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October 10, 1988 |
President Richard Cellarius
Sierra Club
2439 Crestline Drive, NW
Olympia, Washington 98502
Dear President Cellarius,
I am the Chair of the Desert Peaks Section of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club. I am writing to express concern about the Board's decision not to carry insurance for mountaineering activities - we hope the Board is open to reconsideration of that decision in light of the other ways of handling this crisis which some of our leaders have been investigating.
Our Desert Peaks Section, with approximately 240 members, will have hikes and climbs of 15% of its peaks affected by this loss of coverage. 5 of our 96 peaks are 4th class and above, and ropes and climbing gear are needed for those climbs. 8 of our peaks are 3rd class peaks on which few if any climbers want or need ropes, but our leaders would ordinarily carry a rope for safety purposes on those trips. Now, if we lead these straightforward 3rd class peaks and are prohibited from bringing a rope along, we think that would be very poor mountaineering. If there were an accident due to getting off route or weather conditions and a rope would have been helpful, we fear the Club will be vulnerable to lawsuits because of the lack of a rope, a customary safety precaution on such trips. Our leaders are well-trained and do not take unnecessary risks, but to ban bringing along a rope or an ice axe when weather conditions in our mountains are unpredictable seems incredibly foolish.
I have been a member since 1981 (number 15674458). It is the outings activities which drew me into the Club, and I belong to all the climbing sections here in the Angeles chapter. Those of us who hike and climb in the mountains are longtime members and do not usually fail to renew. I had already renewed my membership for 1989, but I and many others will be looking carefully at the Board's efforts to keep us and our activities part of the Sierra Club in the future.
It seems inconceivable that challenging outdoor activities, such an essential component of the Sierra Club's image, could not be covered in some way. You will be receiving specific suggestions from our people about other ways of dealing with the insurance problem. I want to emphasize that the present compromise is not an acceptable or safe one at all. I write as an individual member and as Chair of a major climbing section, hoping the Board will reconsider its decision.
 Karen Leonard Chair, DPS |
copies: Frear, Howard, Shaffer, Merrow, Brower, Perrault, Downing, Li,
Fiddler, Taylor, Fischer, Wayburn, Tepter, Reid, Allen, Cheslick, Kanne