Gear Rooms and Other Bits | ODC Newsletter 3/31/24

Fancy seeing you here ODC,

I am FINALLY done with midterms and have never been more relieved. One day I will learn to not procrastinate 6-page papers until the day they are do, but until I face real consequences for my actions, my behavior will persist. (If you are one of my professors reading this, this is a joke and a lie and not a legally binding statement—I would never do that.)

I had an epic trip to Morven yesterday (shoutout to farming!) (pretty crazy that we can just grow food out of the ground am I right?), and I got sooo many veggies that I’m going to turn into a salad this week so be on the lookout for an update on its deliciousness level on a scale from dirt to dessert (measurement scale subject to adjustment)! (I also saw a mole! And a rat.) Not to mention, even though it rained a little this afternoon, my paddle boarding trip to Ragged was BALLER and full of good company and pretty sights. Yay going outside!

I have been reminded just how nice it is to get away from my phone, so I’ve been contemplating pulling an Adam Dirting by turning it to greyscale. Will Sarah finally shed her iPad kid ways? Only time will tell…

Stay tuned for updates in next week’s email spam.

– Sarah

 

 

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Call for DEI committee members!

• Are you interested in helping Outdoors Club grow as a diverse, equitable, and inclusive space? Join the DEI committee! We meet ~monthly to plan collabs with other diverse organizations, discuss ways to improve the club, and more, based on what the club needs/wants. The more voices we have, the better
• If this sounds like something you care about, please reach out to me at ygn9bz@virginia.edu OR 5714550721 and I can add you to the groupme 🙂

NEW GEAR (oh my!)

• Come on into the gear room to check out some of our new stuff such as backpacking packs in womens small and extra small sizes! Our FryBake lightweight dutch oven! Trekking poles! (great for your knees and clout with retirees!) And fun new chalk bags! (patterns are Victor Lu approved)

Submit to The Scrawl!!!!

• ODC’s long lost newsletter is coming back! It’s by ODC for ODC, which means that we can’t have an epic final product without your help. So if you’re feeling called to action, send in a submission (trip reports, recipes, poems, articles, games, art, etc.) using this form by April 23rd to be put in our new and improved Scrawl! 
  • For more info, refer to the announcement from March 27th.

Enter the Photo Contest…

• Send us your photos using this form!
• Pictures must have been taken on ODC trips between May 2023 and the closing date of the contest, April 18th, 2024. If you already have them, great, and if not, then grab a camera (or your phone) and document your next club outdoor adventure! There’s no limit to the number of pictures you submit SO SEND ‘EM ALL!

3/31 Officer Meeting Notes

• Find them (and read them) here.

 

 

OLD (BUT STILL IMPORTANT) ANNOUNCEMENTS:

WOOOAAAHHH ODC Member DISCOUNTS?!

• You read it right! Anyone who is a member of this lovely club can now get 10% off at High Tor Gear Exchange & Endeavor Cycles here in Charlottesville!
• Super cool mountain-wear brand HIMALI has reached out to us with a sick discount code for 40% off all their stuff!! Check them out and use code UVASendIt40.
• We also have an epic one-use per person promo code with Bedrock Sandals for 20% off online purchases. Use the code “UVAOUTDOOR”!

Gear Requests!!!!!

• Tell us what you want the gear room to buy by filling out this form!

Trip Leader Emails

• If you are a trip leader and have NOT been getting emails from us (about TL potlucks, TL updates) – please request to join the trip leader list serv with this link! We want to keep you in the loop!

Are YOU in the GroupMe?

• Join it here!

Donations

• Did you know that you or your parents who want to know what you’ve been up to at UVA or your grandparents who were around when backpacking was invented can DONATE to ODC at any time ?? Donate here!

 

 

GEAR RESOURCES AND POLICY

This Week’s Gear Room Schedule:

Monday @ 10am — Max (617-780-1129)
Tuesday @ 5pm — Ed (434-326-8868)
Wednesday @ 1:30pm — Mitch (804-955-8990)
Thursday @ 4pm — Cam (703-488-8892)
Friday @ 10am — Renee (703-850-9725)

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!

MISC. GEAR INFO:

• Before returning gear, refer to the GEAR CLEANING DOC!
  • If you return damaged, dirty, or incomplete gear, you will jeopardize your ability to check out gear in the future. It is your responsibility to return your gear in the condition you received it.
• Please refer to our reimbursement policy here.
• You can check our gear inventory here.
• Want to check out 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 to the 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 (if it feels like you maybe shouldn’t be there, you’re in the right place) → walk up the stairs → End: knock on the door!
• Map to Gear Room

 

 

ADVENTURE OF THE WEEK!!!

DOUBLE OR NOTHING CAVING WEEKEND

• From Allie: “Hey lovely people! Here is your weekly run down of the caving trips…. you can be featured as well, join caving ;). Trip One- Bones, Bacon, and Bats Oh My! Kee Cave. Five of us ventured into Kee Cave for the first time! I solo led (Allie) with the help of having a sick crew! We explored tight passages and tricky climbs, chilled out with bats, found some cool bones, and awed over bacon cave formations. Trip Two- Pussy Power + 2 Guys. Lowmoor Cave. Five of us again ventured into Lowmoor mine and cave, led by me (Allie) and Josh! We explored the mine, mine overlook, visited Frank the frog (which somehow transformed into two mini franks?!) and then ventured into the cave! We had so much fun exploring Pussy’s Crawl that we stayed in the cave way longer than planned!! That left only 30 minutes to nap. Yet the 30 minutes in complete darkness and quiet led to the best sleep I’ve gotten all semester! I hope to see you all caving soon!”

 

• How to be featured:
  • 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 stoked to see what y’all get up to, but PLEASE (please!) do not take pictures of people without their consent (and don’t submit them to us without their consent).
  • Try and submit pictures as .jpeg files if possible! (not .heic live photos!)

Who will be the next ADVENTURE OF THE WEEK???

 

 

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 (emails can soon!).

• Climbing:
  • Melu (alt7yjh@virginia.edu)
  • Abby (als6qm@virginia.edu)
• Caving
  • Renee (rle6juc@virginia.edu)
  • Aidan (ajw3ttr@virginia.edu)
• Biking
  • Max Titov (uhg2nv@virginia.edu)
• Hiking/Backpacking
  • Grace (gag4jaz@virginia.edu)
  • Ed (eba4ksx@virginia.edu)
• Water Sports
  • Mitch – All (mcl2hxw@virginia.edu)
    Marion – Kayaking & Rafting (mtd6tx@virginia.edu)
• Trail Running
  • Carson (mxz2fc@virginia.edu)
  • Grace (gag4jaz@virginia.edu)
• Foraging
  • Brian (rpt2fx@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.

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.

Incident Reporting:

• Anything wild or crazy happened on your trips recently, but not in a good way? Fill out this form to let the officers know about incidents or near misses on your ODC trips. Incidents can include but are not limited to: major injuries, extreme/ dangerous weather, or getting lost. We’ll keep it for our records/learning and follow-up if necessary! Here’s the template.
• Check out this swanky guide, aptly entitled “Incident Reporting Form Cheatsheet,” for a how-to on handling common incidents in the woods, and make sure you’re prepared for your next trip!

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 misconduct at the hands of another club member, please report it here. This is including but not limited to misconduct regarding sexuality (including sexual harassment), gender, race, ethnicity, ability, etc.
• Outdoors at UVA’s Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct policy can be found here. Our club Code of Conduct can be found here.

 

 

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,

Sarah and the Officers