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Last weekend marked the beginning of a special time of year for the Outing Club -- the initiation of new leaders into the community. The first of two HOC Leader training weekends began Saturday morning in the Glen Haus, the Outing Club’s on-campus headquarters. These training weekends run in conjunction with a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification course from SOLO Wilderness Medicine which will take place Oct. 7 and 8. After completing both parts of the certification, the new leaders will be qualified to lead trips for their peers.

Four groups of students participate in backpacking trips, and the College's Marathon Canoe Racing Team takes part in the grueling 90-mile Adirondack Canoe Classic.

Six Hamilton Outing Club (HOC) members who have trained together, led trips in tandem, and have gathered innumerable times in the Glen House are ready to set off in different directions, having secured outdoor leadership positions.

Six current students, six Hamilton alumni, and four employees attended the Northeast Regional Association for Experiential Education (AEE) Conference in Becket, Mass., from April 21 to 23. The regional conference draws educators and students who use experiential methodology to engage with students and participants in and out of the classroom.

After several last-minute changes of plan, an intrepid group of Hamilton Outing Club members spent the first week of spring break backpacking and winter camping in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The plan for the trip originally involved heading south in pursuit of sunshine and warmer weather but as the break drew closer, the forecast deteriorated. With several of inches of wet, slushy snow and shiver-inducing temperatures called for in the Smoky Mountains as far south as North Carolina, trip leader Samuel Bernstein ’17 made the call to head elsewhere.

Hamilton will host the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, a collection of short films about mountain sports and culture, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m., in the Bradford Auditorium, KJ. The screening is sponsored by the Hamilton Outing Club.

The Hamilton Outing Club headed to the Adirondacks on Feb. 5 to take advantage of the colder temperatures needed for ice climbing. The trip was led by Gaby Pilson ’17 and Assistant Director of Outdoor leadership Sarah Weis Jillings. Participants included seasoned climbers as well as some new to the sport.

For the last week of winter break, a small group of Hamilton students set off into the Adirondack backcountry for five days of winter camping in New York’s High Peaks region.

The Hamilton Outing Club held its second leader training course Nov. 5 and 6. The two-day class – in conjunction with the Wilderness First Aid course – qualifies students to lead hiking and backpacking trips.

More than 30 Hamilton Outing Club leaders spent last weekend developing the skills to manage backcountry medical emergencies during a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course taught by instructors from Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities.