Harvard Outing Club

Do you want to learn to lead outdoors trips?  Do you like sporks, campfire singalongs, or fiddling on top of mountains? Do you want a guaranteed spot on HOC trips?   If you anwered yes to any of the above, consider applying for the fall 2008 HOC Leader Training Program!

Click here to download the Fall 2009 Leader Training Application!

Applications are due this September 25 at midnight! To apply, complete the application and email it to Michael Hersher.

The curriculum
Since 2005, the Harvard Outing Club has helped Harvard students get themselves outside through a leader training program. If you are a Harvard undergraduate, graduate student, or other community member who will be in Cambridge next year, consider learning the skills you'll need to lead HOC trips of your own! The training will consist of 3 evening workshops, a Skills Day, a winter skills weekend trip, and a weekend backpacking training trip. The topics we'll cover along the way include:

• Backcountry cooking
• Leave no trace
• Navigation with map and compass
• Setting up camp
• Cool knots
• Expedition planning (large or small)
• Co-leading
• Environmental hazards and safety
• Winter backcountry travel
• Group dynamics
• Emergency management (and prevention!)

All leader trainees must complete a 3-hour CPR course and a 2-day SOLO Wilderness First Aid course. Both CPR and Wilderness First Aid are open to any community members, not just HOC leader trainees.

What we're looking for
We don't require that applicants have tons of hiking experience. We are looking for people who have sound judgment and are excited about being involved with the Outing Club and getting outside. You must be able to lead trips next year, and the idea of leading official HOC trips at least twice a semester should genuinely excite you! And you'll need to be able to commit the time to leading said trips. (Most will be day trips or one-night overnights.)

We'd also like you to come to our weekly meetings on a fairly regular basis, because we really like to hang out with our trainees! We're looking for applicants who want to become meaningfully involved with the Outing Club, and who might eventually be interested in officer positions. HOC training is not just an outdoor skills teaching program; we expect you to make a commitment to the club, just as we are making a commitment to you!

If any of this sounds interesting to you, download the application and take a peek!

A quick note for those of you applying to FOP:

We encourage you to apply to to the HOC program as well right now, or you can wait until you hear from FOP. The applications are similar, so it's easy to apply for both. If you are accepted to FOP, you should know that FOP leaders are qualified to lead HOC trips, so it probably wouldn't make sense to do both programs.
In terms of training, FOP focuses more on interpersonal leadership skills and we'll be featuring more winter skills. If you get accepted to FOP and also want to learn winter skills, then just come on a trip with us and we'll be happy to teach you!