The Annual Koenig Moab Trip 2018!

OVERVIEW

Happy winter break ya goons. Get pumped because we’ve got quite the Christmas present for you: MOAB!!!

This trip is honoring our fellow officer, climbing-instructor-extraordinaire, and founder of this trip, Matthew Koenig! Matthew started this annual trip back in 2015 and through it has passed on his passion for adventure to countless club members. We hope to lead this trip in the future the way he has in years past. He is, and always will be, an exemplary officer in this club. We owe this all to you, Matthew!!

~~~~~ TRIP DESCRIPTION ~~~~~
Approximately 35-40 of us will head out to Utah over spring break to spend a week(ish) camping on the banks of the Colorado River and going hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, climbing, canyoneering, bouldering, trail running, fire-side jamming, and assorted other adventures.

Our campsite will be a short drive from the town of Moab, and, more importantly, will be within close driving distance of Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Not to mention the world class rock-climbing, mountain biking, and canyoneering outside of the parks. Unlike the New River Gorge Extravaganza, adventures each day are played by ear, so you can choose your own adventure as you go! Trip attendees will informally join up to go do an assortment of rad things in the surrounding area, and each day after everyone gets back from their shenanigans we will all reconvene at the campsite to cook dinner, delight in a nice fire, and enjoy good company.

Because the “get up and decide what to do today” nature of this trip distributes a bit of activity planning responsibility onto everyone, having some amount of experience and comfort in one of the activities offered is helpful, but not necessarily required. If you’re worried about this for any reason, hit us up.

Check out this video from our 2016 trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cupDiY_xy90

~~~~~ LOGISTICS ~~~~~

LOTTERY: Because this trip is logistically intensive, and we have many more people who want to attend than spaces available, we use a lottery system to determine attendees. Quick refresher: every person who signs up gets 2 entries into the lottery, with an extra point for every trip lead this semester and a multiplier for fourth years. For a more thorough explanation of the lottery system, see Zakey’s previous Moab announcement email.

DRIVING: This trip absolutely depends on our drivers! Drivers will get priority selection and a hefty tip as a thank you for supplying their vehicle. The club will pay for all gas, will give you a $20 driver tip (as per normal club policy), will make your reimbursement for the trip fee the first priority with leftover funds, and will pay for a normal-priced oil change. Because we are compensating for the risk with driver benefits, any mechanical failures during the trip are not to be covered with club or trip funds! So make sure it’s ready to roll for several thousand miles. The drive itself is formidable – it takes about 30 hours with bathroom/food breaks. However, it isn’t all that bad since most cars will have a rotation of 4 drivers, which allows for naps in between driving shifts.

FOOD: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be included in the cost of the trip for Sunday night through Friday night. We can accommodate for allergies, vegetarians, and other dietary restrictions.

FEE: The cost of this trip is $300/person. This covers the gas/transportation for the whole trip, meals, the campsite, and, of course, all necessary club gear. Leftover funds will go first to reimbursing drivers, with any remaining funds will be evenly split among the rest of the attendees.

TIMELINE:
Joining this adventure enters you into the lottery for the trip. Once we have a better idea of the driver situation and thus the number of people we can take, we will conduct the lottery on Jan. 14th, before the semester starts so that everybody has time to plan around spring break. You MUST join this adventure if you want to attend! We’ll send out a reminder before the lottery so that nobody misses out!

If you have any questions or concerns, first make sure you have read ALL of the above, then feel free to contact your faithful trip leaders so we can help ya out.
Zakey Faieq (zaf2xk@virginia.edu)
Rhaude Dahlinghaus (sd5hb@virginia.edu)

“ “So, in conclusion,
Ride or Die
– Zakey Faieq”
-Rhaude Dahlinghaus”