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Hike Leaders Needed

Hike Leaders Needed

by Mariken Van Nimwegen, mid-week hike planner/coordinator

Mariken - hey where's my group?

The best way to attract club members is to fill the schedule with interesting and varied hikes at all ability levels. To do this, we need more hike leaders. If we all agreed to lead just one hike per year, we’d have a lively program full of choices in no time. 

Most of us don’t just hike with our club, but also with other groups and personal friends. We invite you to share some of the hikes you’ve learned about and enjoyed, by proposing them on the schedule and leading them. We really need more B and C hikes.

And that’s the beauty of joining a hiking club: you learn new routes, and meet new, compatible people to hike with. Don’t worry about leading a hike: if you’re already comfortable with whatever level of hiking you normally do, you know what it takes in terms of fitness and stamina. 

Here are the steps

  1. Decide which hike you would like to lead and when
  2. Categorize it as per our system here
  3. Create a trip announcement with details about location, category, date, time,  pace, car-pool spot etc. 
  4. Email this information to the club trip planner depending on category - they will post it to the schedule. Or if you are a pro, post it to the schedule directly using the add event function on the website and the planner will approve it. 

Pace information

The best thing about being a trip leader is: you get to call the shots. Indicate the speed you’d prefer to take - easy, moderate or fast. This is perhaps the most important info for many people. Will you be taking breaks? Some people see hiking as a form of exercise and go straight to the summit; some like to take photos, groove on the landscape, take a snack and break from time to time. Discrepancies regarding pace may make a hiking group incompatible, leading to unnecessary frustration. 

Take a look at the A, B, C, D and mid-week categories on the website to judge where your trip fits in best. The mid-week hikes tend to be a bit more relaxed, aren’t too far away and don’t need to take all day, but there’s nothing keeping you from scheduling a C or D-hike on a weekday – fewer people on the trails, that’s for sure. 

Carpooling and Cancelling

Consider reducing our carbon footprint and increasing access for members without vehicles, by encouraging shared-cost carpooling from a central point. Take Covid-19 precautions into account. If the weather is truly ghastly that day, the trip can be postponed or cancelled, no worries, just send an email to the planner, or make the announcement yourself using an update. 

Changes can be made up to one week ahead of time and sometimes even within a few days. We welcome your trip proposals anytime and thank you for helping to build our club.

It's worth it being a leader - for the views alone. Try it out!

April 14, Slideshow and Social

SUNRISE COMMUNITY CENTRE, 1950 Windermere St., Vancouver.

Doors open 7:00 pm, slideshows begin 7:30 pm. Refreshments will be served.

  1. Cycling the Elbe: a 1000 kilometre ride from Prague to the North Sea.
    By Yvonne Price
  2. Cypress Provincial Park
    A short slideshow and plea for hikers to help with trail work in Cypress Provincial Park a couple of times this year- ongoing bog bridge building.
    By Anne Leathem
  3. Canadian flag flying high in the Carpathian Alps of Romania
    By Cristina Jacob and Patricia Morris

New Hiking & Biking Map of the Tri-Cities

This is the first comprehensive trail map covering the Tri-Cities regions of Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Buntzen Lake, Anmore, Belcarra, Burke Mountain and Pitt Meadows.

The trail data for this map has been collected by Canadian Map Makers using GPS equipment during 2014 and 2015 and can be considered to be verified and accurate at the time of publication. Part of the proceeds from this map are being donated to Coquitlam Search and Rescue.

This highly detailed map is printed on water resistant, tear resistant high quality synthetic paper in a 1:20,000 scale with UTM and Lat/Long grids.

Cost $20.00 plus shipping $3.50 on website: www.tricitiesmap.com or call Steve at 604-248-4716 or email Steve_Chapman@mapmakers.ca for large quantity orders, pick-ups (save shipping) or any other queries related to the map.

MEC Snowfest, Nov 22

mec_logo_newMEC SNOWFEST VANCOUVER
Date: Saturday, 22 November, 2014
Time: From 09:00 am to 03:00 pm PST
Organizer: MEC Vancouver
Price: Free
IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER MEC SNOWFEST!

