Get Outside Utah provides southern Utah teens the opportunity to get outside

ST. GEORGE — Standing near the top of a small canyon in the Virgin River Gorge on the Utah-Arizona line, Zoey Mecham was about to put a lot of faith into a relatively small piece of rope.

"On belay?" she nervously asked.

"Belay on," came the answer from below.

A guide reassured her that if she slipped, he had her.

Then Mecham leaned back and began rappelling down the rock face.

It was her first time canyoneering, and judging by the smile on her face when she reached the bottom, it probably won't be her last.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," she said as she got to the bottom, laughing as she received a high-five.

For Mecham, a high school student from Hurricane, getting down the canyon wasn't necessarily the biggest obstacle. Getting the opportunity to try was.

"I think it's so cool," she said. "I've always wanted to do more stuff but never had the resources or the way to do it, so this is just so cool."

That is exactly the kind of barrier the southern Utah nonprofit Get Outside is trying to remove.

Founded in 2020 by Matt Mizukawa and his wife, the organization works with high school students in southern Utah, providing equipment, instruction and opportunities to experience outdoor recreation.

Get Outside operates clubs at several southern Utah high schools and offers activities ranging from mountain biking and rock climbing to kayaking, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, wakeboarding and canyoneering, to name a few.

More than 4,000 high school students have participated in Get Outside activities since the organization began, said Mizukawa.

"Our main objective is just to get kids outside," he said. "We believe that as kids engage in outdoor recreation, they're strengthened physically, mentally (and) emotionally. We want to just simply provide opportunities for kids to get outside."

For Mizukawa, that mission is personal. He grew up in Maryland and said he had little access to activities such as rock climbing and mountain biking.

That changed when his family moved to St. George when he was 16.

"The outdoors just changed my life," he said. "That's why my wife and I started this. We just want to share the outdoors with as many youth as we can."

On this trip, that meant taking a group of high school students into Ghost Rider Canyon in the Virgin River Gorge, where adult guides taught them rappelling and canyoneering skills.

The organization provided the necessary gear, including helmets, harnesses and ropes.

For Kristin Draper, a guide and member of the Get Outside board of directors, part of the reward is watching teenagers discover what has been around them all along.

"We live in such a beautiful area," said Draper. "So, to show them what they have in their backyard and maybe give them opportunities that they would not have otherwise, is really the main reason I love this. It's to give back and show the kids what they can do and accomplish."

Sometimes, she said, the biggest accomplishment is simply getting past fear.

"Seeing them get down off something they might be scared of and just seeing them so excited and proud of themselves and them wanting to do it again and do it more, that's great," said Draper.

There is another goal for this nonprofit as well: to simply get teenagers away from their cellphones and tablets.

"It's really important," said Draper. "For me, getting outside helps my mental health. It's good to stay active and healthy, and being outside just helps with all of that."

Ollie Bryan of Cedar City has participated in several Get Outside activities, including wake surfing and night climbing.

He said the experiences have given him more than something fun to do.

"I really like it because it puts me in a group with a bunch of other youth who like to do stuff outside," said Bryan. "I think going outside gives a lot of opportunities to learn and grow."

There is something about attempting something difficult, he said, that sticks with you afterward.

"You can go home, it's like, 'Oh, sweet, I did that,' and you learn from it," said Bryan with a laugh.

Hannah Leeflang knows how long that impact can last. She discovered Get Outside while she was in high school. Now she has returned as a volunteer.

"It's been awesome. It has given me a lot of good community outreach opportunities as I've gotten older," said Leeflang.

She originally became involved partly because she wanted something other than a screen waiting for her after school.

"I was sick of coming home and sitting on my phone all day," she said. "Getting out really does help you feel better. You get to meet great people and find friends and community, and that's awesome."

Making those opportunities accessible, though, takes money.

Get Outside said most of its activities are offered at no charge, while some larger activities, such as skiing, have discounted fees and scholarships available.

Equipment alone can be expensive. For this canyoneering trip, every student needed safety gear such as a helmet and harness, in addition to the ropes and other equipment used by the group.

"It lets us do everything that we do," Leeflang said of funding. "Without our funding, it's super limited what we're able to do."

Get Outside is now among the Utah nonprofit organizations participating in the inaugural Utah Youth Sports Giving Day, a statewide fundraising campaign led by Miller Sports + Entertainment, the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation and the Daniels Fund.

The campaign runs Sept. 12-26 and is designed to help youth sports organizations reduce financial barriers that can keep children from participating.

Campaign partners have committed more than $1.5 million in matching funds, including a dollar-for-dollar match for the first $1 million raised.

Organizers hope the campaign will generate $3 million in total support for Utah nonprofits serving youth through sports.

The effort launches Saturday at the Salt Lake Bees game in South Jordan, when participating organizations will be announced and donations can begin.

For organizations such as Get Outside, those donations can turn into more helmets, harnesses, mountain bikes and other equipment. For a teenager such as Mecham, they can become something even more important: A chance.

Back safely on the ground after her first rappel, Mecham laughed about the equipment that had helped her get there.

"I never felt more trust in a piece of rope before," she said with a laugh. "This is great."

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