The history of outdoors activities at the Claremont Colleges dates back to the inception of its founding member, Pomona College, in the 1880s. In his 1914 history of the college, founding trustee Charles B. Sumner recalls the exploratory spirit of the college's earliest students, traveling to the "literal wilderness" of the Inland Empire to create an environment "like a party in the woods preparing for a camp".[5] The March 1920 edition of the Pomona College Quarterly Magazine observed the following:
Every college has its athletics. In this regard Pomona is not unique. The distinctive feature of Pomona's physical life is her mountains. In these she has a peculiar blessing. Common property of all persons who would visit them, the mountains belong to Pomona in a particular way: the whole-hearted manner in which her students, universally, employ their opportunity to use them. Many trails are followed weekly by Pomona men and women; countless canyons, peaks, and hidden nooks are ever the object of "hiking" parties; Camp Baldy is the haven for week-end parties; three fraternities, and other informal groups, have built cabins near the camp; a Mountain Day is observed by each class every semester; and cut in the brushwood near the first crest, where the snows frequently trace it in pure white, is the Pomona "P." This gift of the class of 1915 is the cherished emblem of the college. It marks Pomona's inheritance in the mountains.[6]
In 1913, Pomona's Metate yearbook described the college's proximity to nature as one of its greatest advantages,[7] and in 1923 it noted a women's hiking club.[8] The college's retreat center in Idyllwild, California, Halona Lodge, was built in 1931.[9][10] In his 1977 history of the college, E. Wilson Lyon observed that, at one point,[specify] "the climbing of Mt. Baldy was almost considered a requirement for graduation."[11]
The precise founding date of OTL as a club in its current form is not currently known, but it dates back at least several decades.[12] It was originally called the Outings Club, but was later renamed after a 1967 book, On the Loose, by Renny and Terry Russell.[12] The club's operations became increasingly formalized following the establishment of the Outdoor Education Center of Pomona College in 2011.[13]
OTL's flagship annual event is a large hike up Mt. Baldy in swimwear or goofy costumes,[22] which can draw more than 100 participants.[23] It was begun in 2007 as the Speedo Hike,[18] with speedos mandatory for men and bikinis mandatory for women,[24][19] but the dress code was relaxed in subsequent years. In 2016, the hike was cancelled due to safety and inclusivity concerns,[23] prompting criticism from several right-wing media outlets.[25][26][27] It was revived the next year as a generic costumed hike, but many participants still don swimwear.[22]
^ abTrescott, Julie (Winter 2008). "On the Loose". Pomona College Magazine. Vol. 44, no. 2. Pomona College. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
