Members of the Class of 2001 will begin arriving on campus on Sept. 3 for their Dartmouth Outing Club trips, described by Gus Moore '99 as a night in Hanover, "two nights with cous-cous and burritos and a final night with the lodge crew."
Moore, who helped plan the trips for this year, said trip leaders and crews are getting excited for trips.
Liz Gerber '98 is the trips director this year.
Moore said the trips director starts planning for freshmen trips Fall term by "getting the ball rolling" on working with the administration -- organizing facilities and discussing the previous year's trips with deans.
He said the trips director also coordinates with Vermont Transit in the fall -- a year early -- since they require five of its buses for two full weeks to transport trippees.
Moore the director begins organizing the computer system that keeps track of all trips information in the Winter term.
In the spring, all freshmen, wait-listed students and transfer students receive DC trips mailings, Moore said. He said one trip each year is specifically dedicated to transfers.
Moore said about 1,000 incoming freshmen applied to participate in DOC trips this year. He said usually about 94 percent of the class apply for trips, but only about 90 percent actually go.
Trip leader applications are due at the beginning of Spring term, he said, and about 400 people applied for 165 trip leader positions.
All trip leaders must go on a training trip Spring or Summer term if they have not led a freshmen trip before, Moore said. "It re-simulates freshmen trips -- they go out with trained leaders and they are the trippees."
He said the leaders state their preferences as to which trip they would like to lead, but often the decisions are based on energy levels and who works well together, since many trips have multiple leaders. If a trip has two leaders, they are always one male and one female, he added.
The 20-student Hanover crew and 20-student lodge crew are also selected in the spring from a large pool of applicants. Each crew stays on for two weeks greeting new freshmen and teaching them the Salty Dog Rag, among other things.
Two safety directors also help out during trips, making sure First Aid kits go out with each group and performing emergency rescues, if necessary, Moore said.
"Last year we had one rescue, and this year we're expecting less," he said. "The trippees look like a healthy bunch."
"Summer is just nuts," Moore said. He said the trips director position becomes a full-time job then, as incoming freshmen are matched with trip.
He said almost half the trips are strenuous or moderate hiking or lower-level hiking, but many students initially sign up for climbing, canoeing and kayaking trips.
Climbing trips can only accommodate about 70 students, Moore said, but several hundred apply for them.
New last year was a trip to Dartmouth's organic farm where students eat, swim, harvest and walk around the farm, Moore said. He said it was so popular they plan to offer two more sections of the trip next year.
Moore said the actual trips stay the same for the most part each year, although sometimes the director chooses new trails.
"The job is humongous, gargantuan," Moore said." For two students to do it is impossible, so we build a lot on what happens the year before, but every director instills changes."
This year, he said, Gerber added a new trail.
He said last year's director, Chris Carbone '97, changed the menus of what food trippees take out on the trails and added an extra training day for leaders before trips.
Gerber was unavailable for comment.
