Gear Rooms and Other Bits | ODC Newsletter 3/13/23

Hello Beautiful ODC Humans!

Hey y’all! I hope you had a wonderful and restful spring break. I want to use this usually silly opener to plug an important resource that the officers have recognized not many of y’all know about. Our DEI Committee’s biweekly meetings host a club Town Hall where you can voice any questions, concerns, or comments you may have about ODC and how it is operating in an open forum with officers and club members. This is a great opportunity to have your voice heard in a club that we acknowledge can often feel large and sometimes out of touch. Please scroll down to the announcements tab to learn more.

Peace, love, and dirt

~ mitch

 

 

ANNOUCEMENTS:

Moab Gear!

  • Please bring your gear from Moab/break back to the gear room ASAP! Thank you for being kind to our inanimate inorganic gear friends and returning them to their homes.

Gear Room Time Changes!

  • Will’s gear room this Tuesday will be at 3:30pm instead of 11 am!
  • Mitch’s gear room this Thursday will be at 8pm instead of 5 pm!

Bi-Weekly DEI Meetings and Club Town Hall!

  • DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) committee is meeting from 5-6 pm on Sunday the 26th in New Cabell 183. It is open to all club members with a TOWN HALL portion at the end of the meeting. If you have any comments/concerns/questions about the club that you want to share, feel free to show up unannounced! You don’t even need to be there for the beginning. If you can’t make it to the meetings, or have any questions, please reach out to Melu directly (alt7yjh@virginia.edu).

OFFICER APPLICATIONS!!!

  • It’s upon us! the officer corps will be reviewing officer applications post-Moab and we would love to see yours! If you’re passionate about the club and getting people outside, find the application form in the Resources tab of our website! All levels of outdoor experience are highly encouraged to apply! APPLY BY SUNDAY THE 19TH TO BE CONSIDERED THIS ROUND!

What are you doing this St. Patty’s Day!??!?!

  • What?! What is this buried in the email announcements? A party announcement that’s usually like the first or second thing on the email? No way! Keep your eyes glued to your inbox for details on a social event that can only be described as a “Chill Darty Kickback Shenanigan” happening this Friday afternoon. Mention code word “iguana25” to any officer to let them know you read ALL the email announcements.

Wilderness First Aid Courses!

  • Our friends over at MEDIC SOLO are offering some WFA courses in cville soon! April 15-16, 2023 and June 10-11, 2023. ODC will reimburse the cost of WFA/WFR if you lead six trips outside the “golden hour”. Please email the officers (outdoors-officers@virginia.edu) beforehand if you would like to apply for this reimbursement.
  • See www.solowfa.com for details and to register!

 

 

 

GEAR RESOURCES AND POLICY

Gear Room Schedule:

Mon: (3/13) 3:30 pm —> Sophia Benmhend (202) 644-0304
Tues: 3:30 pm —>  Will Lankford (202) 321-1197
Weds: 1:00 pm —> Phillip Reeves (571) 332-3740
Thurs: 8:00 pm —>  Mitch Lang (804) 955-8990
Fri: 9:15 am —> Ed Aten (434) 326-8868

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.

This schedule will ideally be consistent throughout the semester, however, changes may occur. You may stop by the gear room to check out or return gear and be reimbursed at any of the times listed above.  Please text the officer leading the gear room if you will be late. 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!

BEFORE RETURNING GEAR REFER TO THE GEAR CLEANING DOC BELOW

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bUsjBA8Hy_MyyoLGIpkYciH3lTVKB-9fjO2ZfhXowdY/edit

If you return damaged, dirty, or incomplete gear, you will jeopardize your ability to check out gear in the future. It is your responsibility, not the officers, to return your gear in the condition you received it.

Please refer to our reimbursement policy here.

You can check our gear inventory here.

If you want to check out any water sports gear or a mountain bike, please email the officers at outdoors-officers@virginia.edu. They are stored at separate locations. We ask that you give at least 24 hours notice.

Gear is due one week from when it is checked out unless renewed by an officer at a gear room. Keeping gear past its due date is a UVA Honor Offense. Club trips have priority access to gear.

Directions: Map to Gear Room

Start at Echols Dorm

Go right on McCormick

Turn right on Alderman Rd

Take a left on Leake Drive

Walk to the end of the road. There are several buildings and parking on either side.

Pass a picnic table on the right. Keep going!

Walk straight to the first big maintenance building directly ahead. Walk behind the building on the left side. Walk up the stairs

End: Knock on the door.

 

 

TRIP RESOURCES AND REMINDERS

Leading Trips:

To become a trip leader, thoroughly read the Trip Leader Manual (resources page of the website) and send the officers an email (outdoors-officers@virginia.edu) letting them you know you have done so. They will then activate you on the website! Alternatively, come to a Trip Leader Workshop, lead by the officers several times each semester and posted on the website.

As a reminder, climbing, caving, mountain biking, and whitewater trips have special rules to lead! To learn more about types of trips and to become an approved trip leader for the sports listed above, feel free to contact the club’s Sport Advisors.

If you have questions about how to lead trips, take some time to read through the Leaders Manual and 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.

Absences:

Please be aware that if you are joined on a trip, and you do not show up, or you drop out at the last minute, you are depriving another member of a spot on that trip.

No-shows and last-minute absences not only hurt trip attendance, but they also make logistics more complicated.

If a member is reported for two absences, trip leaders are permitted to take this into account when moving people off wait lists.

Sexual Harassment and Equity Reporting:

Outdoors at UVA is committed to providing a safe and welcoming space for everyone to enjoy the outdoors. If you feel you or another have experienced sexual or gender-based violence or misconduct at the hands of another club member, you can report the misconduct here.

If you feel you or another have experienced harassment based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc. at the hands of another club member, you can report the misconduct here.

Outdoors at UVA’s Sexual Misconduct policy can be found on our Resources webpage and is linked here. Our policy for harassment and discrimination is here.

 

 

ADVENTURE OF THE WEEEEEEK!!!

  • Thanks to everyone who submitted for Adventure of the Week!! We received many, but there can be only one. This weeks AOTW comes from Rory’s trip to Crossroads Cave a few weeks ago!

  • From Renee E: Rory led his first caving trip to Crossroads cave! We had a great time chatting with cavers from VCU and Philadelphia. We explored a deep section of the cave that we’d never been to before, featuring a big passage and hundreds of roots growing through the ceiling and walls. It was a magical experience!

(Instructions)

Each week we’ll feature a different adventure that happened within the previous 7 days. To be featured, send us (outdoors-officers@virginia.edu) a couple of pictures of you and your pals adventurin’ and a little blurb about what you did!

We’re reallllllllly stoked to see what y’all get up to – but please. Do not take pictures of people without their consent. And don’t submit them to us without their consent. Don’t be a creep and a weirdo. Try and submit pictures as .jpeg files if possible! (not .heic live photos!)

Who will be the next ADVENTURE OF THE WEEK?!?! we await your submissions!

 

 

OTHER JAWN.

Social Media:

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

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

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

Email Social Chair Shay Utzinger (smu5dv@virginia.edu) with any trip pictures to be featured on the club Instagram!!!!!