New Horizons is an outdoor adventure and leadership program at Lynchburg College. Student trained facilitators take LC students on outdoor excursions such as rock climbing, canoeing, caving and challenge courses.

The benefits of the New Horizons program do not just apply to the students but also to the staff.

"I am able to support and provide experiential education to students through outdoor pursuits. Students gain leadership skills in order to lead others and eventually become self-sufficient in the wilderness," Head Coordinator of New Horizons Paul Stern said.

This past weekend the New Horizons program went to Norman's Cave.

"[Norman's is] a wet cave with a huge break-down room, (a room with a bunch of boulders that you have to climb on), a vertical passageway where we had to use a caving ladder to get down, a few tight spaces, and an indoor water fall, walk through a stream, crawl through mud, try not to slip into a huge abyss, and large pools of water, all to get into a passage way called 'The Great White Way.' It was pretty intense," Angela Massino, a student facilitator for New Horizons said.

Many other cavers joined the New Horizons program on this caving expedition. According to Massino, the group was accompanied by other cavers associated with a Grotto (caving club), allowing ages 3 to 75 to join in on the experience.

Massino said caving is an unbelievable experience and one which is all about the here and now.

"I'm currently 900 ft. under the ground in a small space and if I turn the wrong way could possibly be under here forever," Massino said.

According to Massino there were many challenging experiences presented throughout the cave. At the top of the "break-down room" Massino could see some cavers on the opposite side of the room and they were just a small speck of light.

"At that moment I understood how large of a task it really was to climb up over the boulders. I knew though, that since I did it coming in I could do it coming out. People have more strength then they think they do, they just have to be put into challenging situations where they have to use their muscles and their brain at the same time. That's what makes caving so rewarding," Massino said.

According to the cavers, everyone knows what above ground looks like but not many know how incredibly different it is below the surface.

"I am always in amazement in any cave. I enjoy the sights and wonders below ground and enjoy sharing this unseen world to others for their education and pleasure. I like the idea that students can become part of the one percent of the world's population that has gone caving," Stern said.

The caving experience is only one of the many opportunities presented to the LC students by the New Horizons program.

"When people begin to enjoy the environment on a personal level, they tend to want to conserve it as well," Massino said.

New Horizons has many opportunities for students to go out and enjoy the outdoors. For more information on New Horizons go to http://www.lynchburg.edu/newhorizons.xml or join the New Horizons facebook group.