Experience the Outing Club! 

One of the best ways to explore Maine's beauty is by bicycle! There are many miles of peaceful country roads to explore, leading students inland to find more challenging hills or staying by the coast for a flatter day of cruising to the beach. There are also plenty of mountain biking trails nearby for students to explore, including right from campus through the Brunswick Commons and several miles of newly opened single track on the adjascent Brunswick Landing, built by the local NEMBA chapter and Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust. The Outing Club recently added a fleet of Specialized fat bikes to its gear for student use. The BOC doesn't offer road or campus bikes, but the Yellow Bike Club does!

Students also have the opportunity to delve deeper into the cycling world by signing up for the Bike Mechanic Course offered once a year. At the start of the course, the bicycles are all completely dismantled down to the smallest part. Over the 25 hours of the course, students work in pairs to clean, repair and rebuild the pieces into fully functioning bicycles! They leave the course with a complete working knowledge of the bicycle and it's various components and have the ability to competently diagnose any issues a bike may be having. Upon completion of this course, student bike mechanics have access to the BOC bike tools and offer repair sessions on campus periodically for the campus community.

Under the direction of Outing Club Director Emeritus Jim Lentz, a group of students built what is now known as the BOC Cabin. Located in Monson, Maine, and just a few hundred yards off the Appalachian Trail, the cabin is in a perfect location to send Bowdoin students for a weekend in the woods.

There is no limit to the hiking and swimming that can be done in the fall and spring, using the cabin as a base camp. In the winter, the cabin is the perfect location to spend the night after a day of snowshoeing or sledding on one of the greatest hills available for Bowdoin students.

In the fall and the spring, the Bowdoin Outing Club takes to the rivers and lakes of Maine to enjoy peaceful days paddling canoes. There is an abundance of water waiting to be explored in both nearby and far away places. Day trips venture to the local Cathance, Kennebec, and Saco Rivers as well as to Lake Umbagog. Students may choose between a number of short day trips or weekend overnights. Once or twice a year, the Outing Club also offers extended canoe trips that go out over fall break or at the end of the year. These trips head further north to the West Branch of the Penobscot or the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, where students get to spend five or six days enjoying the wilderness. In the fall there is the opportunity for students interested in developing their whitewater canoeing skills to take part in the whitewater canoe class.

The BOC received a wonderful gift with the opening of the Peter Buck Center for Health and Fitness: our very own climbing wall! Measuring in at just over 40 vertical feet with three different top-rope pitches and a bouldering arch, the wall has something for everyone—beginner or advanced!

The climbing wall is run almost entirely by students, with a climbing wall manager and climbing wall monitors working with the BOC staff to maximize our use of the wall. Climbing wall staff also work on a volunteer basis to document and set new routes and clean holds. Climbing wall monitors certify climbers to use the wall and provide "Intro to Climbing at Bowdoin" workshops for individuals and groups alike. We've had proctor groups, sports teams, faculty/staff and their families, the women of student affairs and various campus offices take advantage of these wonderful opportunities!

The SAFC has shown the BOC considerable support for equipping and staffing the climbing wall. Members of the Bowdoin community have free access to climbing shoes and harnesses in a wide range of sizes.

Bouldering Hours:
Certified climbers may boulder on the wall anytime the fitness center is open.

There is not a better way to enjoy Maine's beauty than from atop a mountain overlooking the coastline or the inland rivers and lakes. Hiking is a great way to get outside for the day and enjoy the fresh air with no experience or equipment necessary. The Bowdoin Outing Club takes full advantage of our location only one hour from Camden Hills, two hours from Grafton Notch and Evans Notch, and four hours from Baxter State Park, and sends out a trip almost every weekend in the fall and the spring.

Day hikes in the fall and spring travel to mountains all over the state and cover a wide range of terrain. Areas close to Brunswick provide excellent trails for participants to explore and reach views overlooking the ocean. For longer hikes, the Outing Club heads west and does short sections of the Appalachian Trail in both Maine and New Hampshire. Old Speck, the Baldpates, and Tumbledown are all popular locations and provide stunning views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

Each spring and fall the Outing Club sends backpacking trips for those that enjoy carrying larger packs and camping out while on the trail. Trips range from beginner backpacking to longer and tougher terrain that requires some backpacking experience. Twice in the fall, the BOC makes the trek to Baxter State Park for the weekend. Weather permitting, groups will summit Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine and the northern terminus of the famous Appalachian Trail.

