Traditional 'Speedo Hike' Cancelled Over Body Image, Safety Concerns
POMONA (CBSLA.com) — A century-old half-naked tradition for students in the Claremont Colleges system is no more.
The Mount Baldy Speedo Hike was abruptly cancelled this week by the On the Loose (OTL) outdoors club after organizers voiced "serious concerns" over the event's safety as well as what the group described as the hike's "bro-iness" factor.
A statement posted this week on the group's Facebook page gave several reasons for the cancellation and called the decision "difficult".
Over the first several weeks of the semester, many people approached us to ask if OTL would be leading a Mt. Baldy...
Posted by On The Loose (OTL), the Outdoors Club of the Claremont Colleges on Tuesday, September 27, 2016
The statement read in part: "By having the Speedo Hike as our official welcome event each year, we unintentionally sent the message that to participate in OTL, you must be fit and comfortable with your body image. The name "Speedo" itself inherently implies bro-iness."
An OTL page for the 2013 Speedo Hike claims the tradition stems all the way back to "John Muir's legendary first Speedo-clad ascent of Mount Baldy in 1885".
While the 2013 event page lists a Speedo under "required gear", the list also includes "swagger", so it's not clear whether the requirement to wear the skimpy swimming underwear was enforced.