Combine your passion for the great outdoors with job-ready skills that’ll allow you to manage — or start your own — four-season outdoor recreation-related businesses. The University of Maine at Farmington Outdoor Recreation Business Administration Program (aka ORBA) is an innovative academic program with a broad four-season focus.
The Outdoor Recreation Business Administration program has an emphasis on business, with substantial coursework in outdoor recreation — providing you with the skill set to work in the Outdoor Recreation, Adventure Travel, Hospitality, and Tourism sector in western Maine and elsewhere.
One Major — Four Concentrations
Here, you get to choose which concentration (or concentrations) you’d like to focus on, each with concentration-specific courses, such as:
Outdoor Recreation
- Principles & Practices of River and Flatwater Industry
- Principles & Practices of Hiking, Biking and Camping
- Principles & Practices of Summer Resort Operations
- Principles & Practices of Adventure Education
- Orientation to Alpine Operations
- Sustainable Tourism
Snowsports
- Orientation to Alpine Operations
- Theory of Snowsports Instruction
- Children’s Instruction (PSIA/AASI Children’s Level I)
- Adult Instruction (PSIA/AASI Adult Level I)
- Outdoor Emergency Care Certification
- Level II Certification Prep for PSIA-AASI
- Practicum in Alpine Operations
- Internship in Alpine Operations
Hospitality *
- Hospitality Management
- Food and Beverage Management
- Lodging Operations & System
* Offered in partnership with the University of Southern Maine
Tourism *
- Intro to Tourism & Hospitality
- Tourism Entrepreneurship
- Sustainable Tourism Development
* Offered in partnership with the University of Southern Maine
Internships – Real-World Experience in the Outdoor Recreation Industries
At UMF you will find out, first-hand, what it’s like to work in Outdoors-focused fields while you learn valuable career skills and develop a strong network of professional contacts.
Here’s a short list of where our Outdoor Recreation Business Administration students have recently interned:
- Sugarloaf Ski Resort: marketing, park crew, ski school management, lift maintenance, guest services management, races & courses management, ski retail management, golf club management and more
- Sunday River Ski Resort: assistant to the president, ski patrol / mountain operations, snow sports school management, parks & pipe supervisor, marketing, ski school management and instructor, retail management and more
- Copper Mountain Ski Resort – Colorado: ski school management
- New England Marine & Industrial: management
- Breakwater Inn & Spa: management, hotel, hospitality
- Winterstick Skis: retail / product management
- Crab Apple Whitewater Rafting: rafting guide and guest services
- Lost Valley Ski Area: marketing, management, snowmaking
- Northern Outdoors Rafting & Adventures: rafting guide and guest services
- Titcomb Mountain Ski Area: assistant to general manager, assistant manager, coaching, terrain park management, ski school management and more
- Farmington Parks & Rec Dept: various positions
- Black Mountain Ski Area: terrain park management
- UMF Mainely Outdoors Adventure Program: assistant to the director
- Carrabassett Valley Academy: alpine ski coach
- Lake Winnipesaukee Golf Club: pro shop management
- Sebago Trails Paddling Company: management, marketing
- East Millinocket Recreation Dept: various positions
- UMF Athletics: marketing, videography
- UMF Fitness & Recreation Center: various positions
- Mt. Blue High School Athletics: coach
- And many more
Outdoor Rec. Business Administration intern Charles Katz
UMF Outdoor Rec Business Admin student Charles Katz recently participated in a paid internship at Maine’s Saddleback Ski Resort as part of his Resort Management course where he learned the ropes of being a member of the Ski Patrol team.
Saddleback Ski Area is located just an hour from campus. Charles self-produced this video as part of his final ORBA class project.
A Top 20 College for Skiing & Snowsports
— U.S. News & World Report
The University of Maine at Farmington was recently named one of the 2024 Top 20 Colleges in the Nation for Skiing & Winter Sports by U.S. News & World Report. Seriously, is anyone surprised? Our students have loved this about UMF for decades.
Shakespeare in the Morning, Sugarloaf, Saddleback, Sunday River by Noon
Located at the gateway to world-class skiing and snowboarding, Farmington is the perfect location if you’re into the active outdoor lifestyle. With Sugarloaf, Saddleback, and Sunday River in our backyard, we’ve got three amazing, world-class ski resorts just a quick drive from campus. Plus, Farmington’s own Titcomb Mountain ski area is a 7-minute drive from campus (you can see it from the Scott Hall residence hall windows).
