This year, for my local mountaineering club, I've been running a series of ski tours that I called "The Simply Suffering Summits and Traverses Series." The name may seem somewhat pretentious, as these tours, while harder/longer/more committing than regular club trips, are not particularly difficult in the overall scheme of things. However, another club member was running a "Simply Decadent Series" (easy ski tours to local cabins with goodies provided), so the Simply Suffering Series seemed a good counterbalance.
Yesterday was my sixth tour in the series and we skied up Mount Lasca, a peak which, although only 20 km in a straight line from Nelson, manages to feel a long way from anywhere. Our route was made possible by a new logging road that is plowed to 1400 metres, and we did the return trip in about 8 hours (including a number of breaks).
Acting as trip leader for a club can be a stressful experience. People ill-equipped for the proposed trip, in terms of fitness, skill, experience, or all three, frequently want to sign up. Working out whether or not they are as good as they inevitably claim to be is difficult, and, if you end up with a very mixed group - half strong, half weak - group management becomes increasingly difficult, often to the point of consuming your entire mental energy. Many times, you'll end up with a group that is physically capable, but whose basic mountain skills, particularly in terms of navigation, route-finding and stability assessment, is weak. In those instances, the entire responsibility for the trip can weigh heavily on a volunteer trip leader, and making every decision throughout the day without support can become mentally fatiguing.
Yesterday I had a great group, as is becoming increasingly common with this tour series (reputation perhaps?). Everyone was physically and technically capable and, we were truly able to make decisions as a group. A rare instance on a club trip. I found the tour much more enjoyable when I could share decision making and route-finding with competent individuals, and not worry whether someone was going to tire themselves to the point of exhaustion or not be able to ascend/descend a certain slope in a reasonable time frame.
Like all clubs, ours struggles to find competent leaders. Yesterday, I started to wonder if competent leaders are perhaps a function of competent groups. Leadership is much less onerous when the entire party is capable. Too bad such a cohesive group is such a rarity.
Our group on Mount Lasca
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