The Environmental Outing club has been keeping itself busy this year, but then again, that’s the whole point.
“We just want to get people away from their computer screens,” club President Velvet Young said, “And we also want to get people familiar with the area, a lot of freshmen come from Connecticut and New York and don’t know what to see around here.”
So far this year, the club has been successful, hosting multiple trips every weekend since the semester began. Those trips have included a wide range of activities, from physically demanding outings like hiking and rock climbing to more leisurely methods of taking in the outdoors, such as apple picking and kayaking.
“We’re trying to really explore new outlets, we’ve had a lot of different interests and we’ve been very successful this year,” club treasurer Mike Staron said, “we’re really open to people’s ideas.”
Mike Huan / Contributed Photo: Members of the Environmental Outing Club explore Madame Sherri Castle on Oct. 6, 2013. They also hike around the forest and have plans to ski in the winter.
Both Staron and Young agreed that as members of the club’s executive board, they try to be as responsive as possible to different peoples’ suggestions. They mentioned that a recent member had proposed sledding down Mount Washington, and that they are now looking to set that up in the Spring.
“As a member of the e-board, when people suggest trip ideas, we always do our best to do them,” club member Heather Massed said.
It makes sense that the club is more active in the warmer months, but Staron noted that they find things to do in the winter as well, and are hoping to go on joint trips with the ski team once snowfall arrives.
“We’ve gone snow-shoeing, sometimes things that you’d never considered doing before end up being really cool experiences,” Staron said, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges that come with New Hampshire’s notoriously harsh winters.
“It’s harder to have variety to what we do in the winter because the roads might be bad, or people don’t have the right cold weather gear for certain things,” Staron said.
Young said the people in the club, roughly 25 to 30 students, make the trips that much better.
“It’s a great group of people to hang out with and do cool things outside with,” Young said.
Similarly, Massed said she sees the trips as opportunities to bond with fellow club members. “Earlier this year we went on a two-night hike and we all got really close,” Massed said. “We’ve all made some great friends.”
It’s easy to make friends on the trips when they happen at least once a week. The club gets an impressive amount done despite minimal school support. With a budget of $2,500, members occasionally have to reach into their own pockets to fund trips. However, Young said the school still funds about 80 percent of all expenses.
“Compared to other clubs on campus our budget is pretty small,” Staron said. “We also don’t have an office, which can get annoying. Transportation can sometimes become an issue.”
This year, transportation doesn’t seem to be slowing them down. The editors have big plans for the winter and make their biggest trip in the spring-time every year. The club seems to be achieving its goal of offering an alternative to the couch and TV. Rather than avoiding the sometimes unforgiving Keene weather, they’re embracing it.
Zach Winn can be contacted at zwinn@keene-equinox.com