EXECUTIVE CORNER
Your CORE executive continues to work on projects to improve the club experience and promote safety.
Updated Club Guidelines:
The Event Coordinator Guidelines have been updated to make them easier to navigate. If you have an interest in organizing some club events, please read over this “accumulated wisdom” and talk to any member of the CORE Executive if you have some questions or would like to go out as an assistant coordinator to learn the ropes. Even if you are an experienced trip coordinator, it wouldn’t hurt to refresh your memory on our safety guidelines.
The list of potential Car Pooling locations has been updated to include the Valley Ridge Sports Field if you are heading west on Hwy 1, and the Tim Hortons parking lot on Richmond Road near Westhills Shopping Centre if you are heading towards Bragg Creek. The Canadian Tire Parking lot on Richmond Road is no longer recommended.
The Special Events Program description (under Resources) has also been updated for the sake of clarity. There are more details about this program further in the Newsletter.
Event Planning:
Thanks to our keen event coordinators, we have a pretty full slate of events planned right through to the end of March. Members can access details on the CORE calendar. We’ve been asked to put on more events during the week when some folks may be available and the trails are less crowded. Keep an eye on the calendar, we’ll try to organize some mid-week outings.
Planning for Spring and Summer trips is starting to take shape. If you have hike or other event ideas that you would like to organize with the club, please contact our Executive Trip Coordinator David V. (contact info is on the Executive page)
Courses:
Each year CORE organizes one or two courses paid for by the Peterman Fund. This year we are planning a one day Wilderness First Aid course. The tentative date is April 22, so put it on your calendar. The first 25 people to apply will be accepted. Location and further details will be forthcoming in the February Newsletter, and will also be posted in the CORE calendar.
The Norseman Ski Shop is also offering some outdoor courses. See subsequent article for details.
And now, on with the show……
DECEMBER 2016 – January 2017 ACTIVITY SCOREBOARD
We’ve had an interesting start to the Winter season with a weekend of snowshoeing and x-c skiing in Field BC as well as numerous day-outings.
A few highlights:
Nov 27 – Ranger Hill Hike
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Dec 3 – Field Weekend – Great Divide Trail x-c Ski
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Dec 4 – Field Weekend – Emerald Lake Snowshoe
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Dec 4 – Field Weekend – Hostel festivities
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Dec 5 – Field Weekend – Sherbrook Lake Snow Shoe
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Dec 18 – Heritage Park and Gasoline Alley
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Dec 29 – X-C Ski Practice at Shaganappi Golf Course
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Jan 7 – West Bragg Creek at 22 below
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Jan 14 – PLPP Elk Pass X-C Ski Trip
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Jan 15 – PLPP Marl Lake Tea Time in the Sunshine
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Jan 21 – AST1 Fun in the sun
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November 2016 Club Meeting
The November members meeting was the Annual CORE Christmas Party. There was no meeting in December
January 2017 Club Meeting
The January club members meeting will be held at the Scarboro Community Centre TUESDAY. 29 January 31, 7:00 pm. Presentation by CORE Members Fiona and Simon – Rocky Mountain National Park.
Covering an area of 1,074 sq km, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado boasts a multitude of hikes and fantastic scenery. Hiking in Rocky doesn’t involve too much elevation gain, but with most of the trails starting above 3,000m, it’s a great place to get fit. Our presenters will take you to Boulderfield, Gem Lake, Sky Pond and Andrews Glacier among others.
Upcoming Presentations
Our presentations coordinators Pat and Carol have been working diligently to bring in some interesting speakers. Here are a few of the presenters they have lined up:
February 28. Andrew Brash. In May of 2006, Andrew took the final step towards his life-long goal of climbing Mount Everest. Just two hundred meters from the Everest summit, Andrew’s dream was cut short for a noble cause. Andrew and his team called off their final ascent to assist an Australian climber, Lincoln Hall. More about Andrew Brash here. http://www.andrewbrash.com/climb. This promises to be an interesting evening. Don’t miss it!
March 28. Club members Dave and Edna relate their adventures on their latest El Camino journey
April 25. Connie Simmons will give a presentation on Ivvavik National Park.
May 30. Club AGM.
June 27. Club member Cathie Newsome will give a presentation on her travels in Belize and Panama.
Special Events Program
In 2012, the CORE Executive Committee implemented a limited financial guarantee program for special club events. The purpose of the program is to help coordinators to proceed with organizing events which could have a significant up-front cost to the coordinator, a cost that might not be fully recoverable if a sufficient number of members do not sign up for the event or if signed-up participants fail to pay their share of the up-front costs and/or fail to attend the event. If you as a club coordinator are thinking of organizing such an event, please read over the Special Event Program guidelines and submit the downloadable form to the CORE Executive.
Course Subsidies
Did you know that there are funds available from CORE to help fund courses you may be interested in that are relevant to the members and activities of CORE? For more information, check out the Course Guidelines on the CORE website.
