Blueprint for the Future
by Justin Mash
It's official! The AAC(UK) has over 10,000 members and is one of the largest mountaineering clubs in the UK. Members benefit from an excellent insurance package as well as reductions in hut fees. But the Club offers far more than this.
The Club has an extensive programme of tours and meets, in the UK, Europe and beyond. There are also wide ranging training opportunities provided by instructors in the UK as well as in Austria through the Alpenverein-Akademie. Generous grants are available which make these training courses even more attractive!
The Club is developing a key project to make these activities more accessible and coherent - a bit of joined up thinking! We are looking to provide high quality training to equip members with the knowledge and skills in a range of activities and opportunities to practise them:
- Mountaineering
- Scrambling
- Climbing
- Klettersteig
- Winter Mountaineering and Climbing
- Skiing
- Snowshoeing
The Club will offer a programme that supports:
- a progression in skills over time
- opportunities to practise and consolidate newly acquired skills in follow up meets
- the development of leadership skills for those who wish to lead meets and/or become an instructor
So, those who access an Alpine Skills course will have an opportunity to take part in a tour after the training that will allow members to practise glacier travel and moving together, along with other alpine skills. We all know how easy it is to forget unless we get out there and 'do it'. This 'Core Programme' will complement the existing, traditional round of meets organised by AAC(UK) members; these will continue as before.
When will this begin? We are hoping to start this programme next summer with the Alpine Courses provided by the Alpenverein-Akademie. These will be followed by tours to practise and consolidate those alpine skills. In the autumn, members will have the chance to develop mountain biking skills and rock climbing whilst the winter will provide opportunities to access training in winter mountaineering.
This programme will be supported by improving the way that we communicate with members: Facebook and Twitter will help here. We have a team working on this!
We have made a good start, but it will take time to create a comprehensive programme that encompasses all areas of mountaineering. Eventually, we will have a 3 year rolling programme.
If you have any views and suggestions, we would like to hear from you. Please contact Justin Mash at justin.mash3@gmail.com
Here's to the future!
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