The Nobles Outing Club Today

The Nobles Outing Club, reportedly dormant for several years, started up again in the fall of 1974 with the arrival of faculty member Nick Nickerson. Class I students Jay Riley, Tom Perry, and Steve Kropper were instrumental in reviving the club, and with the expansion and coeducation of the school, it was soon a popular club. Bill Messing, Joe Selle and David Lowell were student leaders in those early years. Many of these students went on to be active outdoorsmen in college and their adult lives. (A Nobles graduate started GoLite, and another invented Jetboil; two have been leaders of the Dartmouth Outing Club, etc.). A hike of Mt. Washington on Washington’s birthday (now a club tradition), a several day bike trip on Cape Cod during Spring Vacation, and a challenging 5-day trip to Mt. Katahdin in March were some of the high points of those early years. Selle and Lowell taught Nick how to canoe and kayak, and aided by faculty member Joe Swayze, canoe and kayak trips were soon added to the repertoire. Student Jed Dawson learned how to rock climb while in England, and together with Tom Perry, taught Nick how to handle a rope and tie into an anchor, and rock climbing at Quincy Quarry and Rattlesnake Rocks in the Blue Hills Reservation became a popular Outing Club trip. There was a lot of learning by the seat of our pants in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Nick Nickerson continued to expand his experience and skill set through instructing at Outward Bound in North Carolina during the summer, taking first aid and technical skill courses, and spending most of his summers exploring the Sierras.

In 1987, led by Nick Nickerson and English teacher Vin Broderick, Nobles first offered Outdoor Adventure as a fall afternoon program option of rock climbing and paddling. In recent years, a trip to the local indoor climbing gym, Rock Spot, has become a popular Friday night Outing Club trip. Also very popular is the recent tradition of a day hike for members of Class I during the week after graduation, as well as an August sea kayak venture for faculty the week before school starts up. While Outing Club trips are designed with the students in mind, it has been a tradition to open these trips to the adults in the Nobles community as well, and so it is not uncommon to find two or three faculty on any trip, mixed in with the students (by my count, 21 current faculty members have been on an Outing Club trip of some sort). In particular, math teacher Eric Nguyen has been a very active leader of Outing Club trips during his 8 years at Nobles and he has been a great addition to the program. In the course of an academic year, the Nobles Outing Club typically offers 12 to 15 trips, mostly on weekends or during vacation time, ranging from a day hike of Mt. Monadnock during Fall foliage season to a winter ascent of Mt. Washington via the Lion’s Head trail to skiing Tuckerman Ravine in early April. Most trips involve 6-8 students, but some trips, such as the Class I post-graduation hike, can attract over 30 students. While the popularity varies from class to class, there are usually five to seven students per class who have been active participants in the Outing Club during their time at Nobles. Given the busy schedule of today’s youth, overnight or multi-day trips are harder to organize, so most of our trips are day trips. Today, the Nobles Outing Club continues to provide adventure, camaraderie, a love of nature, and the special bond that comes from sharing time together out of doors.

VIDEO by Eric Nguyen: On Feb 19, 2012, 11 members of the Nobles Outing Club (5 students, 6 adults) headed north for our annual President’s Day Weekend hike of Mount Washington. Leaving Dedham, MA, at 5:30 am, we arrived at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center at about 8:30 am. We set off on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail before taking the Lion Head Winter Route to the summit. Wintry conditions above treeline did not prevent us from summiting this New England beast. With winds blowing at around 40 mph and gusting much higher, wind chill was in the -20s! Enjoy our adventure!

VIDEO about Outdoor Adventure, Fall 2013: Outdoor Adventure meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons in the fall. This video shows some of the activities during the fall of 2013.

Falling Waters Trail December 19, 2013: Seven students and four faculty members took advantage of a comment-writing day to head to the Whites for the annual Nobles Outing Club trip up Falling Waters Trail. For some, this was their first adventure with the Outing Club, and for many, this was their first winter hike. As fate would have it (for the umpteenth year in a row), trail and weather conditions kept us from completing the full Franconia loop.

See the Nobles Outing Club on Facebook.