Hamilton College Adirondack Adventure

02/22/2024

Save the Dates: Adirondack Adventure Reunion
June 6 - 9, 2024
Part of Reunions '24

Dear Alumni and Friends of Adirondack Adventure,

This year, 2024, marks the 40th* running of our beloved programme, and we thought it would be a good excuse to celebrate during Reunion Weekend.

Not that we need the excuse, but wouldn’t it be fun to bring together old and young leaders, to play big games of (insert your favourite Adirondack Adventure game here), go on a hike or a paddle, and then spend the night singing and telling stories around the campfire?

A committee of past and present leaders have been working for the last few months on some ideas. We think that day trips are a good idea, we think that a dinner together would be nice, and a campfire sing is a must. Some absolute legends of the programme, from many of the eras of AA, have already committed to attend (and even perform) so look for registration information soon.

Adirondack Adventure began small in 1984 and has grown ever since. In 2016, trips became a mandatory part of orientation and we were joined by Exploration Adventure and a larger Outreach Adventure. AA has changed more in looks than it has in soul, you will still feel the crazed excitement of the leaders and the first day nerves of participants. Games come and go in popularity but the drive to connect, ask questions and be ready for all that Hamilton has to offer is still there. We have been steady at about 32 trips for many years now, and trip leaders are still as dedicated, enthusiastic and student-centered as when I started in 1997. Leaders such as yourselves have always been at the very core of our success, and it would be wonderful to see you back on campus again.

So save the dates, June 6-9, and start digging out your leader t-shirts, hats, and water bottles.

Questions, comments, concerns, disputes, debates, and dilemmas can be directed to [email protected].

*Pedants may argue that since it started in 1984, this year marks the 41st running, but other more pedantic pedants will point out that we didn’t run any trips in 2020, so there! However, since AA has been known less for its pedantry and more for not needing an excuse to have fun, I say, “whatever.”

10/21/2021

https://my.hamilton.edu/news/story/orientation-adirondacks-class-2024-fall-break

When Hamilton’s class of 2024 arrived on campus in August, 2020, it was in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, so many of the usual opportunities and experiences for new students were not possible. Arrivals were staggered, COVID tests were administered

08/11/2021

Everyone is pitching in to get ready for this year’s trips, even the class of 2035 (Hadley plans on taking a gap year to study thermodynamics)

06/25/2021

Aaaaaand, they’re out. Emails sent, and a small whoop of joy and relief from the staff.
This year, 313 students got their first choice, 150 got second, and 94 their third. The average ranking (where 1 would be everyone getting their top choice) was 1.6590106007
Our thanks as always goes to Prof Sally Cockburn from the Mathematics department, and her summer student Ronan Kudzin for running the algorithm that does this better than we could.

06/23/2021

Still working on putting students on trips. Lots more students than usual, so we're working on getting as many people as possible on one of their top five choices. Bear with us.

06/15/2021

We are putting students on trips tomorrow, a highly complex algorithm best run by the mathematics department. If all goes well we will notify people of their trips early next week. We are excited that trips will look pretty much like 'normal'.

04/28/2021

Hooo, it's been a while. Something about a pandemic, apparently. Anyhoo, we're back, and registration will open soon for the full slate of Adirondack Adventure wilderness orientation trips. We have every reason to believe that trips will be full capacity, full fun, full speed ahead.

05/19/2020

Registration for AA 2020 is now open! Trips have been rewritten to be less location specific and more focussed on activity level. We've already had two people sign up for medium kayak trips, but this is not 'first come first served' and we can vary the number of trips as needed, so there's no hurry.

04/01/2020

This is me, hard at work in the Glen House. When I'm not getting my belly scratched, I am planning for Adirondack Adventure with my person, Andrew Jillings. He's the one who knows the most, I'm just the eye candy. If you have any questions about Adirondack Adventure, you can message me or email Andrew at [email protected].