For Dartmouth Outing Club members who yearn to follow in the well-trekked footsteps of College legends John Ledyard and the goofy Dr. Wolfgang Schlitz, but who seek less accessible and costlier adventures beyond the boundaries of the United States, the newly instated Schlitz Adventure Fund may be the answer.
Starting this summer, Outing Club members -- membership extends to roughly one-third of the class of 2005 -- are now eligible to apply for financial backing from the nascent $4000 Adventure Fund, which encourages students to initiate and pursue outdoor adventures abroad and, in return, share their experience with the Dartmouth community.
The Outing Club directorate conceived of the fund after being approached by a group of '04s who requested funding for a trip to South America that would be unaffiliated with Dartmouth. The Directorate had extra budget money to give to the students, but the members realized that there was a dearth of accessible monetary funds for the express purpose of adventuring.
While in the past, the Outing Club infrequently came across applications for adventure funding, in more recent years the Directorate has seen an increase amounting to nearly two to three requests per term, past president Brad Leneis '03 estimated.
In the past, groups applied for funding from the Outing Club, which Leneis referred to as "a collective budget" that finances a handful of sub-groups within the organization.
"The idea was conceived as a way of consolidating the way in which the DOC provides money for their student-based membership," Leneis said.
The Adventure Fund is a "codified way to distribute money fairly and not just for people in the know," according to Leneis, who was serving his term as Outing Club President during the Adventure Fund's birth.
While groups such as the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club and Ledyard have their own funds, the Adventure Fund has its own specific guidelines and aims to reach out to a broader group of students.
Under the tutelage of the Outdoor Programs office, Outing Club Vice President Kate Huyett '05 drafted guidelines for the Adventure Fund. This summer marks the start of a new fiscal year for the Outing Club, and is thus the first term in which students can apply for funding.
The money comes from the general Outing Club budget, as well as the alumni network known as Friends of the DOC and Outdoor Programs.
According to the stipulations drawn up by the program's committee, the fund's $4000 annual budget is to be divided equally between the four Dartmouth terms.
Students may apply as many times as they wish, but will be receive only one grant in their time at Dartmouth. The fund is not intended to cover all expense of a trip, but instead to alleviate costs so that it is attainable to those that wish to participate.
A committee made up of the DOC directorate, the director of Outdoor Programs, the DOC general manager and train, and the heads of all the DOC clubs will meet during the third week of each term to review proposals and allot funds.
"What the club is interested in is what the impact on the rest of the student members will be," Leneis said.
Thus far, its participants have expressed, literally, a world of interest in the fund.
DMC member Barry Hashimoto '06 has applied for retroactive funding for his trip to Peru this summer. He plans to meet Page Kyle '02 in Lima and then climb the Tordillera Bonca-- the highest range of the Andes -- through September with current Outing Club co-president Merrick Johnston '05.
"It's just another step in learning different disciplines in climbing," Hashimoto said of his opportunity to climb "some of the most beautiful mountains in the world."
Furthermore, Hashimoto said that the Adventure Fund provides students with experience in international travel pursuits, including familiarity with altitude differences and the basic logistics of traveling in a different country.
He plans to photograph his venture and share his experience with DOC through a slideshow.
Mike Liroff '05, Director of DOCTours, is planning a trip with a handful of friends to Ladakh, India, for next summer. "It's in the spirit of John Ledyard," he said. "I think the Outing Club runs a lot of trips, but I don't think the College has many opportunities in the regions of northern India, Nepal and Tibet, which are the most dramatic places to do any sort of mountaineering."
And on the continent of Africa, Andrew Hoffman '05 is applying for funding to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania -- the highest point in all of Africa. He is seeking funding because Mt. Kilimanjaro requires a hired guide.
"We have a great idea, a specific goal, but we just don't have the funds on our own," Hoffman said.
