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Totally tubular on the Ogden River

AV-TUBING 1 GT
People tube down the Akansas River. Gear Thirty has partnered with Weber State Outdoor program to bring tubing to Ogden. (David Bitton/Colorado Springs Gazette/MCT)

Summer is the time to get outdoors, enjoy the warm weather and make memories with those you love, and a local company is helping people do just that.

Gear Thirty is a locally based company that specializes in outdoor activities that hopes to bring people together and make memories.

The company focuses on backpacking, camping, hiking, and is branching out into activities such as paddle boarding in the summer and skiing in the winter.

Gear Thirty’s newest activity involves tubing on the Ogden River. The company has partnered with Weber State Outdoor program to make this happen.

Matt Francis, Gear Thirty’s Marketing Manager, mentioned that this is the first year of the program.

“We saw a need on the Ogden River. It’s been kind of an ignored hidden jewel from trash and has become run down over the years,” Francis said. “So we got together with Daniel Turner with the Weber State Outdoor Program and we decided to join forces and clean the Ogden River.”

Francis mentioned that he wanted to make sure that the experience is affordable, fun and accessible to the community.

The concepts behind tubing in Ogden began in early spring while more ideas and planning took place in June.

The concept was announced to the public on July 2, and July 9 marked the opening day.

Before the fun could occur, however, cleanup was necessary. Gear Thirty had about 80 volunteers total to help with the process, which took about 250 hours to help beautify the Ogden River.

When it was all said and done, the volunteers had helped remove over 1200 pounds of trash from the river.

After the cleanup, there was a free float day in celebration that was open to the public in order to show them the fun that could be had during the summer months.

Tubing will be available every Saturday until Labor Day, which is on Monday September 5.

The hours in which the community can go and rent tubing equipment is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Lauren Farr Park.

Francis mentioned that Gear Thirty plans on continuing this event next summer as well and will be hosting another river cleanup day just as they did this year.

“We want to keep this easy, affordable, and accessible to families in Ogden to get out and enjoy this awesome river that’s right in our own backyards,” Francis said.

One ride down the river is about 40 minutes and costs five dollars per person. A day pass is ten dollars.

For a limited time, there is also a Groupon available for a ten-punch pass, which allows ten rides in a single punch, which is 100 rides in total. The usual price for that would be $80 but the Groupon cuts it in half at $40.

More information about tubing and other outdoor activities can be found on Gear Thirty’s website.

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