What is the Columbia Adventure Academy? Forget about the picture of people sitting on school benches and listening to a boring presentation. The Adventure Academy sounds like higher education but the education we are talking about here is how to enjoy the outdoors. There are no handbooks required, you will not sit in a classroom and you will not go home with a degree but with something even better, a great time and memories no one can take from you!
Columbia Sportswear Middle East launched this initiative with the support of OutdoorUAE to remove entry barriers and take a small group to exciting places within the UAE. This should not only teach participants of the benefits and use of Columbia Sportswear, it is more about how easy it is to get out there and have fun! To ensure a great experience the groups are small and are considered the adventure academy ambassadors who will share their experience with family and friends and hopefully repeat the activity they have done with us with others. So it’s not about giving a small group of selected people a good time, it is about planting the seed and lighting a fire in those 10 people so that they will pass it on and the passion and love for the outdoors will grow. The best thing about the adventure academy is that you don’t need to spend a penny and it is completely free, all it needs to be part of it, is to sign up – www.columbiaacademy.ae – and hope you are one or the 10 lucky people who will join us for the next event.
Columbia Adventure Academy
Experience Winter Sports
The second Columbia Adventure Academy kicked off in Ski Dubai early November 2017 and 10 lucky girls and guys were selected to take on the challenges in the very non-Dubai like the temperature of minus four degrees!
If you want to know who is joining the Adventure Academy, Josefina Fontana is one example of a typical UAE resident. Born and raised in Argentina and move a few years back to Dubai to work as cabin crew for an airline. Josefina and the other participants had to show up early on a Saturday morning to do something, you usually cannot do at Ski Dubai. Before opening to the public, we had the chance to get a real taste of mountaineering in icy conditions when we were hiking up the steep slopes.
The first challenge to complete was to run up the slope with a backpack weighing 20kg. Not everyone manages to stay all the time on their feet but all participants had a good morning workout and warm up. With only a short time left before the first skiers will race down the slope, we had to make a quick move but you had to choose your steps wisely and carefully to not end up sliding down on the snow. There was not much time to spare and we changed the hiking shoes for some ski boots and skis. This event was aimed at people who had never been on skis before to give them a taste of snow and winter sports in their first ski lesson.
After a short briefing, it was all about getting a feel for those long slim boards connected to your feet. Skiing is not something you pick up in a few minutes and it takes a few hours of practice before you are ready to hit the slopes, which is also what our participants found out quite quickly! Remaining upright was a big enough task so that we changed our initial plan for the second challenge of a slalom to one single turn through a gate. Everyone had three attempts but only half of the group even made it through the gate. While the first challenge was more about strength and speed which was won by the males, women actually were better with their balance and not only made it through the gate, they also had the fastest time.
But the event is not about competition it is about the experience and since we were already at Ski Dubai, why not meet some unique Dubai residents, the Penguins! While we were freezing and learning more about Penguins and the conservation program supported by Ski Dubai our little friends in the black and white suites enjoyed the temperatures and some raw fish as a snack. To finish off the day with some fun and excitement, we went with the chairlift to the first station to choose the fastest available way down – by zip line. This action-loaded morning was over in no time, but the participants could enjoy the rest of the day in the snow park.
Even though skiing is not easy to learn, all participants confirmed that they are now planning to take on some lessons after they had their first taste of snow and winter sports. Josefina, who knew already how to ski used the time during the lesson to enjoy the slopes and spend also the rest of the day practicing for the next trip to longer slopes on mountains and her next adventure.
If you need winter gear for your Christmas holidays or your next skiing or mountaineering trip, then just visit the Columbia stores this month and check out their sales promotion during December.
Third Columbia Adventure Academy
Crab Hunting
After getting a taste of Snow and winter sports it was time to get true to the region and do something more typical and local. The UAE is known for its endless stretches of sand dunes, rocky moon like flats and arid and rough mountain landscapes. But if you go to the seaside and the creeks in the UAE you find lush green mangrove forests which is a great contrast to the inner parts of the country. There are a lot of birds nesting and feeding in these areas but the mangroves really come to life if you look underneath the water surface. If you ask Dubai residents most have been to the desert but few have been to the mangroves or don’t even know what amazing submarine landscapes and marine life you can find there.
The mangroves are greatly influenced by tides and seem to be in a constant change what makes it even more interesting and exciting and the perfect place to show the next lucky group joining the third Adventure Academy. You have to take care when travelling through the water channels not to get out and enter the mangroves forest. It’s very easy to damage their fragile roots and make sure you are quite to not disturb nesting birds. We met on a Saturday afternoon in Dubai Festival City from where our shuttle bus took us to Umm Al Quaim and from where we would head out into the mangroves. Just have a look at Google maps satellite imagery and you will see the huge area of mangroves you will find there. Access is best by kayak, SUP or in our case as a group by boat.
To get to know each other better and enjoy the pleasant winter temperatures we started the afternoon with tug-of-war games and spear training. It was all about having fun since no one would really need to be required to throw a spear. It was also a great natural highlight to see hundreds of birds flying over the area on their migration. At sunset, it was time to get ready for our crab hunt and jump onto our boat to take us into the mangroves. It did not take long to cross the creek from the city into the maze of waterways in the mangroves.
It was already pitch black when we stopped and most of the participants where doubting that we are at the right place. The mangroves were hundreds of meters away and we seemed to be still in the middle of the creek when Mohamed one of the participants had the courage to jump out of the boat and prove to everyone that the water was only knee deep. Even though you might not see a single or many crabs during the day, as soon as it gets dark they come out in big numbers if you are in the right spot. To be able to spot them on the muddy sand floor you obviously need light. If you go in a group, it looks like a science fiction movie – a group of people with some torches wading through the water looking for something elusive!
It took us about 15 minutes until we found the first crabs. But even if you see them you haven’t caught them which is what all in the group experienced with their first attempts! The captain gave a helping hand to make the first catches. Crabs move fast and the vision is distorted by the water surface, so some practice is required to be successful. We also saw some cuttlefish and almost got hit by jumping needlefish which added even more to the fun and the hunting fever. After one hour our participant Roddnie was the winner of our hunting challenge with 16 caught crabs. We did not catch the crabs only to satisfy our hunting instincts after we returned it was our reward to have them steamed and eaten with a spicy masala which was a great treat for everyone!
This event was a great success and we achieved what the adventure Academy is all about. All participants loved the day and even if most lived for many years in the UAE this was their first experience of Crab Hunting. You can book this activity as a commercial tour or get your torchlight and take some friends on your own little adventure in the mangroves. Just make sure you check the tides to not be surprised by incoming water!
If you don’t want crabs to nibble on your toes and wade barefoot in the mud, you can get water sports shoes in Columbia stores as well as appropriate clothing. Quick dry shorts will be perfect and don’t miss out on the sales promotions through Columbia stores across the UAE in the month of December. ■
If you also want to experience something new and enjoy outdoor activities, visit www.columbiaacademy.ae
and sign up for the upcoming events.
Facebook: /COLUMBIAME
Instagram: @COLUMBIASPORTSWEAR_ME
Words by: Daniel Birkhofer
