Into The Wild

What Into The Wild does

Into The Wild (legally SCU Into the Wild) is a student-run outdoor adventure club at Santa Clara University, founded in 2009 and operating continuously for 16 years. The organization serves Santa Clara University undergraduate students through a portfolio of experiential offerings: multi-day Adventure Trips for incoming first-years held each September (9 trips of 12 students each), regularly scheduled overnight and day trips across each 10-week academic quarter (at least 30 trips per quarter), extended Spring Break trips to destinations such as Utah, Arizona, Hawaii, Grand Canyon, Zion, and Channel Islands, a free gear rental program covering backpacks, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and tents, and a Leaders in Training (LIT) leadership development pipeline. Activities span day hikes, car camping, backpacking, rafting, mountain biking, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, and surfing, with destinations concentrated in California (Yosemite, Big Sur, Sequoia, Point Reyes, Trinity Alps) and the broader Western United States.

The club operates on a strict cost-recovery basis without a profit motive, structured as an independent student organization led by an elected leadership team of approximately 26 students spanning President, Vice Presidents, Directors, Trip Leaders, and Leaders in Training. Revenue mechanics consist of per-trip ticket fees ranging from $40 for beginner camping to $120 for advanced rafting, supplemented by university grants that underwrite free Adventure Trips for incoming first-years and a confidential need-based Financial Aid Program that partially or fully covers ticket costs. Gear is provided free against a $60 refundable cash or credit-card deposit. Trip tickets are released weekly through the club's Squarespace-based website (Tuesdays at 8pm), with first-year Adventure Trip sign-ups using a hybrid lottery and first-come-first-served system opening in early July. There is no venture capital, private equity, or external ownership structure.

The organization has grown to serve over 1,000 undergraduate participants annually. Distribution occurs through Instagram (@scuintothewild), a weekly Monday email newsletter, in-person tabling at Benson Dining Hall, a Linktree hub, and word-of-mouth within the SCU community. All trip leaders complete Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness First Aid, and Mental Health First Aid certifications, with the LIT program underwriting certification costs. The club maintains minor mutual partnerships with SCU's Forge Garden and Center for Sustainability on environmental initiatives and runs collaboration trips with other campus organizations to broaden inclusivity and reach. The organization is headquartered in the ITW Office at Lower Benson Room 22 on the SCU campus.

Name

Into The Wild

Legal name

SCU Into the Wild

Website

https://scuitw.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SCU Into the Wild is a Santa Clara University student-run outdoor adventure club serving over 1,000 undergraduates annually with hiking, camping, rafting, and backpacking trips on a cost-recovery, grant-supported basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Outdoor Recreation and Adventure Services

NAICS

Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds) (721214), Sports and Recreation Instruction (61162)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Outdoor Recreation & Adventure Programs (Trips, Climbing, Rentals) (EDALAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Adventure Camps & Summer Programs (THAAAOAB), Life Skills & SEL Camps (Confidence, Executive Function, Social Skills) (EDAMALAO)

Keywords

• Outdoor adventure trips
• Student outdoor club
• Gear rental service
• Leadership training program
• Recreational trip planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Clara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Trip Participation Fees: Students pay ticket fees for individual trips ranging from $40 for beginner camping to $120 for advanced rafting trips. Pricing varies by trip duration, distance, and equipment requirements. Spring break and adventure trips are free for incoming first-years due to grant funding.
2. Gear Rental Deposits: Free gear rentals secured with $60 refundable cash deposit or credit card authorization. Deposits returned upon timely gear return.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Into The Wild is a Santa Clara University student organization that plans and runs outdoor adventure trips for SCU students, including both single-day and multi-day excursions. The club also rents outdoor gear to students and runs a Leadership In Training (LIT) program to develop student trip leaders, supported by a Financial Aid Program to broaden access across the student body.

Product overview

Into The Wild is a Santa Clara University outdoor adventure club that provides students with outdoor experiences. The core offering consists of adventure trips for incoming first-years (September), regular weekend overnight and day trips throughout each academic quarter, and spring break trips. The club also operates a gear rental service (backpacks, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, tents) and a Leaders in Training (LIT) program for developing student outdoor leaders. A financial aid program supports students with financial barriers. The organization has been operating for 16 years and serves 1,000+ undergraduate participants annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Adventure Day Trips
• Multi-Day Adventure Trips
• Gear Rentals
• Leadership In Training (LIT) Program

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Forge GardenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOn-campus sustainability partner. ITW collaborates with the Forge Garden to promote sustainable practices and environmental education among club members.
• Center for Sustainability (SCU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCU's Center for Sustainability partners with ITW on environmental initiatives and sustainable outdoor practices education.
• Various SCU Campus GroupsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerITW leads collaboration trips with other student organizations on campus to reach students who may not otherwise opt to go on outdoor trips, promoting inclusivity and diversity.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School): NOLS is the leading wilderness education provider offering multi-day outdoor expeditions with strong safety and leadership training curricula, directly comparable to ITW's core trip and LIT programming but at a much larger, national scale.
• Backroads: Backroads runs active adventure trips (hiking, biking, rafting) for groups across the Western US, overlapping with ITW's destination mix (Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyon) and target of experiential outdoor travelers.
• Outward Bound USA: Outward Bound runs outdoor adventure and education programs focused on character/leadership development with certified instructors, mirroring ITW's experiential leadership and life-skills training model for young participants.
• REI Co-op Experiences: REI offers guided outdoor trips and gear rentals across the US, directly overlapping with ITW's trip and gear rental services though REI serves a broader consumer audience.

Others

• Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: Leave No Trace provides outdoor ethics education and trainer certification, closely aligned with ITW's partnerships with SCU's Center for Sustainability and its emphasis on sustainable outdoor practices.

Emerging players

• Avid4 Adventure: Avid4 Adventure provides outdoor multi-sport summer camps for youth covering hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and skiing — overlapping ITW's activity mix and youth/college-age participant development focus.
• Adventure Treks: Adventure Treks runs multi-day teen adventure summer camps featuring backpacking, rafting, and mountain biking — a closely analogous youth-targeted outdoor adventure program with similar activities.

Direct peers

• Stanford Outdoor Outreach Program: Stanford's outdoor recreation program offers students gear rentals, day/overnight trips, and skill-based classes — a near-identical operating model to ITW but at a peer Bay Area university.
• UCLA Outdoor Adventures Center: UCLA's outdoor recreation program provides students with trips, gear rentals, and outdoor skills instruction, directly comparable to ITW's mix of adventure trips, gear rental, and training.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/scuintothewild
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scu-into-the-wild

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Into The Wild