Gear Room and Other BIts and Pieces 3-22-26

HELLLLOOOOOOOOO OUTDOOOORS CLUBBBBB

  • SPRGE COMING UP SOON!! April 10-12. SIGN UP AND LEAD TRIPS!
  • Say congrats to our NEW OFFICERS WHOOP WHOOP!:
    • Tess McCallister
    • Ellie Rosenberg
    • Gillian Sullivan
    • Jonathan Beck

Also, a note to anyone who applied and didn’t get it: I didn’t become an officer my first time either! So fret not! Apply again. In fact, many many of us did not become officers after our first application 🙂

The Interview:

Pietro: We’ll start with basic questions. When, where, and who was on the trip.

John: So we started walking at 12:30 at night. We started at Sugar Hollow reservoir, walked south, then west, to the AT, and then north along the AT where we reached Blackrock summit. We then went back downhill to Sugar Hollow.

The trip included George, Afton, and Christian. 21.2 miles. 7 hours of moving time. 4219 feet of elevation gain. I’d say those are the worthwhile metrics. And we went fly fishing, unsuccessfully. 

Pietro: How many hours in before you started to question the existence of a higher power?

John: Well, I went into the trip with an odd mental state from looking at rombatruncated isododecahedrons for hours. So my belief in a caring God was dwindling low. As the trip continued and I saw the beauty contained in those mountains I began to wonder if there really is someone out there looking out and over us. Then, a few short hours later, Will Lankford banged on my door and that’s how I knew God must not exist.

Pietro: Can you explain how the rising of the sun contrasted with your deteriorating mental state

John: Well, I must tell you, from my past experiences that the sun rising is not a moment of ahope. That’s the moment where you realize that night is over, and you have been walking all night. You did not sleep at all. You have been walking all night. And then you get nauseous from the things you consumed beforehand. At least you can turn your headlamp off.

Pietro: I imagine that over the course of your night, you had talking and silence. Can you tell me: what was the most intrusive thought to cross your mind during a moment of silence.

John: 

Pietro: Tell me about your encounters with wildlife

John: Well we were walking down the trail in the beating rain, and we found a salamander. Unfortunately, Christian had accidentally stepped on the salamander and left a gruesome scene of guts and blood splattered on the rocks. In a collective mental state of panic and philosophical worry we pointed fingers and begged each other to do what none of us had the strength to: put it out of its misery. Seeing Afton as a kindred soul to philosophical utilitarianism, we begged her unsuccessfully. Christian, assuming responsibility for his actions, eventually yielded a rock and submitted to his moral assignment. However, before he could continue, I looked him in the eyes and said: “we will give you your space, because you have two options in front of you: end the salamanders’ suffering, or walk away”. (Side note to readers from John: you can talk easily about what you would do from the comfort of your couch, but you can’t really know until your boots are on the ground.) We then walked away. Turning back for a moment, we looked to Christian; in the bright shining spotlight that George’s lamp created there was a violent and dynamic scene of Christian with his arm stretched back above his head that precluded a sharp thud and the end of a story. Christian then took many more minutes to join us as he dug the salamander a grave. Some believe he ate it. 

Pietro: Wow. Afton, any words?

Afton: We reached the summit at 6:12 am, it was dark. 

 

The Usual:

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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

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GEAR RESOURCES AND POLICY

This Week’s Gear Room Schedule:

Monday – Parker 5 pm

Tuesday – Chris 9:15 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:

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

Peace, Love, & Dirt,

Pietro and the Officers

 

 

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