Be it a backpack, a pair of skis, or a jacket that’s too small, almost everyone at Colorado College has some old gear lying around. We all know how it works: you get a new piece of equipment and the old one, while still functional, gets pushed into the closet or stowed away in the basement. Why should our used gear sit abandoned and unused in dark corners when it could be recycled into someone’s waiting arms?
Seniors Gabe Patterson and Grace Brofman, Gear House managers, have just the solution: the biannual Colorado College Gear Sale, which is scheduled to take place on Nov. 30, the first Friday of fourth block. During past years, the gear sale has traditionally taken place during eighth block, just before Llamapalooza. According to Patterson, the Outdoor Education Department added this fall sale last year in preparation for the ski season.
The event is scheduled to occur right after Thanksgiving Break in hopes that students who return home can collect some of their old gear and bring it back to school. In order to participate, students simply bring apparel and equipment they don’t need anymore to the Gear House, fill out a form describing its condition and name a price, after which they can sit back and hopefully make a sale. Ten percent of every sale will go towards the Outdoor Education Department.
Two days before the event, on Nov. 28, Patterson and Brofman will host what Patterson calls a “promo day” on the Worner Quad, tentatively complete with live music and food from the Carnivore Club. The sale itself will also have live music and a free ski-tuning clinic hosted by REI. Gearonimo and other local gear recyclers will shop the event, so your old ski pants stand an even better chance of being sold.
This year’s promo day and actual sale are unique in that they take on a distinctly humanitarian tone. Outdoor Education plans to team up with First Ascenders, a program designed to get inner city kids out into wilderness settings that they wouldn’t normally be able to access. Senior Rachel Gips will represent First Ascenders with a tent and further information on the promo day. In addition, the event staff will work with the Office of Minority and International Students (OMIS). Students trying to sell gear can check a box on their forms agreeing to donate their equipment in the case it doesn’t sell to both First Ascenders and OMIS. This will hopefully help out “minority and international students who want to be involved in the outdoors but can’t spend 200 dollars on a jacket,” Patterson said.
So if you have some gear lying around that you’d like to get rid of, go ahead and bring it into the Gear House during the first week of fourth block to be sold at the Gear Swap on Nov. 30.
Davis Shamburger
Staff Writer