Browse News By Category: Commentary RSS2014-04-05T18:41:00+0000Health benefits of non-motorized outdoor recreation (Report summarised by Michael Feller)   Our Federation of Mountain Clubs of B.C. (FMCBC) obtained funding, primarily from MEC, to have researchers at SFU conduct a review of the health benefits of non-motorized outdoor recreation as well as assess the participation rates and the economic contribution of these forms of recreation in B.C. This was necessary to counter the arguments of the motorized crowd that motorized outdoor recreation was of greater social and economic importance in B.C. The SFU reports were released in March, 2014 and will soon be on the FMCBC website. They make for very interesting and worthwhile reading. Below is a summary of the findings on the health benefits of some of our forms of recreation. The full report - “Health benefits of non-motorized outdoor recreation: a summary of published findings” - is by Stephen Kux and Wolfgang Haider of the SFU School of Resource and Environmental Management. There have been many studies covering a range of activities that have been linked with benefits to physical health, but the SFU report focuses on three activities - hiking, rock climbing, and alpine skiing. These activities may not necessarily be the activities with the largest health benefits, but so far they happen to have received the most attention.    Hiking has been studied most extensively compared with other outdoor recreation activities and has been linked to health benefits such as:  - a 50% reduction in the risk of coronary artery disease  - improved heart function;  - improved insulin sensitivity;  - accumulation of lean body mass; - reduced heart rate and blood pressure;  - increased production of naturally generated stem cells in the blood;  - reductions in blood-bound “bad cholesterol” (low-density lipoproteins);  - improvements in the perceived health of participants. Interestingly, hiking at higher elevations, even elevations around 1700 – 2000m, has been shown to have ... Read more

]]>2014-04-05T18:41:00+0000“BCMC 800” was achieved on Feb.15 – yup, we are 800 now. Our PR Volunteers Astrid St.Pierre, Bala Kumar, Rob Szpak, Michelle Hyun, Dave Robertson and Francis signed up 14 new members at our PR table at the VIMFF – North Vancouver. Their successful work pushed our ‘active membership accounts’ over the 800 barrier during the VIMFF on Feb.15th ‘Thank You Very Much’ for helping make the BCMC one of the leading Mountaineering Clubs in BC and in Canada. Next steps: We need more trip organizers who organize more trips for all those new members! ● Yes – we are talking to YOU● Don’t be shy – please help - apply via email bcmc.contact@gmail.com to become a trip organizer or club volunteer :)  

]]>2014-02-24T18:17:00+0000COMMITMENT What is it?     By definition it means an obligation, a promise, a pledge, a moral obligation, a social obligation.  And where this is leading you ask? It is leading to trip participants; to those who for different reasons enter on to more than 1 trip at any given time. I won’t try to get into why this happens, but it does and it does and with regularity.    It is easy for someone to look ahead to the clubs schedule, check out what trips are there, for a certain weekend and then to sign up online to 1, or 2, or 3 of them. Then wait to pick and choose which 1 to go on at the last minute.     This is occurring a lot of late and the following is what happened to one of my recent trips.    The trip was on the schedule for some weeks ahead of time and filled up quite quickly, 9 in total confirmed, and ended up with 8 on the waiting list for a total of 17 in all. As the weekend neared, I had calls from, and spoke with, a couple of people on the waiting list and I told them that no one had cancelled, so what then happened was that those on the waiting list took their names off of the waiting list and made other plans. Wouldn’t you?   So the waiting list started getting smaller as those on the waiting list made their other plans, right?       On the Wednesday prior to the trip leaving, 72 hours prior to leaving, the cancellations started. In that last 72 hours there were 9 cancellations! 4 on Friday alone!    So of the 17 who wanted to come there were now just 2 left! So read that again. Of the original 17 there were just 2 left!    The end result was that those on the waiting list who wanted to come had made their other plans. At 9:30 that Friday evening I checked other trips for that particular weekend and found many names were on other trips that had just cancelled at the last minute from mine. And lo and behold there was 1 who had cancelled from mine and was still listed on2 other trips for that weekend and get this, there was 1 person still lis... Read more

]]>2013-04-08T16:52:00+0000 The BCMC is a member driven club that has been run by volunteers from it's membership since it's creation in 1907, then known as the Vancouver Mountaineering Club. 106 years of member involvement has made what the British Columbia Mountaineering Club is today. There are no paid positions with the BCMC, it is managed by an elected board of volunteer executive members who deal with the day to day affairs of the club. The executive members themselves cannot accomplish all needed tasks and rely on the assistance of volunteers from the ranks of the club to help with both ongoing and periodic club roles. Currently there are three vacant executive seats which are leaving important roles that need attention to keep the club running. Additionally the vacant positions increase the burden on the existing executivemembers who have stepped forward to help the club in their specific roles. All fourteen of the executive positions also need ongoing regular support from the membership with administrative type duties throughout the year. These positions can either be ongoing tasks requiring an hour or two per week or periodic helping out with short term roles. In order to further facilitate the involvement of club members the executive has initiated a new process to help fill these vacant roles. There will be a regular section in the newsletter identifying current or upcoming areas that the club needs help with. A new section has been added to the forums under BCMC Member Forums called Club Volunteer Help. ... Read more

