Northwood’s Outdoor Program Gets a Facelift

Rock climbing, ice climbing, whitewater kayaking, backcountry and alpine skiing, fly fishing, and hiking are some activities that Northwood students enjoy. In previous years, the school program designed to get kids outside to experience the Adirondacks was called the Northwood Outing Club (NOC), but it recently underwent a name change. During the summer of 2024, it was renamed the Northwood Adventure Sports Program (NASP), more commonly called “NAS.” The program director, Bobby O’Connor, is a highly qualified and experienced outdoor/adventure professional and former Paul Smith’s College recreation professor.  Bobby earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Expeditionary Studies from SUNY Plattsburgh and holds many licenses and certifications for guiding, instructing, and wilderness and avalanche first response.
O’Connor joined Northwood in the fall of 2021 because he felt that he had hit a plateau in his career, and he saw this as an opportunity to take the reins from the legendary Don Mellor. “I guess the opportunity to have something fresh and new with the potential for growth was really exciting to me,” O’Connor said.

When asked why the program was given a facelift, Bobby said, “The change from Northwood Outing Club to Northwood Adventure Sports Program came for a number of different reasons. One is just the lingo that’s being used in the industry now. The term Outing Club, in my opinion, has been pushed out of the industry. Adventure Sports is viewed as a catchier phrase for marketing purposes. Also, clubs are often perceived as student-run and may not be funded at the level of programs run by faculty with definitive budgets. So, in short, I feel that making this change updates our program to more modern terms and validates the fact that we’re more than a club. We’re an actual staple outdoor program that is training young individuals at a pretty high level and executing some pretty serious expedition style trips, both within North America and internationally.”

Photo courtesy of Eric Adsit.

Photo courtesy of Eric Adsit.

Photo courtesy of Eric Adsit.

Photo courtesy of Eric Adsit.

Photo courtesy of Eric Adsit.

Bobby’s excitement for the coming school year is obvious when he talks about the success and growth of his program and he said, “I’m excited for the trips we have on the itinerary for the year and we’re pretty busy this fall. I’m excited to take students to Japan to ski. I’ve never been there, and I think that’s going to be a really powerful life changing trip for a lot of these students. But I think what I’m most excited about is just the crew of students we have in the Northwood Adventure Sports Program this year.  Among them we have a really strong group of seniors that are going to be graduating in May, and they’re really taking the reins on leading a lot of these different trips, and also just teaching the general hard and soft skills. So, I’m super excited to spend one more year with them, watching them grow and then seeing where they end up a year from now.”
The program currently has 15 students participating full-time or part-time for their co-curricular activities. Keep a look out for pictures and more information about their upcoming adventures.