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ACC National Board Meeting & Centennial Celebrations

March 23-26, 2006 - Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Spring National Board Meeting was held earlier than usual this year in recognition of the Centennial of the ACC.  It was in March, 1906 that the ACC was formed, in Winnipeg.  The weekend was filled with activities and celebrations and was a great start to our centennial year.  I was able to arrive in the 'Peg early enough to take part in everything so my report here will describe the weekend as well as report on the Board Meeting that took place on Saturday.  For ease of navigation, you may wish to use the following links:

Thursday, Mar 23:

I arrived early in the afternoon and after being picked up at the airport spent a couple of hours walking around downtown Winnipeg.  That evening there was a party at the home of one of the Manitoba Section members.  It was great to visit with people from National Office and other Section members, many of whom had arrived during the afternoon.

Friday, Mar 24:

Executive members were meeting all day so the day was free for the Section reps.  I spent several hours in the morning walking around "The Forks" area, a park and market area just east of Union Station, also over into St Boniface, through the downtown area and the "Exchange area" with it's many turn-of-the-century buildings.  Some members went ice-climbing at the St Boniface Section's ice tower on the banks of the Red River and others took part in a historical tour of the City.  Since most of my climbing gear was in BC, I did the tour, which was very interesting and most entertaining.  The evening featured a large social and slide show at Fort Gibraltar over in St Boniface including a book launch, a compendium of climbing stories from Manitoba.

Saturday, Mar 25 - Board Meeting:

As you may know, each of the 19 Sections sends a representative to National Board meetings held twice a year.  Board members approve policy and set the direction of the Club and discuss issues that affect all of us.  I have found Board meetings to be fun, informative and useful over the years, as well as an opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones.  The meeting was held in a Board Room of the CanWest Global tower on the 22nd floor, giving us a great view of the west and downtown part of Winnipeg.  The minutes of the meeting will be available here as soon as I receive them.

Section Reports - Each meeting devotes some time to reports from the Sections represented.  Very briefly, some items & issues were: Edmonton - has purchased a satellite phone because of concerns with level of care on remote camps; Manitoba - tried a 2-day Film Festival - won't do that again!; Rocky Mtn - issues with dropping membership and volunteerism; Toronto - access to climbing areas and the mistaken notion by some climbers that the ACC doesn't represent access issues when in fact the ACC is often the only organization that landowners will talk to; Vancouver Island - trying to get Mt Arrowsmith declared a Provincial Park; Calgary - will be holding a 4-week summer camp; Okanagan - talked about the 2 fatalities on their recent ski camp; Central Alberta - growing concerns about the affect of increased logging on access to certain climbing areas; Montreal - new website will soon be bilingual; Jasper/Hinton - trip leaders, outdoor resumes, some resistance from long-term leaders, etc

Centennial Celebrations - The Centennial Celebrations Chair, Mike Mortimer, has requested that all reports of activities be sent to him so they can be publicized.  He has some examples: each Section should request a First Day Cover of the new stamp that will be issued in July, have the Section executive sign it and send it to him; take pictures of the Centennial Banner (which I have right now) wherever Section activities are taking place and send the pictures to Denis Villeneuve as part of the "Outaouais Challenge".   Information about other events can be found on the ACC's website.

Executive Committee Report - There was a discussion about the proposed "Kids on Camps" Policy which will outline the conditions under which minors can take part in ACC activities.  This policy and the accompanying recommended practices will be sent back to Sections for feedback and approved at the Fall Board meeting in October.  The Legal Committee has developed a set of bylaws that Sections should incorporate.  They will be made available on the ACC's website for viewing.  As well, there is a Board Members' Handbook available on the ACC's website.  There was also an extensive discussion about the policy on minors, waivers and incident reporting.

Financial Update - A brief update on the ACC's finances was given by Gord Currie.  A few points of interest included the information that the Clubhouse and Huts generated over $1 million in revenue with a net of around $150,000.  Camps operated as a small loss.  Membership fees generated around $178,000 but is offset by a large liability insurance bill.  Board meetings cost around $25,000/year.  Facilities are worth nearly $1 million.

VP Services - David Zemrau noted that so far the Summer Leadership Course does not have any applicants.  Since the deadline is May 1, applications should be sent to David Zemrau as soon as possible.  There will be a Centennial Membership survey coming out in the fall.  As well, Sections need to promote certain funds that have money to award to worthy projects.  One example is the Jen Higgins Fund which only had one application last year.

