Introduction
A Little Bit Of History...
We are the USC JWG Adventure Club. Basically, it started off as me not wanting to spend all my money going skiing (back in 2005), so I started planning trips for all our friends to go as a group and split the cost (10 people or so). From there, two friends of mine (William and Grady, the WG of JWG) and I decided to make it into a club, so we can do more outdoors-type activities for friends and friends of friends. So, then I started organizing skiing trips for 20 people, then 30, then 60 people (we have an annual ski trip in January).
So our name, JWG, stands for JustinWilliam&Grady =P. No it's not stupid.
Although we are most well known for our ski trips, we also do a lot of camping/backpacking, and have taken many trips to Yosemite, white water rafting (kerns), and backpacking through the grand canyon.
Nowadays, I try to make JWG trips as a good way for people not from around here (or from around here too) to get outdoors and see what California and the West has to offer in terms of activities and beauty. Another big part of the club is making it very financially accessible, and since I've done this for a while I have relationship with most places we go and so i can get a lot of discounts!
Sadly, we have no funding. But that doesn't stop us, and a lot of our trips are cheaper than other people that DO have funding, because of our experience.
For our members, not only are we a good way to escape downtown, but it's a good way to meet other people enthusiastic about the outdoors!
-Justin
Mission
The JWG Adventure Club seeks to organize trips that provide outdoors and wilderness experiences for its members. We will provide a safe and comforting environment, while giving you the opportunity to push yourself and grow.
How we do it
Ski trips require much preparation, paperwork, and foresight in order to have everything work smoothly. It involves organizing the cabins, roster, payments, deposits for eveything, arrangements for tickets, transportation companies, rentals, food and clothing, medical supplies, forms and allergy/medication tables, emergency planning, group meetings to get everyone prepared before the trip, etcetcetc. Luckily, we've done this many times before, so we can whip one up in no time!
As my personal skills and interests develop, our trips reflect it. We started off with only ski trips, then to places like Yosemite and Grand Canyon as my interest in backpacking grew. I have currently been into mountaineering, and now many trips to peaks around California are being prepared for. In order to prepare trips like these, we typically will scout out the venue on an exploratory hike first. We make note of the route, terrain, and difficulty, then plan an itinerary and if necessary, a member training schedule necessary to prepare.
One way we keep costs down for these kinds of trips is by owning all of the gear we use (multiple tents, rafts, cold weather gear, etc). It's a never ending Craigslist journey.
Values
My most important concern is your safety. A large part of that is making sure that everyone is sufficiently prepared and is aware of what they're getting into beforehand. I emphasize this the most. This involves both equipment and mental preparedness.
However, although we take things cautiously, accidents and emergency to occur. With the use of medical surveys in the beginning of the trip, medical kits are prepared beforehand and provide immediate care. I am a certified Wilderness EMT, and will take care of you.
What we can do for you
So if you're interested in the outdoors, want to get into backpacking, or just want to explore the SouthWest, send us an email or join us for a hike! Take a look at our Current Trips page to see what trips are planned, and how you can be part of them!
Website
After changing designs a few times, I settled on making this one simple with only the information you need, nothing fancy. Our other ones looked like this:
version 1
version 2