Gear Rooms and Other Bits | ODC Newsletter 9/4/23

Hooligans of ODC,

Welcome to the 3rd weekly email of the year! I’m coming to you live from my apartment, in which I have been locked for too many days. #whydoeseveryoneatthisschoolhavecovid? Time is a bit of a construct to me in my DIY quarantine ward/prison cell, so apologies on a bit later of a weekly email this time around. Sooo without further ado… here’s the info you’ve been hankering for! Hope you’re all staying healthy 🙂

– Sarah “please release me from COVID quarantine” Dowling

P.S. I’ve been considering an email name change to spruce things up a little, so if you have any ideas, email the officers! (wink)

 

 

ANNOUCEMENTS:

Gear Room Time Change

  • Tuesday gear rooms are now at 3pm & Wednesdays are at 5pm!

More Gear Checkout Policy Changes

  • Gear checkouts for technical climbing gear beyond shoes, helmets, harnesses, chalk, and belay devices can only be checked out by members who are LEADING TRIPS.
  • Items with *limited* personal checkouts from now on:
    • Rafts (2x per semester)
    • Crash Pads (4x per pad per semester)
  • With this, a reminder: for water sports and mountain bike checkouts, please reach out to the officers at outdoors-officers@virginia.edu! Gear questions and checkouts should go through our email whenever possible.

Creekathon Returns on September 24!!

  • Our bi-annual grill n’ chill at Walnut Creek Park will be on Sunday September 24!!! Stay tuned for a trip announcement this week!!

As Always, BRING BACK YOUR GEAR!

  • Did you borrow something this spring and forget to bring it back? Maybe sometime this summer? Well, here’s your opportunity (and friendly reminder) to return your club gear to a gear room this week or email the officers (outdoors-officers@virginia.edu) to schedule a return time.

Gear Requests!

  • From Mitch: “Hello gear gremlins! If you have items of outdoor gear that you would like to see purchased by the club, please fill out the form below!”
  • Google Form OR Microsoft Form

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!

Are YOU in the GroupMe?

Officer Meeting Notes

 

 

GEAR RESOURCES AND POLICY

This Year’s Gear Room Schedule:

Mondays @ 12pm — Max St. Clair (617-780-1129)
Tuesdays @ 3pm — Mitch Lang (804-955-8990)
Wednesdays @ 5pm — Ed Aten (434-326-8868)
Thursdays @ 8:30pm — Evelyn Needham (303-944-5484)
Fridays @ 3:15pm — Renee Erickson (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

 

 

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)
      Jade – Paddleboarding (jma9x@virginia.edu)
      Marion – Kayaking & Rafting (mtd6tx@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.

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.

 

 

DOUBLE ADVENTURE OF THE WEEK!!!

Now THIS is unprecedented. DOUBLE adventure of the week, and they were BOTH led by the one, the only, VICTOR!!! *Furious applause*

Trip #1: Breathing Cave!

“Victor led us on a trip to Breathing cave, which was nearly everyone’s first time there. We saw lots of cool formations and went through several well-known features, including The Nutcracker and a sketchy ladder climb. We also had fun on the beautiful hike there, had berries in the parking lot, and got Mexican food together on the drive home.” -Renee

Trip #2 (I make the rules here, bucko): Reed’s Creek Climbing!

“This Sunday Victor took a budding group of climbers up to Reed’s Creek. Many of them had never climbed outside and those who had quickly jumped in to supporting and teaching the new climbers. They sent routes such as Welcome to Reed’s Creek and a Walk in the Park, a personal highlight being Winter Harvest. From first top rope experiences to 5.7 leads this group did it all with enthusiasm and endless stoke.” -Ed

  • 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(s)???

 

 

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