VP Activities - a brief report noting that there seems to be a slight decline in the interest in guided/catered trips.  The market may be becoming somewhat saturated with these types of activities.  It is possible that there will be a decrease in the number of companies offering this type of activity.

VP Facilities - The main project this year will be the work on the Fairy Meadows Hut - new roof and other work at the hut.  This will be during 3 weeks at the end of August and early September.  Also, the Boswell Cabin at the Clubhouse site is nearing completion and will be ready for summer bookings.

Liability Insurance - If anyone is planning a Section trip outside of Canada, pre-approval MUST be obtained.  This would be a Special Event Application.  The Section Chair should contact Lawrence White for more information.  This could take up to 2 weeks so allow time in advance of the trip.  Also, USA residents CAN'T participate in Section trips in the USA.  Within Canada is just fine.  Another note that trip participants MUST sign waivers before any trips AND if there are accidents or related incidents, they MUST be reported to National Office as quickly as possible.  Our present insurance company wants to hear about any incidents almost immediately, so time is most important.  Finally, there was talk - just talk at this time - about conducting audits on waivers which are supposed to be kept by Sections.  Every Section needs to make sure its waiver-storage system is functional.

VP Planning & Development - A new ACC pin will soon be available.  BC Parks has a new policy on roofed accommodation although it hasn't been made public just yet.  This will have some implications for the ACC because there are some huts that we could operate or possibly consider building.  Mt Robson has been one we've been looking at for some time.  More information will be coming in the near future, we hope.  Membership issues were discussed briefly: in the past few years, overall membership has decreased by 20%.  75% of all Sections have shown declines in memberships (there are only 4 exceptions to this trend, SK being one of them).  The Vancouver Section has decreased by 40% and the membership upgrades have also declined (CAJ down 25% and facilities down 15%).  A membership committee will be investigating this.

Information Technology Report - Although, as usual with IT issues, there are more things that need doing than there is money and other resources to carry them out, progress is being made.  The National Office now has new integrated software for financial, facilities and membership management.  A demonstration was given to the Board.  There continues to be a plan to make all Section membership data available to Sections.

National Office Report - Bruce Keith (Executive Director) reported on staffing changes, IT developments, website improvements and the membership incentive renewal program.  Information about the latter is on the ACC's website.  A new Organization Chart was made available to the Board and can be seen here.  This will help Section Exec understand how things are connected at "The Office".

Other Centennial Celebrations:

Saturday evening was the Gala Dinner and dance.  One of the highlights was a presentation of the new one-woman play "Elizabeth Parker and the Alpine Club", which answered the question: "How did a woman who never reached the summit of a mountain become the mother of Canadian mountaineering?"

Sunday morning we all gathered downtown to stage a re-creation of the original photo (at the original location) of the founders of the Alpine Club taken on March 27, 1906.  Elizabeth Parker was at the original photo and also was able to make an appearance at the photo event Sunday as you will see from the photos below.  ;-)

After lunch, members started packing up and heading to the airport for their travels home.  Since I had lots of time and it was a nice day, I hiked the 10 km from the Fort Garry Hotel to the airport.  It was a great weekend.  There are lots of Centennial events remaining this year and I'd encourage members to get out and take part.

Dave McCormick, Saskatchewan Section Rep - March 28, 2006

 

Summary of Critical Information for Section Executive:

• Information about accidents on Section trips MUST be reported as soon as possible (by phone?) and followed up by a written report to the Executive Director.
• Waivers MUST be signed for all Section trips and must be kept for at least 7 years in a manner that will allow retrieval when needed.
• Section trips in the USA cannot have US residents a participants.
• Each Section must send information about Centennial activities to Mike Mortimer, Centennial Committee Chair.
• The Outaouais Challenge - take pictures of Section members at Section events with the Centennial Banner and send pictures to Denis Villeneuve of the Outaouais Section.
• We need a contact person to take part in discussions and information sharing about leadership and training issues.
• There is a Huts work party scheduled for the Fairy Meadows Hut late August-early September.  Interested persons should contact Tabs Talbot, chair of the Huts Committee.
• Our Section needs to discuss the proposed policy dealing with Minors as participants on ACC activities and the Recommended Practices that go with the policy.  Reactions need to be sent to the Chair of the Safety Committee.