HOP Outdoors
Exciting News!
The Brighton Institute is partnering with the Human Outreach Program, or HOP, to bring the HOP Outdoors program to Big Cottonwood Canyon this summer (2026)!
What Is This Program?
The HOP Outdoors program helps introduce at-risk youth to the great outdoors, letting them experience the beauty of Utah’s nature in a way they might never have before.
How Does The Program Work?
Each week, the program takes about 40 children into the Wasatch Mountains for a day of exploration and learning. The program along with its various partners, including the Utah Food Services and North Face, work together to collect students from their local schools and provide each child with a daypack, lunch, and water. Each student also gets a t-shirt to wear and keep that helps promote unity among the group.
While in the canyons, students get to spend the afternoon hiking as they learn about preserving nature and healthy living from their HOP Outdoors guides. And, thanks to donated tram passes from Snowbird Ski Resort as well as donated lift tickets from Solitude Mountain Resort and Brighton Resort, each youth group also gets to ride to the top of the mountain and experience the Salt Lake Valley from above.
How Has This Program Impacted Utah’s Youth?
Since its creation in 2021, the HOP Outdoor program has taken 43 trips to the Wasatch Mountains.
These trips have included 435 students from eight different Utah schools and groups.
How Is The Brighton Institute Helping With HOP Outdoors?
Inspired by the work being done by the HOP Outdoors program, one of our trustees, Bryan Luftglass, brought the board’s attention to the program. After listening to Dean Cardinale, founder and CEO of World Wide Trekking and President of the Human Outreach Program, talk about the HOP Outdoor program and its impact on Utah’s youth, the Brighton Institute board was eager to form a partnership. Along with a monetary donation, members of the board have helped obtain donated lift tickets from both resorts in Big Cottonwood Canyon and are currently working with the program’s guides and resorts’ employees to find and walk possible trails for student groups to hike.
Want To Learn More?
If you are interested in learning more about the Human Outreach Program, World Wide Trekking, or founder, CEO, and President Dean Cardinale, click the buttons below.