President’s Message
Welcome to the Summer 2021 edition of Cloudburst. As restrictions lift and the season shifts to our warm and sunny months, FMCBC members and Directors alike are lacing up hiking boots, filling water bottles and eagerly anticipating getting back into the great outdoors.
We are trying a new format, less copy and less advertising. We’re also going to move to a seasonal timeline for Cloudburst and publish it 4 times a year. Let us know what you think —we like to hear from our members.
A wise person once said that change is always constant. Well, we at the FMCBC are no exception. For the past 4 years FMCBC has run deficits which could not be sustained and, as Directors, we have a fiduciary responsibility to the Federation and its members to ensure FMCBC remains in the black. The difficult decision to temporarily eliminate the Executive Director position was made to start the process of getting our financial house in order and the FMCBC finances back on track. This was not an easy decision but was a necessary one in order to fulfil our responsibilities as Directors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on everyone but especially hard on member clubs who are reporting a substantial drop in membership which impacts budgets, including FMCBC’s budget. We hope that this is again a temporary situation from which we will all recover as the Covid 19 restrictions are lifted, carefully.
As changes occurred within the ranks of the FMCBC, the board thought it would be worthwhile to take this opportunity to reach out to our members and ask them for their input in terms of what they see as the priorities and strategic direction of the federation. There is a survey on our website, and I would encourage you to take the time to complete it. You can expect to hear more from us over the summer as we engage with our members and respective clubs to build a 3-year road map for the organization.
I’m sure many of you are wondering about a date for our next AGM. I hope to be able to hold this meeting in person in either Squamish or Vancouver between October and November.
I would like to welcome our new Admin and Communications Manager Tori Escallier. This will be Tori’s first Cloudburst – feel free to send her feedback as well as images and written work for our Fall, Winter and Spring issues throughout the year.
On behalf of the FMCBC Board of Directors, I wish you an adventurous summer exploring BC’s rugged backcountry one step at a time.
