About the Club

weekly meetings: Every Thursday after 9pm in Eastside Bar, Princes Gardens.

What is the Outdoor Club?

The Outdoor Club is a club for anyone who's interested in mountain sports! Our members include climbers, mountaineers, mountain-bikers, walkers, and a number of people who just come along to our social events. Every fortnight during term, the club packs into a minibus (or two) and trundles down the motorway to a hut or campsite somewhere in the British Isles. Regular destinations include North and South Wales, Yorkshire, the Lake District, the Peak district and Cornwall. Our activities include:

  • Rock Climbing
  • Ice Climbing
  • Mountaineering
  • Hill Walking
  • Scrambling
  • Mountain Biking
  • Adventure Racing
  • Canoeing

and the list goes on and on. Not all of these happen every weekend of course - our core activities are climbing, scrambling and walking, but if you want to have a go at something unusual (and you or we have the necessary equipment), suggest it at a meeting and we'll try and sort something out.

I've never done this before - can I join?

Of course! The club caters for all levels of competence. From the "whas'a moun'ain mate?" to the die-hard "I just did an E6 abo with one karabiner and a piece of knotted string" types, whatever your level is, you're welcome!

A large number of our new members come along because they want to learn to climb. If this is you, then we invite you to come along and learn the basic techniques (use of equipment, belaying, climbing calls, etc) in the comfortable environment of one of our Wednesday trips to a climbing wall (see what's on?). You'll find it much easier to learn things there than at the bottom of a cliff in North Wales!

What kit do I need?

The Club owns a lot of equipment, thanks to the generosity of Imperial College Union. We can provide ropes, harnesses, helmets, tents, mattresses, ice-axes, crampons, maps, compasses, survival bags, guidebooks, canoes, surfboards, most of a lead rack, rock boots (limited) and lots more. There are things that you will have to provide yourself though; most importantly:

  • a warm sleeping bag (or risk freezing to death!)
  • a good pair of strong boots
  • some waterproofs (no, a plastic cape won't do!)
  • warm clothes
  • a decent rucksack
  • a water bottle (a couple of coke bottles will probably do...)

Without these, there may not be any activities on the trip that you can take part in. For a comprehensive overview of gear, see the gear page!

How much does it cost?

The membership fee is £14 which gives you use of club equipment and entitles you to travel subsidies, but we're so sure you'll like the Club, you only have to pay it on your second trip. (You can still use our equipment on trips if you haven't joined, but you won't be elegible for any union subsidy, so the trip will cost you £10 more.) Come one more than two weekends and you won't enjoy a cheaper weekend!!!

You'll be surprised to know that weekends usually cost only about £ 30! This includes food, transport, accommodation and snacks (for the long walks). This is less money than an average weekend in London would set you back! Obviously the beer is not included, but then prices out in the sticks are much more reasonable...

Where and when do we meet?

Our weekend trips depart on Friday evenings (meet under Beit Quad Arch at 5 pm) and get back late on Sunday nights, so we make the most of the weekend! Go to the trips page for up-to-date details.

What about food?

All food is included in the cost of the trip, except for meals on Friday and Sunday nights, when we usually go to a take-away on the road.

Very important: If you're a veggie, don't forget to tell us otherwise we won't know, will we? The club caters for vegetarians (and we'll do our very best to accommodate any other dietary requirements you may have), but you need to tell us before we go on the trip so we can buy appropriate food so that you can have nice full meals. Aren't we kind?

Tours?

During the holidays, the club organizes longer trips away. At Christmas we usually head for snow & ice in Scotland to do some more serious winter mountaineering and ice climbing (previous walking or climbing experience and proper boots and clothing required). Easter is often more of the same, but in recent years Mallorca has been a popular destination: long walks, hard climbs, caves and sunshine make it a fine option. The Summer Tour is the highlight of the year. We head off to the Alps for two weeks of real mountaineering. For many people in the club, this is what it's all about!

Is it safe?

We have an excellent safety record in the Outdoor Club: blisters are not unusual, but serious accidents are unheard of! Nevertheless, please remember, when on a weekend you are responsible for your actions. You should be aware of the risks and of your responsibilities, and we will ask you to sign your agreement to the BMC participation statement. You will also have to sign the club's participation and equipment, which you can download here (Word doc).

Have a look at the climbing safety page...

What's in it for me?

You'll get to visit most of Great Britain (and perhaps other countries), in a friendly and hassle-free atmosphere. You'll learn vital survival techniques and safety practises that'll help get you home in one piece. If you want to learn to climb you'll learn belaying, climbing methods and how to use gear. (Please come to one of our Wednesday afternoon climbing sessions if you want to learn and pick up the basics before you try it for real!)

If you're an experienced climber or mountaineer, you'll get to continue your passion for the sport with people like you. We'll invite you to try new techniques or new sports like ice climbing or caving, and you'll be able to borrow the club's kit if you need it for a trip outside the club.

More importantly, you'll get to meet new people at Imperial outside your year and with similar interests. You'll find that club members come from all over the world and have all kinds of backgrounds. The friends you'll make at the club are long term friends, and when you leave College and enter 'Real Life', we hope you'll come back occasionally and climb with us!

Not Convinced?

If you're still not sure, just come along to one of our weekly meetings (Thursdays at 9pm in Eastside Bar) and see for yourself. Alternatively, visit the forum or e-mail us with your questions - we'll answer them as soon as possible!

About the site

This website was running relatively smoothly until 2001 when things started to go downhill because it was not being updated. In 2005 it was refurbished and made up-to-date. It uses as little javascript as possible and some PHP, mostly for the random loading of images at the sides and to keep editing/adding pages simple. It is compliant with CSS2 (validate) and XHTML 1.1 (validate) standards set by the W3C and displays fine in Opera, Gecko-based browsers and Internet Explorer 5+. It does not display properly in Netscape 4.x or Internet Explorer 4.x, but to be honest, those are pretty old.