Want to lead a day tour or an overnight trip but feel uncertain about your abilities to lead a group of skiers and want more support and training? Or are you a seasoned trip leader who would like to improve your leadership skills in order to ensure that the trips you lead are successful and safe? Whichever is the case, whether you’re a new or an experienced leader, here’s a great opportunity for any member of ONC-PDX. We are offering Leadership Training on Sunday, January 24, from 5:00 to 8:00 at the Mazama Mountaineering Center, 527 SE 43rd Avenue (just off SE Stark) in Portland. The focus of the training will be on SAFETY, our number one priority of the trips we lead (besides having fun in the snow).
We’ll kick off the training with free pizza, salad, beer and wine. We’ll talk about some pre-trip necessities (choosing a tour, advertising, communicating, packing for the trip, setting expectations at the car pool spot, starting from the trailhead). Then we’ll break into groups to discuss important issues of maintaining safety: how to handle weak skiers, how to deal with difficult people, how to lead an overnight trip of mixed abilities, and what to do if someone gets injured. We’re sure that many of you have some worthy answers to these questions, and we’ll have an opportunity to share our collective wisdom. We’ll also take a look at resources for further training (e.g. wilderness first aid and avalanche training) and share how the club can support you in your efforts to expand your knowledge. Finally, we’ll hear about what our insurance covers and how that might affect you as a leader.
Even if you’re not sure that you want to be a leader, you are still welcome to this training. We all love cross-country skiing and know how glorious it feels to be gliding across the snow on skis, but there are times when things can go wrong, and we want to do everything in our power to avoid accidents or other miserable experiences and keep our tours and trips safe and enjoyable for everybody.
If you plan on attending, please r.s.v.p. to Kim Davis by Jan.17th at cancionnueva@yahoo.com.