A successful semester so far – UL OPC update

By Eoghan ‘Derp’ Carey

What a semester we’ve had. It certainly went off with a bang. With a weekend trip to Letterfrack, a trip abroad to Wales already and some cool hikes in the hills, it’s fair to say that we’ve gotten off to a good start.

We almost have a record number of members almost reaching 500 and we hope to break the record by next semester. We are continuing to cover all aspects of the outdoor pursuits such as climbing, caving, hiking, orienteering and soon, mountaineering.

We are currently holding a climbing competition at the climbing wall located just opposite the UL Sports Arena on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 to 10 in the evening; the usual times that the climbing wall is open.

There will be prizes given out at the end of the semester between male and female categories. It’s going good so far and if you’re interested in participating, just head on down to the wall. Three new routes are put up every day.

Our next big trip will be the one to Morocco at Christmas. This is for all you budding mountaineers in the club who have expressed interest and we are currently in the planning process for this trip. The Alps trip was a huge success this year receiving nationwide recognition with the lads’ hurling shenanigans on glaciers. This upcoming trip promises to have just as much shenanigans.

We are continuing with our hikes throughout the semester with our majestic days out hill walking each Sunday. These hikes really are an easy way in which one can make friends and it’s a great chance to see the Irish countryside that most Irish people themselves haven’t seen.

Letterfrack was utter madness and we will be having a weekend trip coming up soon to Kerry, so if you’re in the club or are interested in joining, make sure you pencil that in to your diary.

In other news, we are investing in club fleeces too which is going to be great because, as it goes in Game of Thrones, winter is coming, so it’ll be handy to have these throughout the cold spell.

If you are interested in joining the club, make sure you like us on Facebook (UL Outdoor Pursuits Club), follow us on instagram (@ulopc) or send us a pigeon or smoke signal us down. Our email is uloutdoorpursuits@gmail.com.