]]>2013-03-28T17:03:00+0000PLEASE ACT NOW: JANUARY 10, 2013 IS THE LAST DAY TO COMMENTThe BCMC is concerned that the Garibaldi Park Management Plan Draft Amendments will entrench heli-skiing in Garibaldi Park and will consider heli-skiing in the placement of huts on the Spearhead Traverse. If you share these concerns and want to make a difference, please follow these three steps:Step 1: Highlight (select) the text below, right click and select ”copy” Heli-skiing should be phased out of Garibaldi Park Heli-skiing does not add value for other Park users Huts sites should be selected to maximize safety of users and minimize environmental impact; sites should not be chosen to mitigate conflict between heli-skiing and other Park users Step 2: Click on the link below and scroll down to Section 6.2.5 (b)http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/mgmtplns/garibaldi/garibaldi_mp_amend_comments.htmlStep 3: Right click in the box for section 6.2.5 (b) and click on “paste”Thank you for taking the time to act on this important issue. The Park Master Plan may not be amended again for 20 or more years, so this is the time to speak-up. ****************************** If you wish to provide input to BC Parks on the rest of the amendments, the BCMC’s full submission may be helpful:https://bcmc.ca/blogs/entry/BCMC-Comments-on-Garibaldi-Park-Management-Plan-Draft-AmendmentsAlso, consider sending your comments to:Honourable Terry Lake, BC Minister of Environmentterry.lake.mla@leg.bc.caHonourable Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbiapremier@gov.bc.caJoan McIntyre, MLA, West Vancouver - Sea to Skyjoan.mcintyre.mla@leg.bc.ca... Read more

]]>2013-01-10T17:59:00+0000BC Parks recently issued a draft management plan amendment for the Spearhead area and, up until January 10, 2013, are seeking further input via their website: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/mgmtplns/garibaldi/garibaldi_mp_amend_comments.htmlWe hope that you take this additional opportunity to provide your comments. We also encourage you to consult the draft plan, which can be be found on the above site.The plan is in part a response to the proposal for the Spearhead Huts System in Garibaldi Provincial Park, submitted May 2012 by the Spearhead Huts Committee: http://www.spearheadhuts.org/the-project/proposalAdditional comments have also been voiced by the FMCBC: http://wiki.mountainclubs.org/trails_projects/garibaldiamend Commentary by John Baldwin https://bcmc.ca/m/news/view/Garibaldi-Park-Management-Plan-Commentary-by-John-Baldwin

]]>2012-12-28T18:18:00+0000MY DREAM / VISION There has been talk for some time lately about the British Columbia Mountaineering Club having, obtaining, buying, building a clubhouse in the Squamish area; whether in the town proper or nearby. This is my vision to that end. Having any kind of clubhouse in the town proper whether it would be an actual house, or town house, or any kind of structure would require in no particular order, insurance, a mortgage, the means to build one. Then; whom would keep it up, run it, look after bookings, sign on the dotted line as the holder of a mortgage? Would you? My answer to this is, to build a BCMC cabin at Watersprite Lake. Where you say? The club obtained a province of BC tenure on the 17th of September 2009 to build a mountaineering cabin at Watersprite Lake. It is a small lake situated 23 km east of Squamish at an elevation of 4700 ft. Where you say again? Go to bivouac and type in the name and you will see where it is located. It has been said that the area is too small to have a cabin, and there is little to do there. Well, here again is my vision. So why does the area have to be big? The clubs mountain Lake Hut sees much use and is a destination for many summer hikes. It is close to the city. The clubs North Creek Cabin sees much less use as it is quite a distance away. Some say too far even though the area is fantastic for winter skiing and summer mountaineering.  The answer is? The club holds any number of courses year round and there has always been the question of where will we go to hold these courses. Why not in a cabin that belongs to the club. Avalanche courses, summer and winter mountaineering courses, rock courses, winter camping courses, Brian Woods igloo building courses. The cabin would be the base. It would be close, cutting down on the travel time giving more time for the actual instructional time. At days end there could be a discussion of the days activities in a warm heated structure. It can be accessed even in bad weather. A... Read more

]]>2012-12-11T07:09:00+0000Submitting Comments to BC Parks on the Garibaldi Management PlansEveryone is encouraged to submit comments to BC Parks here: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/mgmtplns/garibaldi/garibaldi_mp.html Comments can either be submitted online or via a mailed submission and will be accepted until January 10, 2013. BCMC Member and author John Baldwin has shared his comments, submitted in November to BC Parks, with BCMC members to highlight some of his concerns with the current proposed management plan. IntroductionI have given comments below on the aspects of the amendment that relate to backcountry skiing. Though the comments below are my own personal opinion, I feel that they represent the backcountry ski community as a whole. I am the author of Exploring the Coast Mountains on Skis and Backcountry Whistler, which are the guidebook and map to backcountry skiing in the Spearhead area of Garibaldi Park. I am very familiar with the viewpoints and concerns of backcountry skiers in the Spearhead study area as well as the rest of Garibaldi Park and the Sea to Sky Corridor. Parks BC has done an excellent job of consulting with various stakeholder groups including the FMCBC and various clubs and organizations involved on backcountry skiing such as the BCMC, sections of the ACC, mountain guides, local outdoor businesses etc. However the majority of backcountry skiers are not affiliated with any organization. There are approximately 10,000 backcountry skiers in southwest BC, and about 15,000 in BC. There are an additional number of about 10,000 in Alberta and perhaps 15,000 in Washington State. All of these backcountry skiers are drawn to the Spearhead study area by the world-class nature of the Spearhead area. The area also draws backcountry skiers from other areas all around North America and Europe. With the proposed huts, this interest will increase significantly.CommentsSection 6.2.4 Winter Recreation (Backcountry Huts) a. What do you support in Section 6.2.4 I sup... Read more

]]>2012-12-05T23:19:00+0000Check out the article here: http://www.straight.com/article-822161/vancouver/garibaldi-provincial-park-gets-little-help-its-friends

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