The student-led Cotopaxi Questival marketing team held their kickoff event with live llamas on March 8.
BYU Cotopaxi Campus team member Samuel Li said the in-person Cotopaxi Questival is returning to Utah March 24–25, almost three years after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Cotopaxi Campus team said this year’s Questival will feature a “start where you are” kickoff. That is, teams can start completing any of the challenges on the list from any location as soon as all of the challenges go live at 6 p.m. on March 24, according to Cotopaxi’s Community Engagement Director Jeffrey Steadman. He said this allows participants more time to complete as many challenges as possible.
“Questival has always been about building friendships, pushing yourself, experiencing your surroundings, and having a whole bunch of fun,” Steadman said. “One of the most exciting things about this Questival is that it’s being organized by students, for students.”
Cedric Lance from Mexico said he plans to experience his first Questival this year. While Lance said he has gone to meetings and other events held by the Cotopaxi Campus team, he is not involved in the event organization and management.
“It’d be good for people to know this is a student-run event, not Cotopaxi itself,” Lance said. “People could feel more approachable when there were students.” Lance said the marketing kickoff activities are “unique and fun,” as was case with the most recent event which included live llamas.
Graduate student Carson Brown said he participated in the Cotopaxi Questival for the first time in 2019. “I like having to travel to different locations, taking pictures and showing you were there. It was fun to spend time with my siblings,” he said.
Questival is something new to James Koster, who heard of the kickoff activities through his friends and then decided to stop by. He said he was satisfied that there were actual llamas, and hopes to participate in the 24-hour race.
Freshman Kat Miner said she’s familiar with Questival because her brother had done it in the past. “I was already talking to my roommates about it,” she said. “Even if we don’t win, it’ll be fun to get out of the house.”
Li and his friend, Ryan Giles, run an Instagram page called @byudogood where they create weekly videos of them finding people that would take up previous Questival challenges. Li said they try to “keep students on their toes” so they can be “ready for adventure at any moment.”
