The MIT Outing Club was officially formed by a loose group of skiers who realized that they liked doing many outdoor activities together besides skiing, such as rock climbing and canoeing. Ski racing was an early focus of the club, and for the first decade of its existence, MITOC was the MIT Ski Team.

The First Five Years - By the club's fifth anniversary, it had grown to the second largest club on campus. There were near weekly trips, with a bulletin board announcing Trips Out in Building 3. The “uniform” of the club membership was a red flannel shirt with the triangular MITOC patch, featuring a beaver. Most of the trips in the first few decades of the club's existence were done in conjunction with all girl's schools, such as Wellesley and Mt. Holyoke. MITOC becomes very active in IOCA, the Intercollegiate Outing Club Association. It hosted many IOCA events, and has faithfully attended annual trips such as Fall Lake George since these early years. MITOC begins to rent equipment for outdoor endeavors, such as climbing equipment, tents, sleeping bags, and canoes.

MITOC began a long affair with square dancing after a visit with the Dartmouth Outing Club. This became a hot social activity on campus in conjunction with students at Wellesley. MITOC developed its own orchestra and caller for weekly dances in Walker Memorial. It was immensely popular on the war-time campus dominated heavily by men.

Prof. Willard Allis leads a MITOC team on a winter ascent of the Pinnacle in Huntington Ravine.

“Those rather unconventional characters dressed in blue jeans and mountain jackets whom you may have seen driving around campus in second-hand hearses are no cause for alarm concerning the sanity of the human race. They're only MITOC members, enroute to some lake, mountain, or patch of wilderness where they may forget for a while the city grime and toil of classes.” - The Technique.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, MITOC used hearses as its primary form of transportation, as they could be found second hand cheaply and could hold a lot of gear. Guy and Laura Waterman mention in their book, “Forest and Crag,” that in those days it was routine to find a MITOC hearse at most trailheads in the Whites. (Pictures)

MITOC purchases 2 acres in Intervale, NH from the Fall family with a $200 gift from an alum for the purpose of building MITOC's own cabin. With the help of faculty members involved with the club, MIT donates one of the Westgate married student housing buildings to become the first MITOC cabin. It is hauled to Intervale on a truck, and winched up a path cut up the hill. “Intervale,” as the cabin was called, becomes the center of action for MITOC for many, many years.

The OC News changes its name to GNARMPFSK, the sound a camper makes when he wakes up in the morning. Publications become near weekly.

MITOC remained very strong, with weekly square dances and lautians (song fests).

MITOC publishes their own Song Book, which is sought after by other IOCA schools.

Gardner Perry III, a very active MITOC leader, helped revive the defunct ADK/AMC Winter School Program, and ran it for MITOC members through the 1960s.

John Klensin began the XC skiing program

Paul Ledoux and Wayne Christian introduced ice climbing to the club.

MITOC taught a course known as “Winter School” in the newly invented Independent Activities Period. It was started by Tim Ryan, and continues until this day. The original course had fewer than 20 students. Today, it averages over 100.

MITOC publishes a second publication, A Climbing Guide to Quincy Quarries.

The White Water Club, a separate club at MIT, merges with MITOC sometimes during the 1970s.

A crisis arose when Rockwell International decided to sell the land Camelot was built on to a third party. Kim Valentine arranged to buy the land for $10,000.

In March, the Intervale cabin was burned down by an urban youth program who was switching the propane tanks using candles for their lighting. Marilee Kerr headed up fundraising efforts and collected money from all around campus for the construction of Intervale II.

Zach Malchano realizes a MITOC dream two decades in the making when he successfully wins support of the MIT administration to build an on-campus bouldering wall in Walker Memorial. Earlier efforts to build a top-roping wall were repeatedly denied throughout the years.

The GNARPMFSK CVP is born, awarded to the victors of the annual MITOC Adventure Race in Acadia National Park.