🎪 We hear y'all wanted circuses, so we're doing two this month! This one is at the Intervale cabin and is from 9/25 - 9/27. 🎪

Two of our circus chairs are getting married 👰🤵 so it'll just be Alex and Ashutosh on this trip.

Key dates

• Sign-ups open: Now! (note that unlike Camelot circuses, the limited spots mean leaders don't automatically get on the trip but we will prioritize leaders when necessary)
• Sign-ups close and lottery runs: Sunday, September 13th at 6PM
• Mandatory pre-trip meeting over Zoom: Tuesday, September 15th at 7pm
• Drive up: Friday, September 25th after work
• Trips: Saturday and Sunday

What is a circus? It's a super fun weekend of adventuring in the White Mountains and beyond! We do all sorts of things like hiking, scrambling, rock climbing, bushwhacks, trail running, swimming, sunrises, stargazing, and making s'mores. We will meet at the cabin Friday night, go on trips Saturday, head out for dinner off-site Saturday evening, and go on one last trip Sunday before heading home.

For this circus, we will be basing ourselves out of MITOC's Intervale Cabin, close to North Conway in the heart of the White Mountains. This means that we’ll be right by the Presidentials, and can easily access the incredible hiking in the region. We’ll also be close to North Conway, so depending on what the leaders are keen for we could go floating down the Saco river, swimming at Diana’s baths, mountain biking down ski slopes, or eating boissant at the famous Bagels Plus. If you’re mostly familiar with Camelot circuses, this is a great chance to discover an awesome new part of the White Mountains.

However, unlike other circuses, we’ll have a strict limit of 25 people (leaders + participants) and we won’t provide dinner on Saturday night! Also, the pre-trip will be mandatory for everyone, and we will sort everyone into Saturday trips at the end of the pre-trip.

Who should join? You! And your friends! We especially encourage current MIT students to join and typically prioritize them in the lottery. The basic prerequisites are that:

• You have the fitness to do a 6-mile day hike on varied terrain, two days in a row.
• You are excited for cabin camping (sleeping bags) or tenting.
• You're happy to help out with cabin chores, clean up, etc.
• And you have lots of stoke!

We will have a mix of hard hikes (15+ miles), moderate hikes (4-7 miles), and non-hiking activities depending on what leaders are psyched to do.

Sounds great! What do I need to do?

1. Make sure you have an active MITOC membership and waiver: https://mitoc.mit.edu/join
2. Sign up for the lottery. We'll email those who made it onto the trip.
3. Attend the pre-trip meeting (mandatory).
4. If you have a car and are willing to help with driving, update your profile and select "driving". We typically give preference to folks who can help drive others to/from NH.

What does this cost?

What does this cost? (note: updated fee structure)

• Non-Students who aren't leading a trip: $20
• Students or leaders: $10
• Rental fee cap:: $10 (i.e. this is the max you'll have to pay to rent gear for circus. Not paid if not renting.)
• Fuel: Expect to pay your driver about $50-80 on fuel and maintenance costs.
• Food: Saturday dinner will be off-site (we'll head into North Conway or grab something nearby), so budget accordingly! We will provide breakfast Saturday and Sunday and have a small cake on Saturday to celebrate the marriage of two of our other circus chairs.
• Financial Aid: There is no-questions-asked financial aid available for MIT students. Please reach out if cost is a barrier!

What gear do I need?

If you need to rent gear, there will be office hours at the MITOC office in the student center (check the schedule for times). A detailed packing list will be emailed, but expect to bring:

• Sleeping bag & Sleeping pad
• Backpack >15L (rentable)
• Water bottles (more than 2L water for the day, plus extra to refill since there is no running water at the cabin!)
• Personal snacks/lunches for two days (Saturday dinner is off-site, and you’ll need to get food on the way up on Friday)
• Warm insulating layers & wind/waterproof layer
• Sun protection (hat, sunglasses, sunscreen) & bug spray
• Shoes with good traction (hiking boots, trail runners, etc.)
• Headlamp, Compass & Whistle
• Activity-specific gear — as discussed at pre-trip!

I have more questions! Email us at circus-chair@mit.edu!