Come join us on Saturday, November 22nd, to get in on tons of great deals at our legendary Snow Swap, partake in our informative clinics and win some sweet prize giveaways. MEC Vancouver is so excited to showcase the best minds in the industry and help you connect with your local snowsports community.

The in-store Festival and Snow Swap is going to get rolling around 9am. We will run our big prize draw around 1pm and have clinics and activities running throughout the day.

More info: http://events.mec.ca/event/31936/mec-snowfest-vancouver

 

Banff Mountain Film Fest

140805.posterdesignHello Fellow Outdoor Enthusiasts,

It's that time of year again. Time to ignite your passion for adventure, action, and travel! The BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL WORLD TOUR will exhilarate you with amazing big-screen stories. The 2014/15 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour brings films from the 39th annual Banff Mountain Film Festival to about 400 communities in 40 countries around the world. Journey to exotic locations, paddle the wildest waters, and climb the highest peaks. Be taken away to the most captivating places on earth.

This year the Alpine Club of Canada - Vancouver Section will once again be hosting TWO EVENINGS of the Banff Mountain Film Fest World Tour in the Vancouver Area. As a fellow outdoor enthusiast and outdoor club member, the ACC thought we would share the following event information with you. There are two different playbills A & B – you can go both nights to see them all!

The Banff Mountain Film Fest World Tour will take place on the following dates:

Friday, DEC. 5 at the Centennial Theatre (2300 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver) Program A; Doors at 6:30pm, Show at 7:30pm

Saturday, DEC. 6 at the Centre Theatre (777 Homer St., Vancouver) Program B; Doors at 6:00pm, Show at 7:30pm

All shows will start at 7:30pm and tickets are $20. Tickets can be purchased online at http://accvancouver.ca/bmff-world-tour and at the Centennial Theatre (address listed above). Please note that the shows have sold out in the past years, so get your tickets early!

For more information please visit: http://accvancouver.ca/bmff-world-tour

Another Great Year of Hiking

TRIP REPORT SUMMARY for YEAR Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 31, 2014

Activity - number completed (cancelled in brackets) Attendance - total (average per trip in brackets)
A hikes 42 (6) 369(8.8)
B hikes 46 (6) 448 (9.7)
C hikes13 (9) 126 (9.7)
D hikes 8 (8) 62 (7.8)
Bike trips 19 (6) 82 (4.3)
Ski trips 12 (7) 40 (3.3)
Overnight 25 (2) 188 (7.5)
Wednesday 43 (1) 226 (5.3)
Total: 208 (48) Total: 1541 (7.5) (including 161 guests).

Thanks to Steve Hailstone for compiling the data.

Stuart Somerville

On September 15th 2014 Stuart Somerville passed away peacefully after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

Stuart-Somerville
Stuart loved hiking the mountains in and around Vancouver and was a dedicated member of the North Shore Hikers, making many friends on A, B and C hikes alike. In May 2013 Stuart hiked the whole of the 109 miles of the Cleveland Way in the UK, just before he was diagnosed with his first symptoms. Stuart began to have numbness and weakness in his right leg, but bravely continued to walk small hikes in the local forest and on the seawall for as long as he could. Despite his struggles, he was amazingly accepting of his condition and maintained his great smile and the twinkle in his eyes to the very end. We will miss him greatly.

2015 Camp Summer Announcement

The North Shore Hikers are once again planning the exciting and always anticipated summer camp in Banff National Park, this year from July 26 to August 2, 2015. As indicated by the short survey that was conducted on this past summer camp, a lot of hikers enjoyed staying at the hostel so, on that note, we will be staying at the HI-Castle Mountain Wilderness Hostel.

Details for signing up will be provided in January 2015.

The cost of the week at the hostel will be approximately $165.00.

A Geologist’s View of Sea-to-Sky Country, 7pm September 27

JPEG of 14-09-27 TURNER posterFriends of Garibaldi Park Society and BC Parks is presenting Dr. Bob Turner with "A Geologist's View of Sea-to-Sky country". Saturday September 27, 2014, 7pm, at the Ranger Station at Garibaldi Lake. Bob Tuner us a retired Geologist with the Geological survey of Canada and Author of Vancouver: City on the Edge.

How often to you get the opportunity to see one of Canada's premier Geologists speak in the very Park that he is speaking of? Learn the Geological mysteries of the area in which we call home.