During our 2018 AGM in Victoria on June 9th, we handed out our annual Member Club Grants, which are used to support projects initiated by our member clubs.
Thanks to everyone who submitted applications—all of your projects were extremely worthwhile and we wish we could have supported them all! And thanks to the FMCBC’s Member Club Grant Committee for your hard work on putting these awards together.
Congratulations to this year’s recipients:
Alpine Club of Canada – Whistler Section
Amount received: $820.00
The project: Kees and Claire Hut – Safety Equipment
The details: The Kees and Claire Hut, which is the first hut in the Spearhead Huts system, will be built in summer 2018 at Russet Lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The objective of the Spearhead Huts project as a whole is to provide greater recreational opportunities for the outdoor community in southwest BC through the creation of three backcountry huts along the Spearhead Traverse.
The objective of this particular project is to provide safety equipment at the Kees and Claire Hut, so that visitors can stay at the hut and recreate in the area in greater safety. The equipment will be available for public use in the event of an emergency. It will be most valuable when weather is poor and an injured person must wait hours, if not days, for a helicopter evacuation.
Alpine Club of Canada – Vancouver Section
Amount received: $1,000.00
The project: Composting Toilet – Jim Haberl Hut
The details: The nature of the project will be to install a composting toilet at the Jim Haberl Hut, which is a popular destination for alpine enthusiasts who wish to gain access to various alpine climbing routes in the area. The composting toilet will be a huge benefit to the environment around the hut via the following:
- It will help to protect the mountain environment by significantly minimizing the impact and potential biohazard of a failure in the current pit toilet system. The current system relies on barrels to collect waste and the subsequent transport of full barrels by helicopter. If a barrel were to leak this would present a biohazard to any person looking to use the hut. Further, such a leak could also harm the terrestrial vegetation located within the immediate area of the spill.
- The amount of maintenance would be significantly lower for a composting toilet as compared to a conventional pit toilet. By having a lower amount of maintenance, this will result in increased volunteer time being utilized to focus on other projects. Further, less maintenance will also result in a reduction in financial resources needed to maintain the system (ie. lower costs for transporting remote waste via helicopter). Reduced costs will allow the ACC – Vancouver Section to focus resources on other endeavors.
Mountain Mentors Society
Amount received: $350.00
The project: 2018-19 Winter Mentorship Program
The details: The Mountain Mentors project is an all-female mentorship cohort that empowers the next generation of female outdoors leaders, and funding from the FMCBC will specifically support Skills Training for their mentors. In Mountain Mentors’ ongoing efforts to improve the experience for their invaluable mentors, who volunteer upwards of 40 hours per season, they are building in tangible benefits specifically for them. This includes discounted gear, partially subsidized participation costs, and skills-based training with the wider cohort. In 2018, Mountain Mentors is hoping to run an ACMG facilitated navigation clinic at the start of their season, based on feedback they have received from current mentorship pairs about a desire to become more confident in their ability to move safely through the backcountry. By empowering mentors with this knowledge, they can share what they’ve learned to their mentees and the wider female outdoor community!
Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club Society
Amount received: $440.00
The project: Avalanche Skills Training (AST1) Course Subsidy
The details: The Caledonia Ramblers would like eight of its regular backcountry snowshoers to take an Avalanche Skills Training, Level 1 (AST1) course late this fall or early this winter to help them more safely lead club snowshoes in the future. Other club snowshoers will also benefit as they will be reassured they’ll continue to be led by leaders more familiar with identifying and avoiding possible avalanche danger, and current snowshoe leaders with avalanche skills training will also benefit as they may no longer feel they have to be present on all club backcountry snowshoes. The Caledonia Ramblers also hope that after the AST1 course is completed, more club snowshoers may gain interest in the course and take it, thus improving overall club safety.
Island Mountain Ramblers
Amount received: $240.00
The project: Mount Benson trail upgrade project
The details: The primary purpose of this project is to prevent erosion and environmental damage from foot traffic coming from the Witchcraft Lake lot to the peak of Mount Benson. Over the long-term, the Island Mountain Ramblers are also proposing a series of ongoing projects that will continuously upgrade and maintain the trail to Mount Benson, beginning with this pilot project, if it is approved.
A bit of background: The route from Witchcraft Lake to Mount Benson suffers from overuse by a growing population, drainage issues, and short cutting on unofficial trails. And with the addition of the new parking lot at the east end of Witchcraft lake, there will be a problem with people taking short cuts up to existing unofficial mixed hiking/mountain biking trails.
Alpine Club of Canada Vancouver Island Section
Amount received: $925.00
The project: 5040 Hut backcountry waterless toilet/outhouse
The details: The ACC-VI is building its first Alpine Club of Canada’s backcountry hut on Vancouver Island. It is located above the tree line on 5040 peak, a mountain between Port Alberni and Ucluelet. The hut includes a waterless toilet, the latest in technology, very low impact, and one that is now used by BC Parks on the island.
The hut (and toilet) can only be accessed on foot. It is a great starting point to explore 5040 and nearby areas by foot or ski for for people with moderate hiking abilities and for mountaineers who want to explore the surrounding area. The hut and toilet will be above the tree line, where the sensitive ecosystem must be protected, and is part of the ACC-VI’s solution to responsible backcountry travel and waste management.
Hickory Wing Ski Touring Club
Amount received: $980.00
The project: Troll Lake Trail improvements
The details: The Troll Lake trail begins at the base of Tabor Mountain and climbs to Hickory Wing’s Troll Lake Cabin. They reopened this trail 2 years ago but it is subject to a lot of water runoff and erosion. The trail is in need of ditching and water bars to stop trail deterioration. The Troll Lake trail is well used by skiers and snowshoers in the winter months and hikers, horse riders, and mountain bikers in the summer months. Trail improvements will greatly enhance the outdoors experience for all users.
If you’d like to support future FMCBC member club projects, you can do so by donating to our organization. All donations to the FMCBC are put towards our Member Club Grant fund!
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