News

Hamilton will host the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, a collection of short films about mountain sports and culture, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m., in the Bradford Auditorium, KJ.  The screening is sponsored by the Hamilton Outing Club. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the films start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children under 12, and $10 with a Hamilton ID. The material is appropriate for families.

A group of Hamilton students took advantage of clear blue skies and bright sunshine to snowshoe up Snowy Mountain in the Central Adirondacks on a trip run by the Hamilton Outing Club on  Jan 31.

A group of Hamilton students spent the last week of winter break in the Adirondack High Peaks taking part in the Hamilton Outing Club’s annual Winter Camping Seminar. Participants enjoyed camping, hiking and learning the fundamentals of living outdoors in subzero temperatures.

A group of six intrepid Hamilton students took to the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a variety of winter adventures and explorations. They hiked, did some indoor rock climbing and attempted to summit Mt. Washington, from January 4-11.

Recent alumna and Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker Manique Talaia-Murray ’12 returned to Hamilton on Dec. 1. to talk about her experience hiking 2,600 miles along the West Coast over the course of six months.

The Hamilton Outing Club held a leader-training course on Nov. 1 and 2 with student participants  learning everything from how to set up a tent and cook a meal to the more abstract but equally important skills of group management. Student leaders are at the core of the Outing Club and are central to its success.

The Hamilton Outing Club hosted a screening of the Reel Rock Film Tour, a yearly showcase of films focused on rock climbing and other outdoor adventure sports. In its 9th year, this year’s tour consisted of a single movie–Valley Uprising: Yosemite’s Climbing Revolution, a feature-length documentary following the evolution of rock climbing and the culture surrounding it in Yosemite National Park.

The Hamilton Outing Club (HOC) hosted a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course for around 30 of its leaders on Oct. 25 and 26. In order to become a HOC leader and be eligible to take students out on trips, candidates must take part in a leader-training weekend that covers skills such as trip planning, wilderness cooking, group management and more, and hold a certification in Wilderness Medicine, WFA or higher.

Professional climber and author Majka Burhardt visited Hamilton on Oct. 21. She met with students around campus and at the climbing wall and delivered a lecture on her experiences as a professional outdoor athlete and expedition leader.

Hamilton’s Outing Club runs trips during most weekends and even on some weekdays. These trips are very popular, but limited by the short amount of time available. However, fall break provides a special window of time that allows for longer trips to exciting destinations throughout the Northeast. This fall, three trips took advantage of this time to explore beyond the Adirondacks while doing a variety of exciting activities.