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NUS Rovers: Rough the Tough |
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Written by Winnie Choo & Tracy Wong
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If you love outdoor adventure and you are someone who actually walks the talk, you might find yourself amidst kindred spirits in the NUS Rovers Club. The Rovers are a like-minded community of friends who combine their love for nature with their athleticism, by incorporating their natural environment in their sport activities.
Regular activities organized by the Rovers have included biking, diving as well as trekking in the mountains of neighbouring countries such as Malaysia. Hooked gets the President and Vice-President of the NUS Rovers Club, Seng Chuan and Geraldine, to provide us with an induction into life as a Rover.
Trekking is a deceptively simple sport. After all, it would appear that all you really need to master as a preparatory exercise before your first trek is the art of walking. Most of us would have had walked down with a pat, what with over 20 years of experience to our name.
So, are we assured of acing our first trekking activity? Hardly, according to the NUS Rovers. Trekking, unlike our daily walking activities, is never confined to smoothly-paved pedestrian footpaths. In fact, one is blessed if one finds footpaths interspersed among trekking routes. Trekking removes the polish and sheen from our walking activity and strips it down to its basic, Stone Age-esque level. You do not tailor your natural surroundings according to your walking needs but you tailor your walking around your surroundings.
The level of difficulty in trekking routes vary with the terrains in which these routes traverse over.
Treks like Berkelah and Datuk in Malaysia would be considered easy or moderate, and suitable for a person of average physique. Others like Ophir would require light training to ensure an easier trekking experience.
There is also the option of trekking over more challenging trek routes such as Mt Rinjani, Gunung Stong and Mt Kinabalu for those who wish to challenge themselves physically and mentally.
However, regardless of one's physical strength, one is assured of not being left behind. Safety and team spirit is paramount in all trekking groups led by the NUS Rovers as they stick to this mantra of "one for all, all for one". When they progress along a trek, they progress as a group.
This is hardly surprising when one considers that the philosophy of the NUS Rovers is to celebrate nature in its most elemental way, by highlighting ways in which one can derive joy as well as fitness from one's natural surroundings. If they were to amend the culture of their trekking activities, likening them to sports competitions, the joy of the fittest might possibly be heightened, but only at the expense of the average-physique individuals.
When does the novelty of trekking wear off as the trekking routes start looking less distinct from each other?
Seng Chuan and Geraldine will have you believe that the possibility of their passion for trekking going thin has a near-zero probability.
The natural landscape in their trekking routes is only half of their trekking experience. The easy camaraderie forged among their team members is another half. Neither halves have been proven to be non-unique in each of their trekking experiences thus far.
The preparation for each trekking activity is yet another attraction. The satisfaction derived from training and testing one's mental and physical endurance limits serves as an effective crash course on one's self. There is power in being self-aware of one's physical and mental strength.
Besides trekking in Malaysia this upcoming semester break, NUS Rovers has scheduled other activities for the near future such as Bike-2-Bike, a leisurely night cycling event in February 2008, as well as diving trips and courses.
Despite common fears of 'roughing it out', Seng Chuan and Geraldine will like to welcome all to NUS Rovers. As long as you have a thirst for nature and adventure, and are keen to try something that incorporates both abovementioned features, NUS Rovers Club is it for you.
You do not have to be the fittest but you have to be willing to train to an adequate level of fitness because only then, can you truly let go of your rational and irrational fears in your natural surroundings, and enjoy the ride. HOOKED
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