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The MCR and You
06/3/6
- Peter Tucker |
Hello everyone
Following this message is an important letter that was penned by Larry Stanier on behalf of the ACMG MCR committee. Because the MCR is in the public domain, we need to be particularly careful around what we post to this site. With this letter, Larry is trying to strike a difficult balance between allowing members to share their experience and knowledge versus the Association doing its due diligence toward an often less experienced public. Please read the letter carefully and assess how your contributions can fit. As ever, don't hesitate to contact me with comments or concerns.
Thanks and play safe.
Peter
Peter Tucker
Executive Director
Association of Canadian Mountain Guides
ed@acmg.ca
403-949-3587
403-689-4324 (cell)
From Larry Stanier:
The ACMG Mountain Conditions Report has been both a great success and a growing liability for the association. There has been great feedback but also a growing string of valid questions from the public and the membership about the quality and content of some reports. The vast majority of these questions are regarding posts from members with limited training, certification and industry experience. The responsibility for this carrying on as long as it has rests squarely with the rest of us for not doing something sooner. Lately, the MCR/Informalex committee has been debating how to handle the situation and this letter will hopefully be part of the solution.
There has been a great deal of debate about imposing restrictions on who can submit to the MCR. It has been suggested that people can only submit within their terrain guidelines and assistant guides must submit through supervising guides. This letter is an attempt to improve the quality and reduce the liability of the postings without having to impose restrictions. In other words, we can improve the MCR the easy way, or, we can do it the hard way!
The purpose of the MCR is to provide information to the public regarding mountain conditions from TRAINED, EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS. It is not a venue for telling stories and it is not a data stream like the Infoex. The intention is to help the public make well-informed decisions about where and where not to ski, climb or hike in the near future.
Here are some general guidelines.
1. Submit MCR reports that reflect your training and experience.
Hiking and backpacking guides report on trail conditions.
Rock and assistant rock guides report on rock climbs and their access.
Ski guides and assistant ski guides report on ski conditions.
Alpine guides and assistant alpine guides report on ice and alpine conditions.
Simple, but it becomes more complicated when we start to assess snow stability, avalanche danger and alpine climbing conditions and especially when we attempt to forecast these conditions. When we report to the public in these much more complex and subjective realms we need at least a CAA level 2 and more importantly we need experience making these assessments.
2. When in doubt, post to the Informalex. This serves the community and allows experienced ACMG members to comment if they have concerns about postings. If the information is significant it will find its way into MCR summaries in the summer and CAC bulletins in the winter.
3. Speak to the public. Again, avalanche risk assessment is complicated and there has been a lot of information sent to the MCR that we can only assume is useless and or confusing to the public. Speak in easily understood language. The CAC and Parks Canada public bulletins are usually great examples of practical language. Get on the CAC emailing list, read the bulletins and learn from them.
4. When in doubt, consult someone else. If you think your posting is significant but you are acting outside your terrain guidelines and or experience, post it to the Informalex and ask if it should be sent on to the MCR. Anyone approving of it and sending it on to the MCR need only check their inbox before sending to ensure they are the first to do so.
5. Talk about conditions. Stick to the facts, talk about what you observed and what worked for you but avoid making decisions for other people.
6. Remember that you are representing the ACMG and both you and the association are accountable for the content of the MCR. This is a public service and a fabulous learning tool for all of us. However, it cannot happen at the expense of public safety or as a liability to the ACMG.
We sincerely hope this strong reminder is all that will be needed to get the MCR back on track. It would be a shame to have to police the MCR, but it would be a greater shame to feel that input from ACMG members was part of what led to an accident in the mountains.
Larry Stanier
Feb.15, 2006
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