Since 1913, the UVM Outing Club (UVMOC) has provided 4-season wilderness trips, technical skill instruction, and backcountry rental equipment to the UVM community. The OC has evolved drastically over the years... from a small group of students interested in camp craft, leading a few trips each semester to a dynamic organization with more than 120 trained and medically certified leaders, providing over 100 trips annually. The UVMOC also has program specific training and certification opportunities for aspiring student leaders. The Outing Club House is located next to the John Dewey psychology building on Main Campus. The OC also operates the Outing Club Cabin in Bolton, VT; a rustic meeting and training facility. The Outing Club House operates throughout the academic year and summer. Remember, every UVM student is a member of the Outing Club! We openly invite all UVM students to come to the OC house, sign up for a trip, eat some pancakes and stay for a meeting!
The mission of the University of Vermont Outing Club is to provide affordable, wilderness-based trip experiences, equipment rental, skill instruction, leadership development and community learning opportunities to UVM students. UVMOC trips and programs are organized by and developed for UVM students. In fulfilling this mission as a Student Government Association (SGA) funded organization, it is our further goal to promote safe enjoyment & responsible stewardship of our natural environment. As a large group that causes a lot of impact regularly, it is also our responsibility to create a sustainable and eco-aware community. We are committed to offering trips at all skill levels. From a day hike on Camel’s Hump to instructional mountaineering trips abroad, we provide all the technical gear, transportation, food and instruction you need.
We believe a healthy student organization values involvement from all identity groups. We believe a healthy community is diverse, inclusive and celebrates what makes each of us unique. We believe wilderness experience is tied to care for the environment, commitment to social justice and ultimately to the health of our global community. We are committed to making the Outing Club community as welcoming as possible, especially to historically underrepresented groups. We value a growing community that includes students from diverse backgrounds in regard to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, gender identity and expression, and class. Likewise we work to uphold the community ideals outlined in UVM’s statement of values titled “ Our Common Ground” (see above). OC Leaders are dedicated to creating a safe and fun environment for all UVM students to engage in wilderness based peer education.
In the spring of 2012, as the UVM Outing Club approached its centennial anniversary, Madison Gilmore ’12 delved into the OC’s rich history for a college honors project, working with English Professor Greg Bottoms. “I became so immersed in the world I entered each time I cracked open a dusty edition of the Ariel yearbook or turned the browning pages of a student manual that, one night, I dreamt that I was riding to the mountain in the used hearse that the club purchased in the 1950s to meet its transportation needs,” Gilmore writes in her introduction. The following pages draw from her compendium to offer glimpses of that history and reminders of the fun, glory, and life lessons experienced by all who have hiked, climbed, paddled, skied, or driven the hearse with the University of Vermont Outing Club.
Read the Article Here.