ISU Mountaineering and Climbing Club
Policies
ISU Mountaineering and Climbing Club: Policies
ISUMCC Home Info / Beginners Constitution Operational Bylaws Club Policies
  1. TRIPS
    1. Criteria and cost for participation shall be determined at least one month in advance, to include:
      1. Trip leaders may assign minimum skill and fitness levels.
      2. Camping costs, park entrance fees, transportation costs (mileage calculated using mapquest.com + 10%), and incidental fees.
    2. Extended trips shall have a backup plan determined and announced simultaneously with the actual trip, should difficulties with the prime destination arise.
    3. On the day of departure, the weather forecast shall be checked through appropriate means.
    4. Spare copies of van and trailer keys should be made prior to departure from Ames, with this cost included in tabulation of overall trip costs (est. $5).
    5. One week shall be allowed to collect deposits, with deadline for registration at the end of the third general meeting prior to departure, and at the discretion of the trip leader.
    6. The member must pay the full cost of the trip by the second general meeting before departure. Failure to pay by this date, or to make appropriate arrangements for payment with the treasurer's and trip leader's permissions, shall be grounds for loss of deposit and opening of spot to other club members.
    7. The Trip Coordinator shall collect signed and dated registration, waiver form, and money, which shall be surrendered to the treasurer by the meeting prior to departure for deposit into the club account.
    8. Gear needed for trips shall be checked out during the week prior to departure, according to the schedule provided by gear chair.
    9. Suggested participant to leader ratio is shown below: This is also at the discretion of the trip leader.
      ParticipantsLeadersTotal
      12315
      11314
      10313
      92/311/12
      82/310/11
      729
      628
      51/26/7
      41/25/6
      314
    10. Trip leaders shall submit a brief written report of each trip by the next general meeting, to include:
      1. Reproducible chronological summary of trip, including:
        1. Transportation time
        2. Camping locations
        3. Routes climbed
      2. Positive aspects of trip
      3. Downfalls of trip
      4. Suggestions for improvement of trips.
      5. Overall trip success rating, based on:
        1. Satisfaction of participants and leaders.
        2. Scale of 1 to 10.
  2. GEAR
    1. General Procedures
      1. Club Gear Lockers
        1. Key Distribution shall be strictly as such:
          1. President, Vice-President & Gear Chair
          2. No one shall have access to the lockers without any of the above persons present, unless otherwise given permission for a specific circumstance.
        2. All checked out gear must be fully documented before it can leave the lockers.
      2. Preference of gear checkout shall be prioritized as follows:
        1. Club trips
        2. Club leaders
          1. To qualify to check out gear designated for club leaders, the club member must have led at least one club trip during the current school year.
          2. Those who have led more trips in the current school year shall have first preference of gear.
        3. Paid club members
    2. Trip Procedures
      1. Gear request must be submitted to the gear chair one week prior to participant registration.
      2. Gear must be signed out by trip and counted before departure.
      3. Gear should be inventoried at the end of every day before leaving the climbing area.
      4. Gear MUST be inventoried before leaving location.
      5. Trip leader prior to the next general meeting shall check in gear.
      6. Any missing gear must be reported at the time of check-in.
      7. Any damaged gear (i.e. dropped biners, worn rope) should be identified, marked, separated, and reported at time of check-in.
      8. Financial responsibility for missing, unreported gear shall fall upon trip leaders.
      9. If disposition of gear is explained by leaders at time of check-in and verified by participants, leaders shall not be held responsible.
      10. Failure to properly inventory gear before departure from climbing location constitutes acceptance of responsibility for loss by leaders.
      11. Individual use items (helmet, harness, belay device, large locking biner) shall be signed out to trip participants upon arrival at climbing location, and shall be collected and signed in by leaders prior to departure from climbing location. Financial responsibility for these items shall fall upon the individual user.
    3. Private Use
      1. Gear may be checked out by appointment during times established by the gear chair at the beginning of each semester.
      2. Gear checkout requests should be made through written application, which shall consist of at least the following:
        1. Name
        2. Social Security Number
        3. Desired date of checkout
        4. Date to be returned
        5. Gear desired
        6. Intended use (i.e. top-roping, leading, ice climbing, snow-shoeing, etc.)
        7. Location of intended use
        8. Qualifications of receiving party as appropriate for intended use
      3. Gear requests may be made no earlier than two weeks in advance of checkout date.
      4. Requesting party must meet the qualifications as adopted by the club for checkout of specific items for private use. Appeals of these qualifications may be made if special circumstances exist, in which case the cabinet will hear the arguments of the requesting party and make a final decision based on the information available.
      5. A standard gear checkout form shall be used when issuing gear, and shall consist of at least the following:
        1. Printed name, SSN, and signature of receiving party
        2. Printed name of issuing party
        3. Date of issue with initials of issuing party
        4. Date of return with initials of check-in party
        5. Itemized list of equipment, including physical description and number
        6. Condition of equipment at issue
        7. Condition at return
      6. A returnable deposit in the amount of the lower of $100 or 10% of retail cost of borrowed gear shall be given to issuing party at time of checkout.
      7. A cleaning deposit in the amount of $5 per item greater than $40 in value shall be given to issuing party at time of checkout (paired items shall be considered as one - i.e. snow shoes, hiking poles, crampons)
      8. Receiving party must have a waiver of liability for gear checkout on file with the club before receiving gear.
      9. Any unusual stress placed upon gear should be noted, the item separated and marked, and the incident reported at check-in (i.e. dropped biner, long dynamic falls on single placements, etc.). Individuals shall not be held financially liable for such isolated incidents, so long as the items are returned and the occurrences reported. However, frequent and repetitive misuse will be documented and may result in suspension or loss of checkout privileges.
      10. Gear shall be returned before the next club meeting or as otherwise organized by the Gear Chair.
        1. During the summer, gear shall be returned by the Monday after checkout, or at the discretion of the Gear Chair.
        2. Deposit Check will be cashed if gear is not returned within two weeks of due date unless of extenuating circumstances approved by a 2/3 cabinet vote.
          1. If tardy gear is not returned by the end of the current semester / summer, gear holder will be held financial responsible for replacement costs of gear minus deposit.
      11. Qualifications to check out gear
        1. Any paid club member may check out the following individual-use rock climbing safety items:
          1. Helmet
          2. Harness
          3. Belay device
          4. Large locking biner
        2. Successful completion of the Trip Leader Certification shall entitle paid club members to check out the following additional items:
          1. Standard top-rope rack hardware
          2. Rack sling
          3. Webbing
          4. Cordelette
          5. Biners
          6. Open runners / slings
          7. Rope
          8. Backpack
        3. Successful completion of the Lead Climbing Certification (or discretion of cabinet) shall entitle paid club members to check out the following additional items:
          1. Dedicated lead climbing rack
          2. Quick-draws
          3. Ascenders
        4. Successful completion of the Ice Climbing Workshop (or discretion of cabinet) shall entitle paid club members to check out the following additional items:
          1. Ice screws
          2. Technical ice tools
          3. Waterfall ice crampons
          4. Any other designated ice gear
        5. The following items may be checked out by any paid member, contingent upon approval appropriate use and the presence of sub-freezing temperatures:
          1. Sleeping bags
          2. Tents
          3. Glacier Crampons
          4. Avalanche shovels with snow saws
          5. Snowshoes
          6. Avalanche probe poles
          7. Avalanche transceivers
          8. Snow pickets
          9. Mountain axes
        6. Use of club sleeping bags shall also require the use of sleeping bag liners.

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