thenhoc

in the past there has been a trip that goes sledding down the sherbourne trail at pinkham notch, anyone feel like leading a trip like that next trip sign ups? i am open to most any date next semester

I'd be up for leading or ALing it, depending when it is.

I likewise would be interested in doing a trip like this as an AL. If there are some leaders who want to do a cross country skiing trip I am down for that too, I don't know where you guys typically go around here or where is good but I have done it before and like it, so if there are leaders out there!

i am also down with cross country skiing, any time before march is good for me

I'm all for doing some cross-country skiing trips, Chris and Colum. I've done at least one the last few winters (starting with my first AL days, actually, which is a story I'll have to tell you sometime) and I'm definitely looking forward to some cross-country skiing trips this winter as well.

Aaron

Superb idea, Colum! Since I won't be here in the spring, someone needs to do some extreme Mt. Washington sledding, so I can live it vicariously. It's kind of a big deal. Go big or go bunny hilling. Peace.

I've never done the sledding down sherburne, but I heard it is a blast. I would be down for leading/co-leading/participating on this trip. I would say it is a must for the winter season. Especially for Kirsten's sake.
Finch, where are you on this topic?
Welcome back everyone! Hope y'all had a great break!

This is an awesome trip, for sure. I was a participant on it as a freshman (I think). As I've said before, however, safety could become an issue depending on what snow conditions are like. If it is packed down and fast/icy, things get out of control pretty quickly. Luckily the trail only has short steep sections that are nicely broken up by more gradual slopes. But it really doesn't take much to end up in the trees, even under good conditions like we had! We were lucky to only have one person go flying into the woods, and her pack took the brunt of her impact with a sapling. I recommend a ski helmet and goggles.

I completely agree with Jake's judgement on this. I've done the trip a couple of times, once as a participant and once as a leader, though it's been a few years. As a participant it was in the middle of the winter and there was lots of powder, and it was great. When I led it, though, we did it closer to spring and it was a lot more icy, slippery, and fast.

It's a classic NHOC trip, but I'd recommend doing it when there's plenty of powder!

Aaron

I'd love to do both xc skiing and extreme sledding! sign me up! oh and aaron-i got FA, CPR (infant and adult) and AED training over break (9 miserable hrs in one day, let me tell you), can that count equivalent for a WFA for now? i still plan of course getting that training.
oh and i am of course interested in assistant leading any trip really and i'm willing to put in extra work for planning and preparing for it, so anyone need a co-leader let me know
oh and is there a meeting tonight at 6:30?

Hi Kat,

In the past we've had people certified in First Aid and CPR, and we have not been able to allow it in place of WFA. The policy reads that leaders must hold WFA certification or an equivilant or higher level of certification. First Aid and CPR is not considered equivilant or higher than WFA because it does not contain the wilderness component, which is so important because so many of our trips are in the backcountry. First Responder and EMT count because, even though they do not have wilderness components, they are 80 hour and 120 hour courses respectively and are clearly a higher level of training than a 16 hour WFA course. And obviously Wilderness First Responder and Wilderess EMT are acceptable as well!

A few years ago we tried an experiment by having leaders get certified in first aid and CPR from American Red Cross and then doing our own form of wilderness training with them. Unfortunately this led to several problems. First of all, we can't guarantee we're always going to have people in the club with enough wilderness skills (more than you get from just taking WFA) to be able to teach it to other leaders. Second, it left us with a problem of liability. If a leader is taught a wilderness skill by someone in the club and then has to use it, there's no group to support it or back it up. In other words, those who could teach it from the club knew the information, but were not certified to be teaching it. After a semester of doing this we decided to revert back to WFA through SOLO, and then that led to problems as well. Leaders who had paid to get the first aid and CPR training through the American Red Cross and were told it would count for them were not happy when they found out it would not longer count, and that they would now have to go and pay for WFA as well. It just shows what sort of repercussions such an experiment can have when the experiment does not work and it becomes necessary to revert back the way things were done before.

In any case, you can certainly try talking to Colleen and Natalie.

On a lighter note, yes, there is a Business Meeting tonight! Hope to see you there!

Aaron

anyone want to meet sometime to plan the trip?

I'd be up for it. Evenings work better for me.

after the meeting today?