the section labeled "REI Adventures" takes you to the company's multi-day active vacations, not the short, inexpensive-to-free classes and clinics.
Another top-rated chain, LL. Bean (www.llbean.com) -- with nine stores along the East Coast, from the famous flagship in Freeport, ME to one in Tyson's Corner, VA -- offers "Outdoor Discovery Schools" in fly fishing, kayaking, bike tours, and outdoor skills such as first aid. Most of the more involved trips take place in Maine and Maryland, though every store does offer shorter "Walk-On" adventures from May through early October. These cost $15, including round-trip shuttle bus from the store, for 1½ to 2½ hours of introductory kayaking or fly casting clinics (the Maine store also does archery and clay pigeon shooting).
EMS (www.ems.com), with 80 stores throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, conducts its programs -- kayaking, rock climbing, and winter sports (Telemark, backcountry, and ski mountaineering plus avalanche courses) -- at a dozen of its locations throughout New England and New York (plus, for climbers, Pennsylvania and New Jersey).
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