In fact, if you’ve skied Sugarloaf or Saddleback, you’ve probably driven right through our campus. Where else can you take a Business Psych class in the morning and crush fresh pow by lunchtime?
Get Your Shred On — FREE
All full-time UMF students can ski or snowboard for FREE at Farmington’s Titcomb Mountain. Thanks to a generous donation from Sunday River and Sugarloaf ski resorts, you can get a free season pass to Titcomb Mountain — just 7 minutes from campus.
Titcomb has daytime and nighttime alpine and Nordic skiing and snowboarding. Plus a cozy fireside lodge, a snack bar, a decent terrain park and massive outdoors fire pit — again, just 7 minutes from campus.
And all full-time UMF students can also get FREE skiing and snowboarding lessons at Titcomb, too. The free lessons include a 7-week program at Titcomb followed by 1 big mountain experience at either Sunday River or Sugarloaf. And guess who the instructors will be? Alpine Ops students (you)!
UMF offers men’s and women’s intercollegiate Alpine ski racing, Nordic racing and Snowboardcross and Slopestyle through the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association (USCSA). Sugarloaf and Titcomb Mountain our home training mountains.
We also have a student-led Farmington Outing Club, and student leadership opportunities through our Mainely Outdoors adventure program — a year-round program designed to help UMF students and community members of all abilities take advantage of our region’s amazing outdoor activities: hiking, snowshoeing, kayaking, camping, mountain biking, Nordic skiing, canoeing, geo-caching, and more.
See recent Outdoor Rec. Business Administration intern Kyle Joseph (included in this three-student video) on why he chose Farmington
After graduating, Kyle splits his year between the East and the West, working as a rafting guide at Moxie Outdoor Adventures at The Forks in Maine, then working as a Terrain Park manager at Alta Ski Resort, just outside of Salt Lake, Utah.
Kyle says he’s living the dream life he has always wanted — a working professional in the exciting outdoor recreation industry.
Save more than $5,500 per year in tuition. This University of Maine at Farmington program qualifies for the NEBHE Tuition Break.
Through the NEBHE Tuition Break program, students from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont receive a $5,670 tuition discount on all UMF degree programs.
What can you do with a degree in Outdoor Recreation Business Administration?
Data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources. Median Salaries for positions in Maine typically fall below those of other New England states.
In the ORBA program you’ll develop a broad range of business knowledge and skills, together with skills in writing, oral presentation, problem solving, decision-making, leadership, and team building.
The program was developed with guidance from outdoor rec industry partners and leaders, so we are confident that it will provide you with the skills and knowledge you’ll need to succeed in outdoor recreation.
UMF has a strong and longstanding connection to the active outdoor lifestyle, particularly in skiing and snowboarding. Located in the foothills of Western Maine, the Farmington area is rich in natural and scenic resources: spectacular lakes, great hiking trails, beautiful and challenging ski slopes, and the best whitewater rafting and kayaking in the Northeast.
We have a number of student leadership opportunities through Mainely Outdoors — our year-round outdoor adventure program designed to help UMF students and community members of all abilities take advantage of our region’s amazing outdoor activities: hiking, snowshoeing, kayaking, camping, mountain biking, Nordic skiing, canoeing, geo-caching, and more.
Many ORBA students simultaneously earn a UMF Alpine Operations Certificate while they complete their degree in Outdoor Recreation Business Administration.
Get a Taste of Real World Experience — in your classes
The ORBA program brings professionals from the outdoor recreation industry into your classes to guest lecture. You’ll get to meet industry leaders as they guide you through their experiences and opportunities and present you with an idea of how their business operates. you’ll also have the opportunity to network with them.
Plus, you can become involved in aspects of their business as part of a classroom project. For the past few years, UMF ORBA students worked with Maine Outdoor Brands, a trade and advocacy organization UMF partners with. Maine Outdoor Brands represents outdoor recreation businesses across Maine, and UMF ORBA students work with them to produce their annual online Gift Guide.
This project connects students with numerous outdoor businesses on a months-long class project: writing product descriptions, obtaining and shooting photos, developing an e-commerce website and more. It is great hands-on experience and provides countless opportunities to work closely with industry leaders — without having to leave campus.
Contact Us
Office of Admissions
University of Maine at Farmington
246 Main Street
Farmington, Maine USA 04938-1994
tel 207-778-7050
fax 207-778-8182
TYY (via Maine Relay Service) dial 711
umfadmit@maine.edu
