Dougb wrote:From what I've gathered, Pete is upset at the MLCSC (not the midlife crisis scooter club, but rather a chapter of the sierra club) for something they did that changed the outings section wayyyy back in the 1980s I think, and he can't seem to let it go. He has a grudge or something against the mlcsc from long ago, decisions that they made that he disagrees with. He mentions them often in his posts, and to me it seems like something that really should be buried and forgotten. But he chooses to lock onto it like a bulldog.
edit: I've met Pete and he's a harmless fellow, perhaps 'grudge' is a poor word choice, but for pete's sake, a change of policy in the 1980's is like ancient history...forgeddaboutit man!
Anyhow, there's nothing to worry about ...........
**everyone can breathe a collective sigh of relief**
If its the 1980's, thats the time when insurance premiums to operate organized trips on/in federal park, forest, and BLM lands skyrocketed or vanished altogether. The triggering event was when Chouinard Equipment (the for runner of Black Diamond) got sued when one of their harnesses failed and the climber fell to his death - the climber's surviving relatives blamed it on a faulty Chouinard harness, Chouinard claimed it was excessively worn. The result was insurance companies started raising insurance premiums to sky-high levels, and organizations like the Sierra Club either scaled back their outdoor trips or cancelled them altogether. I believe the Sierra Club kept a basic policy in place, but requried local chapters to provide supplemental insurance if they ran anything more than day hikes on trails, and the Club prohibited anything technical (any sort of aid climbing or use of ice axe/crampons). Some local chapters like the Mother Lode Chapter might have just dropped the overnight trips.
As for racist and bigots in the Sierra Club - there are always a few in every group (as the saying goes "every dog has a few fleas"). Its a normal part of human nature that no laws will ever completey eliminate. No one's requried to belong to the Sierra Club, so drop 'em and move on.