Re: [Paddlewise] Leader Requirements

John Winters wrote:
>The two clubs I belong to have a slightly different approach to trips.
>There are no leaders. There is a trip organizer. The organizer decides
>where he or she wants to go and then lets out the word about time and
>location as well as some idea of the skill level required and the
maximum
>number of people for the trip.

John,

I agree completely with your definition. We have been having arguments of
leader vs. organizer in our local club recently, and I think that this is
an important distinction to make. I think a leader is important on a trip
with, say, the YMCA or Mountain Travel Sobek. With kayaking clubs, which
are generally made up of people who have made a commitment to kayaking, a
leader becomes superfluous and can start start creating hierarchies within
a club. Yes, an organizer can use judgment such as "The water is 35
degrees and you want to wear shorts? You're not goin' buster.", but an
organizer isn't going to run my life while I'm on a trip. When I am on a trip with
a group, I'm my own leader and take responsibility for my actions while
looking to the organizer for logistical information, tips, area info or
whatever.  There is gray area between the two, but I think that defining how
a trip is organized is important for all those involved to understand. 

When I organize winter camping trips, I'll tell someone if they're not
prepared to go out in the conditions we might face. But I am not going to
demand that people follow me when I go on hike A, or tell someone they can't
go on this trip because they haven't built 40 snowcaves according to
British specifications. If someone gets in trouble while on a trip (whatever
kind of trip that might be), or course I'll do my damnedest to get them out
safely, but that is commonsense, not leadership.

I'd like to hear what others think about this, and how your local club
operates.

-Patrick

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