HIKE LEADER SUGGESTION SHEET
Thank you for volunteering to lead a hike this summer. Your role as the leader is an important factor in making this activity both a fun and rewarding experience for all who participate.
The following is a list of responsibilities for the leaders to assume for hikes they lead.
Before the Hike
1. Identify the degree of difficulty of the activity based on the following criteria:
Easier: A not too difficult activity which for those desiring a more
leisurely experience or not used to exercising at altitudes
above 7000 feet. These hikes will stop periodically to allow slower
hikers to catch up.
Moderate: An intermediate activity where some experience, physical conditioning, and skills are required.
Strenuous: An advanced activity where experience, excellent physical conditioning, and well established skills are mandatory for participation. We want to encourage as many people to attend as possible but discourage anyone who is not in good enough physical condition to enjoy the hike.
2. Hikers should have hiking boots, plenty of water, energy bars or nutritional food, and rain gear. Other items in the ten essentials are always important: extra clothes (layers), food, water, first aid kit, sunglasses, sunscreen/insect spray, pocketknife, flashlight, lighter/matches, and map/compass. Check to make sure everyone has enough water, particularly if it is warm or if the hike is long. Also check to make sure everyone has rain gear if there is a prediction of rain. Make sure you have the ten essentials in case there are unforeseen problems.
3. Because weather in the mountains can be unpredictable, check the latest forecast.
4. Do the hike a week or two in advance of your activity to check conditions and know exactly where to go.
5. Be sure a signup sheet is displayed at the TGIFs two or three weeks before the hike.
6. Try to get a helper who will help with your hike by keeping the group together and watching those at the back. People may have different goals for the activity. If you have fast participants seeking a workout, choose a fast group leader and let them go. You can have radios or other communicators for the hike to help you keep in touch with everyone in the group. The club has radios for your use in case you don’t have one of your own.
7. The leader can deny participation on the hike if he/she
feels a person is not in adequate physical condition to keep up with
the group. Additionally, if a participant is unsafe or uncooperative, the
activity leader may recommend to the Board that the
participant be prohibited from future club activities.
During the Hike:
1. Be sure each participant (nonmembers as well as members) has signed the PCMSC Activity Release Form.
2. Work out the plan with your assistant.
3. Keep the sub-groups together. You may have to break up into more than one group. This is where an assistant is of great help.
4. If someone cannot complete the hike, have him/her sign the release form and decide whether someone (assistant or other) should accompany that person back.
5. Do not change the route of the hike during the hike unless all participants agree. If you do alter your route, make sure you have hiked the new route before and done it in that direction; often a cut off is easy to overlook when you approach it from a different direction.
At the end of the Hike:
1. Check the signup sheet to determine everyone is accounted for.
2. Choose a participant to write an article for the newsletter
about the activity. This is not mandatory but would be appreciated.
Give the person the sign up sheet so he/she knows the names. The article needs to be no more than a paragraph or two, as space is limited in the newsletter. The article should be submitted to the current newsletter editor listed in the newsletter before the 10th of the month. If there is a photograph of the hike, it can also be included. Photos should be accompanied by identification of each person in order of appearance (unless the group is too large).
Thanks once again for you help. Have a fun and safe hike.