The Outing Club was fortunate to be the recipient of this generous land donation that we use as a base for trips, service projects, and Leadership Training. The 28-acre island is located on the ocean, in the New Meadows River, and has a network of trails circumnavigating the perimeter. Six canoes are stored near the island to allow access at all tides, although at low tide you can walk across a sand bar. Sea kayakers use the island for a lunch stop or overnight camp, and Leadership Training candidates spend a day each semester practicing their camping and canoeing skills on the island.

In the near future, we are developing a forest plan for the island that will allow us to safely remove some of the fallen underbrush as well as teach about low impact forestry.

The Rock Climbing program at the BOC focuses mainly on introducing students to the indoor climbing opportunities. The Outing Club runs the Climbing Wall in the Buck Fitness Center, where students can top rope climb during monitored wall hours, and they can also boulder after they complete training with a climbing wall monitor. Outing Club trip leaders also run trips to Salt Pump Climbing gym in Scarborough, ME, about a 40 minute drive from campus. 

 

An important part of enjoying the outdoors is the ability to give back to the environment that we spend our time in. Each year the Outing Club meets up with a number of organizations whose emphasis is on maintaining and preserving our natural areas. With these organizations, groups of students help build trails, maintain trails, pickup litter, clear tent sites, and general upkeep of heavily used areas. Through these experiences, students gain an awareness of our impact on wilderness areas and what we can do to enjoy these areas for years to come.

Click below to learn more about some of the organizations with whom we work:

• Maine Island Trail Association
• Cathance River Education Alliance
• Steve Powell Wildlife Management Area

The BOC Downhill and Telemark Program promotes the lifelong sport of skiing and a passion for being outdoors in the winter. Students who have never skied before are encouraged to come learn how to slide on snow with the Outing Club, and students with lots of ski experience are encouraged to join our Learn to Ski trips as instructors and teach their peers. Additionally, the BOC Tele program aims to improve students’ overall skiing ability and to introduce students to and improve their telemark skiing ability, no matter their initial level. We also encourage students to learn the mechanics of the ski turn and the telemark turn and the methodology to teach the sport to others. 

Program Highlights

• Use of BOC tele gear: K2 and RAMP telemark skis, Garmont, Scott, and Scarpa boots
• Six weeks of Saturday classes taught by the BOC's own Professional Ski Instructor of America (PSIA) certified instructors at Mt. Abram ski area in Greenwood, Maine
• Opportunity for students to become PSIA telemark instructors
• Opportunities for backcountry day trips; learn ski tuning, maintenance, and repair
• Options for a week-long backcountry trip during Spring Break

The BOC whitewater paddling program takes advantage of the excellent paddling opportunities available in Maine and the rest of the Northeast. From the spring run-off Class I-III whitewater of coastal rivers, to the dam-controlled Class IV runs of the Dead River and Kennebec Gorge, students can develop their paddling skills with the guidance of staff and student instructors. Whether successfully negotiating the Class II rapids in a tandem canoe, or running a Class IV drop for the first time in a kayak, students gain a strong sense of accomplishment from spending time "messing about in boats."

Many students arrive at Bowdoin with no prior experience, and leave after four years with expert skills in one or more types of watercraft. For others, the opportunity to get off campus occasionally and float down one of Maine's beautiful rivers is the perfect way to enhance and practice peer leadership. If you are interested in exploring whitewater rivers and developing your paddling, then the BOC whitewater program can get you started, and give you an opportunity to pursue these activities throughout your Bowdoin career.

The Bowdoin Outing Club loves the snow! After the first snowfall, we start planning winter trips. On a typical weekend, students can choose from snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, or winter camping.

Our snowshoe and ski trips explore coastal mountains in Camden and trails along mountains in western Maine. No prior experience is necessary and the Outing Club will provide the snowshoes and skis. For those who prefer skiing over snowshoeing, the Outing Club has weekly ski classes, where students can learn to ski, improve their downhill skiing, or learn to telemark ski! Students coming to Bowdoin with previous ski experience can volunteer to teach their peers how to slide on snow. 

For the adventurous student who not only wants to snowshoe all day, but also sleep out in the winter, the Outing Club offers beginner and intermediate winter camping trips. On these trips, students set out for the weekend and learn skills important for staying warm during the day, sleeping warm at night, setting up camp in the winter, cooking outside and the types of food good to keep up the energy.

If you are interested in pursuing winter activities with the Outing Club, please read our winter equipment list so that you can go on the trips prepared for all the elements.