About Us Backup 3-26-2025

THE PROBLEM

Research suggests that without access to healthy activities or community, youth are at significantly higher risk of engaging in harmful behavior towards themselves or others.

The birth of A.O.A started with the question of: How can we help?

AN IDEA IS BORN

Studies show that spending time outdoors is good for mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. Paired with fun activities and other people, it is our belief that at-risk-youth might choose a different path if given other ways to express emotions and energy. Barriers to access outdoor recreation and action sports are numerous, stemming from a lack of transportation to finances or perhaps accommodation for physical abilities.

OUR SOLUTION

Our solution is to offer youth in our community a safe and inclusive space to try something they might otherwise not have access too, build community, create lasting relationships and have fun!
We provide gear, transportation, education and modifications around different outdoor activities in order to make them accessible to all.

SIMPLY PUT: WE ARE ON A MISSION TO RE-CREATE OUTDOOR RECREATION

We utilize outdoor recreation as a way of teaching that when the "storms of life" hit, you have the ability to stand firm in who you are and are able to weather it. To us, outdoor recreation and action sports is an anchoring tenant of personal foundation, transformation, life skills and fun.

We wanted to break the “pay-to-play” barrier associated with outdoor recreation and offer youth a safe and inclusive space to try something new, have fun and make outdoor recreation accessible. We provide youth in the PNW an avenue to experience: wakeboarding, snowboarding, skateboarding, and fishing. We are always looking to expand and offer new sports too, so please reach out if you would like to help with a new sport.

Beyond our team of coaches, we work with local pros to provide exceptional experiences for our participants. If you're interested in getting involved in any way, please use our Contact Form, or fill out a Volunteer Registration.

MEET OUR TEAM

Each of us at AOA have our own story and our own relationship with the tenets of: building a foundation, enjoying the outdoors and having a community. In one way or another, those three ideas built AOA, kept us safe and sane amidst life’s storms and became a driving force in our mission; offering youth a way to participate in outdoor adventures