Re: [Paddlewise] Paddlers, Groups, Clubs and Soverenty

<cjp129_at_earthlink.net> wrote:

> Is there some "club veil" that provides legal protection the members? Does
> having a formal club attract legal lightning? Why do people form clubs
> anyway? Why not just go paddling with the same people over and over?

You're singing my tune ... except that if you are in an out of the way place 
(such as where I live), an association of paddlepartners helps to find 
companions for trips.  There is, of course, solo paddling, which is what some 
70% of my paddling days involve.

After learning the skills to handle the sorts of water he/she wants to 
paddle, a sea kayaker needs others to improve, I think.  A club helps there 
... but can hinder if a paddler finds him/herself continually leading a band 
of novices or folks who depend on a club structure for a cocoon of apparent 
security.

Clubs help during times of trouble with access to the water, such as the 
tempests in the Oregon legislature this past session ... much as The Access 
Fund assists clubby- and nonclubby-climbers across the nation.

And, if there is a visible structure, with apparently a pocket to plunder, a 
suit is inevitable in our culture of litigation.  So clubs get nailed, while 
if someone dies on an informal non-club paddletrip, there is no clear 
assignment of liability because no one took on the mantle of authority.

I know for me, the weight of responsibility for others in the days when I ran 
X-C clinics, X-C overnighters, and guided climbs in the Cascades, destroyed 
the joy of being in the mountains.  Those who bear that weight well I envy 
and respect ... but that's not for me.  That they are more exposed to 
litigation for their benign labors is a monstrous irony.  We need to fix 
that.

--
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR 
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