Courses Offered by The Norseman
Winter Preparedness Course – $75 per person (regular price), $67.50 per person for CORE members
Course Date: February 12th, 2017
Part of the Preparedness Series, a NEW Hiking Series of courses focused on safety and wilderness skills. The course focuses on basic wilderness skills for winter safety whether it is snowshoeing, xc-skiing, winter hiking or even climbing. The day will be spent in the Rockies, either snowshoeing or winter hiking (with ice spikes) usually with Justin Howse* as the Hiking Guide. More info HERE.
Outdoor Council of Canada Field Leader (Hiking) certification – $160 per person, 2 day course
Course Dates: February 25th and 26th – OR – March 4th and 5th (whichever weekend has more demand)
This 2 day course focuses on certifying individuals to lead groups into low-risk Class 1 hiking terrain. Upon passing the course, you will be registered with the Outdoor Council as a certified Hiking Field Leader. This training is meant for people who wish to become outdoor leaders through clubs, groups or organizations.
* Justin Howse, The Norseman Operations Manager, IGA Pro. Hiking Guide, OCC Field Leader Instructor
Contact Justin at The Norseman at 403-249-5451 for more information about these courses. Or ask a member of the CORE executive.
Random Stuff
Members Survey
The executive has been reviewing the 2015 Members’ Survey relating to CORE meetings, newsletter readership and relevant feedback. Below is an example of several of the members’ comments:
On presentations: “Anything to do with wildlife, forest plants/flowers/trees, the environment, traveling to other countries, outdoor sports, etc. I actually think the topics that I have seen offered so far by the CORE meetings are perfect. I like the time of the meeting, the day of the week [when it was still Thursday] and the topics and presentations. Good job. Just keep doing what you are doing.”
“Many members do not attend the meetings because they do not feel it is important. Other clubs do not have presentations and lots of members now belong to several clubs. However, members will make the effort to attend for a special event or a presentation on a trip which is of great interest.”
“Continuation of Core meetings and socials are the threads that will keep members together. It’s a good feeling to attend a meeting and find familiar faces that I have not seen in a while. People from all fitness abilities and likes can socialize and plan together where it would not be possible if we did not hold meetings. Thanks you for asking for member opinion as these are changing times.”
About the Newsletter: “Seeing other member’s travels and travel tips. “Mini” education/information courses pertinent to our clubs activities. More trip planning meetings with opportunity to socialize. I find it informative and like getting a summary of past and future planning. I also like getting information about improvements and changes the executive shares to help keep our club moving smoothly forward.”
“Nice, but doesn’t contain the most current info nor much info for long-term planning. Newsletter would be good if it contained longer-term plans, so holidays could be arranged.”
“Keeps members up to date, but I do notice that the photos pictures are not from CORE……I think that should be just people that we know and hike with.”
“Current tools are fine. I look at the webpage front panel, the Twitter feed, Calendar, photo album and newsletter to see what other members have been doing, and what new is coming up.”
Other suggestions to improve the club:
“For hikes, try to make groups responsible to bring a particular course for all participants, such as appetizer, main course, dessert, elegant drinks. This will create memorable experiences aside from great landscapes.” [editor’s comment: “hmmmmmmmm”]
“I seem to get a lot of [calendar] activity post updates. Not sure if all of these are true updates or duplicate emails. Would be good to try to reduce number of emails on same activity if possible.” [editor’s note: this is fully under the control of the event coordinator when posting calendar events or updating them. Event coordinators, please take care when editing your calendar posts, and ONLY BROADCAST when the change is critical to the event.]
Contacting your CORE Executive
Members are welcome to contact your Executive via email. Our email addresses are available on the Executive Contact Info page on the CORE website. Use your Member password to access.
Snowshoeing Song
by Arthur Weir
Gather, gather, ye men in white;
The winds blow keenly, the moon is bright,
The sparkling snow lies firm and white;
Tie on the shoes, no time to lose,
We must be over the hill to-night.
Hilloo, hilloo, hilloo, hilloo!
Swiftly in single file we go,
The city is soon left far below,
Its countless lights like diamonds glow;
And as we climb we hear the chime
Of church bells stealing o’er the snow.
Hilloo, hilloo, hilloo, hilloo!
Like winding-sheet about the dead,
O’er hill and dale the snow is spread,
And silences our hurried tread;
The pines bend low, and to and fro
The magpies toss their boughs o’erhead.
Hilloo, hilloo, hilloo, hilloo!
We laugh to scorn the angry blast,
The mountain top is gained and past.
Descent begins, ’t is ever fast—
One short quick run, and toil is done,
We reach the welcome inn at last.
Shake off, shake off the clinging snow;
Unloose the shoe, the sash untie,
Fling tuque and mittens lightly by;
The chimney fire is blazing high,
And, richly stored, the festive board
Awaits the merry company.
The steaming coffee, waiter, bring
Now tell the tale, the chorus sing,
And let the laughter loudly ring;
Here ’s to our host, drink down the toast,
Then up! for time is on the wing.
Hilloo, hilloo, hilloo, hilloo!
The moon is sinking out of sight,
Across the sky dark clouds take flight,
And dimly looms the mountain height;
Tie on the shoes, no time to lose,
We must be home again to-night.
See you on the the trails…
ANnIE
