With this newsletter, you’ve received the Winter trip schedule. Thanks to everyone who’s committed to lead a trip – you play the most crucial role in the club.
Only once you have lead a trip, do you appreciate the work that goes into it. And only then can you fully appreciate being a punter. I was lucky enough to go on a trip led by Sharron to the Dragon’s Teeth in Kahurangi at Easter. The weather was superb and so was the route, thanks to a significant amount of work beforehand by Sharron getting inside information from DoC. Part of the joy of being a punter is not necessarily having to worry about where you are going and how you will get there, and to spend time focusing on (or gripping) the scenery.
But being a leader has its rewards, which is why people keep coming back for more. I remember the sense of accomplishment after the first trip I lead – and it had been a daunting prospect! I spent weeks staring at the map of the Nardoo range in Nelson Lakes, planning the menu (which included carrying about 500g of brownies for dessert to induce punter happiness) and figuring out what exactly I was supposed to organise. Ironically as I write I’m about to head back to the vicinity for a five-day ANZAC trip that has been the recipient of considerably less organisational effort. The new club cookbook makes sorting out four meals a breeze. If you are feeling that vague sense of inspiration/guilt re trip leading, then we do have lots of helpful material to support this process.
We are also thinking again about how to best run leadership training. One idea is a weekend day or half day, based at the clubrooms with some practical work in the Mt Vic bush. Another is a weekday evening followed by a skills-based day walk on a weekend day. What do you think would work? What would be appealing to you? Please email me at . Also if you want to share any pet hates or things about leading that put you off, please do let me know and we will see if we can work to mitigate or resolve them.
It was great to hear all the ideas at the AGM on leading and schedule planning. Please keep them coming. It’s not too soon to start thinking of ideas about the Spring schedule (September to January); feel free to email them to me at any time! We are also going to set up an online “ideas” document where you can record them (watch this space for the URL). In general, the current schedule development system seems to be delivering good results but we should always be striving for continuous improvement. This is the start of my third year as chief guide, and I’m aware that it’s very easy to just keep doing things the same way. This is one reason why we have a healthy rotation of people through committee roles; it’s not too early to start thinking about what role you might want to pick up in 2012/13! I’ll be thinking about taking on a different role and would welcome anyone wanting to shadow aspects of the chief guide role towards the end of this year.
But a year is a long time away and there are many exciting trips ahead! As I mentioned in the last newsletter, we’re reinstating monthly leaders’ forums – for those about to lead a trip and those contemplating leading (or those who just want to hang out). This is happening Wednesday 2 May, 6.45pm at the café above the Embassy. It can be really useful to talk through your route, even if it’s just to get an estimate of how long your group might take to complete each section.