The UNSW Outdoors Club (UNSWOC) is a volunteer run social sporting club for people who like outdoor sports and activities. We offer an inexpensive way to get outside and see Australia while enjoying regular weekends of outdoor adventuring. The activities we like to do are:

  • Rock Climbing (Bouldering, Sport, Trad, Indoor)
  • Canyoning
  • Hiking
  • Kayaking (Whitewater, Sea, Kayak Polo)
  • Mountain Biking
  • Rogaining
  • Caving
  • Mountaineering
  • Cycle Touring
  • Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding
  • Slacklining
  • Camping

The sports menu contains more information about these activities.

Anyone can join the club, whether you're a beginner, experienced, at UNSW, or not a student at all. We are a very beginner friendly club with lots of beginner trips and training. The Club is funded by our membership fees and university grants, so this means that on Club Trips there are no event fees, no gear fees, and no guiding fees! All you'll pay for is your share of transport, food, camping costs, and venue entry (if applicable), aside from that our trips are free!

The trips we run depend on what our Trip Leaders are passionate about, check out the planned trips for the term ahead. Trip leaders will usually set a limit on the number of people who can attend a trip (often around 8 people, but this depends on the activity), you must sign up and be approved for a trip so it is advisable to be quick!

You should join our Facebook group to keep up to date with all the goings on. This is where we do most of our communication, and when a trip is posted on the website it will be advertised on Facebook.

Notable Events

  • Weekly Ledge Nights - Every Thursday we go indoor climbing at the Ledge. Up to 50 of us book out the gym each week and this is the best place to meet new people in club, attend skills workshops and socialise at the Forest Lodge Hotel afterwards.
  • Welcome BBQ - At the start of term (usually in week 1) we throw a free BBQ to welcome the new members. The night is filled with sausage sandwiches, cheap beer, slacklining, table-bouldering, climbing various structures, and other monkey business.
  • Boree Log - Every semester we run a big weekend away where we take about 100 people up to the mountains for a weekend of camping, climbing, canyoning, hiking, and other sports if possible. We head up on Friday night, Saturday morning we get up and go out on our trips, that night we cook you a big feast and have a themed party, Sunday morning we pack and clean up, head out on our trips for the day, and finally come back down to Sydney. Have a look at the Boree Log page for more info.
  • Easter Climbing - The mid semester-break usually falls on Easter which gives us a chance to go somewhere a little further afield for a week of crushing! Often a bunch of members will head down to Mt Arapiles and live the climbing bum dream, though a perhaps little short lived. This is an intermediate-advanced trip.
  • Ski Weekend - In 2015 we had our first big ski-weekend away. In mid-August we hired a bus to take 60 of us down to Jindabyne where we stayed in a lodge and had two great days of resort skiing. This is a great opportunity for people to learn how to ski so that we can get more people out to the back-country which is where our hearts lie. We're going to try to keep this going in the years to come.
  • Bungonia Palooza - Every year we try to have a weekend down in Bungonia National Park for Caving and other sports.
  • Winter Safari - After the depths of winter pass the snow fields start to melt and this provides us with one of the best opportunities for whitewater kayaking. We head down to the Snowy Mountains in the Semester 2 break and paddle the melt-water. This is an intermediate-advanced trip.
  • And of course regular trips pretty much every weekend during semester!

 

Getting on Trips

Our trips are often in high demand, so here are some tips to give you the best chance of snagging yourself a spot!

  • Come climbing at the Ledge and attend skills workshops. This lets trip leaders get to know you and shows that you're keen to learn and get involved with the Club.
  • Sign up quickly. You can turn on email notifications to receive an email whenever a new trip is posted.
  • Read the whole trip description, and if it asks any questions, make sure you answer all of them in the booking comments box. Tell the trip leaders why you're keen!
  • If you're unsure about anything in the trip description, message the trip leaders or add your questions to the comments.
  • Our club trips are run entirely by volunteers, so be nice to them. If you come in with a good safety attitude, are respectful to everyone in the Club and especially if you bring snacks to share, you'll certainly be first on the list to be accepted on future Club trips.

 

If this sounds like your thing we'd love to have you in the club! Check out the benefits that come with your membership and how to join here.

 

UNSWOC is an affiliate of Arc @ UNSW Sport, and is run entirely by volunteers.