MIT Outing Club

Camelot Bunkhouse Project 2024

A core part of the MITOC community, and in particular our access to the mountains, continues to be our well-loved “Camelot” cabin, located in central New Hampshire. As you may know, Camelot was built in the 1970s (on a shoestring budget), and it is nearing the end of its useful life. Since 2013, the Outing Club has been working to build new, safe and modern sleeping quarters on the Camelot property, which will ensure that MITOC can fulfill our mission for decades to come.

MITOC partnered with Maclay Architects to design a new bunkhouse for Camelot which will be located approximately 100m from the existing cabin. The new bunkhouse will contain five bedrooms (sleeping ten persons each), a large central hallway, and a covered deck. We anticipate the cost of the new bunkhouse to be approximately $500,000.

With the design now complete, we are actively seeking donations. If you are able, please consider donating to help us hit our fundraising target in 2024. We are breaking ground on site preparation in 2024, and fundraising permitting, we will complete the new bunkhouse in late 2024 or early 2025. This project will ensure we can fulfill our mission for the next generation of MITOCers.

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Overview

2024 School of Rock

The MIT Outing Club regularly runs School of Rock (also known as the MITOC Rock Program), a program dedicated to getting climbers outside on real rock. SoR currently runs in two tracks, sport climbing and trad climbing. The sport track is for climbers to learn how to lead bolted sport climbs outside, and the trad track is for those who want to follow and lead trad (traditional gear protected) climbs. Both tracks focus on developing technical competencies and mentor-mentee relationships through a series of weeknight technical review sessions and weekend trips.

Open to MIT Outing Club members - join.

Article about School of Rock Fall 2021: https://news.mit.edu/2021/climbing-new-heights-school-of-rock-mit-outing-club-1208

Application

2024 applications are LIVE here.
We will give preference to MIT students, those that can commit to all or a majority of weekends and TRSs (this is important as the skills build on each other), and our desire to create a diverse climbing community and climbing leader pipeline within MITOC
Unfortunately, we cannot accept everyone that applies. We do our very best to accommodate as many folks as possible, but we typically receive 4-5x the number of applications as we have spots.
If you are accepted, you will need to have an active MITOC membership and to sign the MITOC trips waiver.

Important dates:

Application closes: May 6 11:59pm
Responses of acceptance by: ~May 12
Confirmation of participation and fees paid: May 15

Application FAQs

How should I decide which track to apply for?

Sport track: you have been climbing in the gym or outside for some time, and often try climbs in the 5.8 to 5.11 range on top-rope. You should be comfortable top rope belaying, and may have started lead belaying or lead climbing. You are looking to learn how to lead climb, transfer your climbing technique to outdoor rock, and safely set up and tear down two-bolt anchors. Participants in this track will gain the technical skills to safely lead and clean sport routes.
Trad Track: you have been climbing outside for some time on sport. You already know how to lead climb and lead belay confidently. You may be leading some sport routes in the 10s or harder, or can climb 5.7-5.9 for 45-60 minutes while holding stances to place gear. Participants in this track will gain exposure to placing gear, building natural anchors, and following multipitch climbs.

In short, we encourage applications from folks of all levels of experience! We’re most interested in your stoke and building a wide community of climbers. If you have questions about which track better suits you, please reach out to the climbing chairs at climbing-chair@mit.edu.

What if I don’t have enough experience or just want to try rock climbing outside for the first time?

Come to a Circus! A circus is a weekend of hiking and climbing trips in New Hampshire. It’s a great way to meet fellow outdoorsy folks and check out the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We typically run these once a month, May through October. They will be announced on the main MITOC mailing lists at least two weeks in advance.

You can also keep an eye out for ad hoc climbing gym nights or outdoor trips run by climbing leaders on mitoc-trips.mit.edu, also usually announced on the mailing lists.

Schedule for 2024

Weekend trip dates are final, and will involve camping Saturday night. Each week there will be two local sessions on Tuesday/Thursday from 7-9pm - generally “Technical Review Sessions”, with a mix of classroom-style learning, hands-on practice, and social activities.

Week 1

Tues May 28: TRS, 7-9pm
Thurs May 30: TRS, 7-9pm
Weekend Trip: June 1-2

Week 2

Tues June 4: TRS, 7-9pm
Thurs June 6: TRS, 7-9pm
Weekend Trip: June 8-9

Week 3

Tues June 11: TRS, 7-9pm
Thurs June 13: TRS, 7-9pm
Weekend Trip: June 15-16

Week 4

Tues June 18: TRS, 7-9pm (trad only)
Thurs June 20: Trip reports / social
Open Cabin / Reunion (trad only, optional): June 22-23

Cost

~$125 (exact price TBD), which includes:

Cabin / tent stays
Saturday dinners for weekend trips
Group gear (ropes, quickdraws, cams, etc.)
Does not include transportation, required personal gear (helmet, shoes, harness, etc), or Gunks passes for trad participants.
If the fee is prohibitive, please indicate this on your application.
Program fees help cover the above costs. All leaders are volunteers and are not paid for their time.

COVID

SoR will follow MIT’s latest COVID travel policy and all applicable local regulations at the time of each event.

Disclaimer

Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport, and no amount of instruction or precaution can fully eliminate the associated risks. MITOC is not a guiding service, and this program will not be led by AMGA certified instructors. Mentors in this program are members of the MITOC community who are volunteering to share their experience and knowledge with the rest of the community.