| Mr. Richard
Cellrius 2439 Crestline Dr. NW Olympia, WA 98502 |
MOUNTAINEERING | May 11, 1989 |
Dear Richard,
This letter is in response to your request at the May Sierra Club board meeting for suggestions on how to follow through and implement the Mountaineering Insurance Task Force's (MITF) recommendations. First, I wish to thank the Board of Directors for the motions that passed regarding mountaineering insurance. I believe the Club is moving in the right direction by requesting the "staff to explore the availability and cost of liability insurance for a Sierra Club mountaineering program." In addition, your motion that the "President is directed to establish, as soon as possible, a process to study the best method of administering a mountaineering program with adequate guidelines, if proper insurance is obtained" should provide further momentum to return mountaineering to the Sierra Club.
The Sierra Club must act quickly in order to return mountaineering to its proper place within the Club. Time is of the essence for a number of reasons. Members are growing increasing concerned that mountaineering will never return to the Club. This will hurt the Club over time as some of these members drop out or reduce the amount of time or money they contribute to the Club's conservation and outings goals. I have already noticed this in running last years training course. The Angeles Chapter Basic Mountaineering Training Course (BMTC) had 773 students and 250 instructors in 1988 but only had 247 students and 100 instructors last year. If we wait to long, we will have found the cure, but lost the patient (our members and prospective members).
Time is also needed to plan a mountaineering training program. Even though BMTC doesn't start until January, a committee prepares the course's budget, prints and distributes applications, and updates its textbooks during the summer and fall months. Without sufficient lead time, it becomes increasingly difficult to run a viable program. Last year is a prime example, instead of making money, BMTC lost 55,000 since the course needed to be changed at the last minute. As chairman, I am unable to plan the course until I have a good indication of whether mountaineering will be restored.
The Club must obtain new insurance quotes immediately to insure mountaineering is restored ASAP. I realize that everyone at Club headquarters is busy with next year's budget and planning the summer outings but insurance quotes must be obtained. This is the CRITICAL next step and it must be done immediately. Without quotes, the Sierra Club will not be sure whether it can obtain reasonably priced insurance and what to charge its mountaineering members for this insurance. After quotes are obtained, a staff person should be appointed to implement the MITE recommendations which were endorsed by the Board of Directors. This person should implement the recommendations with oversight from a member of the Board of Directors and a person from the mountaineering community. This will assure that both parties interests are being met.
In summary, I believe the solution to the Club's mountaineering insurance problem has been found (the MITF recommendations). Now, what is needed are new insurance quotes and a person to implement the MITF recommendations. Please give me a call at (213) 333-6446 during the day or (213) 399-1839 during the evenings if I can be of any help. Please don't let this issue die when we are so close to solving this problem at little cost to the Sierra Club. If we do, we are only doing a disservice to our members who recognize the importance of mountaineering to the Club.
 John Cheslick MTC Chairman |