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 Josh Freeman |
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| Sophomore Lisa Ropke takes advantage of ORGT's climbing wall. The wall is open to the Tech community. |
Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech has grown around a philosophy of participant involvement and a pull-your-own-weight attitude. This philosophy is simple and straightforward, yet it captures the very essence of this unique outdoor recreation program. ORGT's 25 year old program is one of the only university-based programs in the country that is run and organized by students. While most programs rely on independent, commercial outdoor companies to organize excursions, ORGT's variety of professional level trips and instructional courses are led and taught by student volunteers.
Since ORGT is a division of the Student Athletic Complex (SAC), participation expenses are fully covered by the once per quarter student activity fee.
"Everyone's a member of ORGT," explained ORGT Publicity Chair Clint Rhinehart.
ORGT is also unique in that its participants are expected to partake in every aspect of a trip and cooperate fully with the often difficult trip parameters. ORGT organizers stress that participants are not "spoon fed a guided 'cruise ship' experience." In fact, organizers admit that part of the enjoyment of an ORGT trip is the hard work.
"[ORGT participants] don't have people making their lunch... there's nobody to hold their hand," commented Rhinehart.
Yet hard work on ORGT trips goes hand in hand with high safety standards. Student "Trip Leaders" are rigorously trained in the technical skills for their particular outdoor discipline and numerous instructional courses for participants are conducted throughout the quarter. Participants are required to attend multiple classes to learn proper equipment handling and sport specifics. A Wilderness First Aid class will be a new addition to the spring schools itinerary. Interested students should look up the calendar for scheduled schools on-line at www.prism.gatech.edu/~dsadmorg/ or see the bulletin board in the Student Center next to the game room.
ORGT is equipped with everything required to fully participate in a huge array of sports including backpacking, technical caving, rock climbing, white-water kayaking, canoeing, and rafting, sea kayaking, and, the most recent addition, mountain biking. All of ORGT's equipment is housed in the organization's headquarters in the basement of the O'Keefe Gym near the Coliseum. The Triangle, as the headquarters is affectionately called, is also the place to check out non-technical equipment from the Wilderness OutPost (WOP). The WOP rents a variety of basic camping gear, canoes, and six-man rafts to all Georgia Tech students at very cheap rates.
"Almost everyone, at one point or another, has checked out something from the WOP," according to Rhinehart.
The Triangle is also home to ORGT's popular rock climbing wall. The wall, suitable to all skill levels from beginners to experts, is housed under a 25 foot ceiling and over 2,000 square feet of climbing space. Junior Dan Brin, who has utilized the rockclimbing wall on more than one occasion, gives the facility high marks.
"It's a pretty nice wall. The excellent staff were helpful with belaying and other questions. Climbing the wall is only as hard as you make it. I enjoyed myself."
For more information on Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech, interested students can drop by the Triangle, give the WOP a ring, or attend an open ORGT General Committee meeting, held every Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. on the third floor of the Student Center. So, if you're a typical Georgia Tech student who's tired of mandatory servitude to monotonous book work and addictive e-mailing, get outside and get involved with ORGT.