Gear Room and Other Bits and Pieces 2-1-26

Hello Snow Gremlins,

I have written a long long aside. But for the sake of efficiency and not getting yelled at by Madame President Parker I have put it under the announcements. Read it at your own luxury.

DISCO COWBOY PARTY THIS FRIDAY (1/6/26)!!!

Party this friday, theme: disco cowboy. There will be more information coming soon! But, attendance is mandatory for every single person. Starts at 9:30 😝đŸȘ©đŸ€ 

TRIP OF THE WEEK

Check out Eveleyn’s snow/icy tour of the UVA gardens!

COOL SPECIAL UNIQUE ONE OF A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY

https://www.resilientappalachia.org/design-challenge Join Social Entrepreneurship at UVA, Patagonia, and the Nature Conservancy for a social enterprise design challenge to imagine pro-nature and environmentally positive social enterprises. Up to $1000 in prizes and networking opportunities with leadership from top national conservation orgs! RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qXA9tmRc_lZNxYmQJ2yka6rM0yOI1nI_yygJ75qA_HY/viewform?edit_requested=true  for a Design Sprint from 3-5 pm in the Great Hall of Garrett Hall on April 6th. 

ODC RECIPE BOOK (yummy yummy in my tummy)

A short tale about a man named Brad:

Imagine a lone man and his horse riding on some picturesque sunset. Nothing special about this scene, you’ve seen it in every other movie. Lets zoom in, up close, and appreciate his appearance: he has a lasso on his hip, his hands are calloused, and his eyebrows are unkempt. He has a bandage on his arm and a tired look over his eyes. These are all facts that you and I can agree on. Give him a mirror, and he will also agree. He is 47 years old and has three kids and has been married twice and has a brother. Facts, again. His name is Brad. Per the papers, that’s also indisputable.

Now we’re going to leave this scene and allow our lone horseman to carry on into the sunset. We zip across the country and incredible speeds (0.700c, to be precise) and find ourselves across from his old classmate Ron. Ron describes him to us as a weathered and tough cowboy, a mean muchacho you don’t want to cross. Because Ron says this, and Ron knows him better than us, we will accept it as fact. 

But now let’s zip across the Atlantic and meet his first wife, Melinda. She regales us of his tales: he would dance over tables, spin on countertops, and bellow his heart out at any local disco club. His snazzy fits were always eye catching, and his dance moves mesmerizing. Melinda was married to Brad, and due to their former unity, we will also accept this as fact.

So who is Brad? The lone man on the sunset? The hardened cowboy who would kill any man who crossed him? The dancing disco aficionado known for his exuberance? How can these contradictions all be true? But they are, we know they are. Brad, to himself, is one man; Brad, to Ron, is another\; and Brad, to Melinda, is a third. But who is Brad to us? What says Brad cannot be all three? Can we meet Brad? 

Well, my dear dedicated reader who has made it thus far, I will not make my pen run further circles around your confused sense of self (and you, reader, are also a different individual for me than you are for you, but that is a matter for Pirandello to convince you of). Let’s end this regale and get to the point: we can meet Brad ourselves. We see the man he is to Ron, the man he is to Melinda, the man he is for himself, and the man he will be to us; we can see them all at once, just this Friday, come the DISCO COWBOY PARTYYYYYYY.

Pietro “distractable” Ciliberto

The Usual:

Are YOU on the Trip Leader Listserv? 

G-G-Gear Requests *Airhorn* 

  • We love buying new equipment for you, but we need you to tell us what you want! Do that here. 

#Anonymous Feedback Form 

  • This form is anonymous and can only be viewed by the DEI Chair. 

GEAR RESOURCES AND POLICY 

This Week’s Gear Room Schedule: 

Monday – Parker 5 pm

Tuesday – Chris 9 am 

Wednesday – Allie 5 pm

Thursday- Afton 9:45 am 

Friday – Max 2:15 pm

If none of these times work for you, please email the officers outdoors-officers@virginia.edu at least 24 hours in advance to schedule a separate time to be let into the gear room. Please only do this if you really can’t make the gear room times, not just because you don’t feel like it or didn’t plan ahead. 

You can stop by the gear room to check out or return gear and be reimbursed at any of the times listed above! Officers remain at the gear room only for as long as people are checking in/out gear (usually about 20-25 minutes). You may also purchase ODC t-shirts, hoo rags, patches, stickers, and more at the gear room! 

Climbing: 

  • Afton Hessian (xfu6vq@virginia.edu)  
  • Evan Kulp (psg5jh@virginia.edu) 

Caving 

  • Allie Shelhammer (kvb8gz@virginia.edu) 

Biking 

  • Susannah Allen (bay6nh@virginia.edu) 
  • George Zach (mba5xz@virginia.edu)

Hiking/Backpacking 

  • Evelyn Lepsch (mph4ca@virginia.edu) 
  • Chris Blonkvist (cej5pq@virginia.edu) 

Water Sports 

  • John Woodward (uce3pa@virginia.edu) 

If you have questions about how to lead trips, refer to the Leading Trips pages under Resources on the club website. 

Want to lead a trip for an under-represented group in the outdoors? Lead an Affinity Trip! See the link for details and guidelines. 

ET CETERA. 

Social Media: 

FB: (https://www.facebook.com/groups/OutdoorsAtUVA/) 

Insta: (https://www.instagram.com/uvaoutdoors/) 

GroupMe: (https://groupme.com/join_group/68250538/0HmzE2tL) 

Peace, Love, & Dirt, 

Pietro and the Officers 

 

Â