Awards

Every year at the VOC banquet, various awards are given out. They are divided into two categories, serious and humorous and are described below.

Awards - Serious

Bronze Pin

Given to a member who has made a significant contribution to the club over the previous year. The first pin was awarded in 1995 - prior to that pins could be purchased. One is not necessarily given out each year.

Silver Pin

Given to a member who has made a significant contribution to the club over a period of several years. The first pin was awarded in 1953. One is not necessarily given out each year.

Gold Pin

Awarded to a member who has made an exceptional contribution to the club. Endorsement by 2/3 of the membership at a general meeting is necessary to approve this award. To date only five gold pins have been awarded:

• Roland Burton - Lifetime contribution to the VOC (40 years and counting...)
• Andre Zimmerman (1995) - Construction of the Brian Waddington Memorial Hut

Most Active New Member(s)

Usually this is a book prize given to the new member(s) (one per gender min.) who has developed their outdoor skills the most during the previous year (not necessarily given to novices).

Past Winners

• 2004 Richard So, Kaja Sadowski & Janet Draganov
  
• 2005 Stephen Lerch & Greta Raymant (or Kim ?)
  

Journal Awards

There are several awards given to contributors to the VOC Journal at the discretion of the Journal Editor.

Photography Competition

The VOC holds a photography competition each year. Slides can be entered in one of the following categories: Landscape, flora and fauna, portrait, humorous and VOC activities. Prizes are presented at the banquet. Complete details are announced early in the second term.

Awards - Humorous

The Broken Board Award (& Broken Helmet)

Backgroung

Originated in 1970 when a load of lumber destined for the Neve Hilton (a hut build on Mt Garibaldi, later demolished by snow creep) was destroyed after falling from a helicopter onto the only rock in a snowfield for miles around. It is awarded to a member who has broken something in an equally silly manner, or who has performed what is deemed to be the most spectacularly stupid act of the year. The Broken Helmet has joined this award lately, for those times when the stupidity required a team effort.

The Kitchen Sink Award

Background

"Early in the new millennium, I found myself wandering around Argentinean Patagonia with my long-time friend, Dave Campbell. Every mountaineer on earth knows the name and legend of Cerro Torre. For Dave and I, it was not to be missed. On a beautiful day in February, we took to frolicking around on the Torre Glacier. The sights were... well, let's just say that I highly recommend going there. Above us loomed the massive granitic finger of Cerro Torre; its South Face, vertical and some 1300m high, sanctifying its summit. The easiest route is rated a very difficult ULMTAN (standing for "Um, Let Me Think About...No!"). But that's ok. What I could take from standing below this tower was the simple pleasure of being in a magical place. On top of that, I gained instant respect for those that have climbed the peak.

While heading back to camp, something caught my eye in the bottom of a shallow closed crevasse. Dave investigated, finding a 1m by 1m mangled chunk of alunimium sheet. It all clicked instantly. In 1995, a team of three Italians (R.Manni, E. Salvaterra, and P. Vidi) climbed a new route on the South Face called "Infinite South". Undoubtedly the route was really hard, rated at 5.11+ / A4 / 70 degree ice for 36 pitches (alternatively rated ULMTAN). The team made the "intersting" decision to use an Aluminium box as a bivy. After climbing a few pitches and setting ropes, the team would spend endless arduous hours hauling the mutliple-hundred-pound beast up the wall. The thing was so heavy that they resorted to using a ratcheting, lever-based pulley. So, with every difficult push of the lever, they gained an impressive 2cm with the box. Hauling a 50 m pitch would take 2500 pumps of the handle!

Upon reaching the top of the wall, they realized that rappelling with this box would not prove easy. Besides, they wanted to summit. So they fitted the box with a parachute and prepared it for "touch down". Considering that the area gets some of the world's fiercest winds (eddies upwards of 70 km/h), you might think this was a doomed experiment. Within a few hundred meters, the parachute collapsed and the box free fell the height of a 300-storey building until making solid contact with the ground. A few days later, the team reported that they went to the base and found no trace of the box: all they found was a haulbag. What would you rather find: 200kg of mangled Aluminium or a haulbag? So, five years later, Dave and I found a big chunk of the above-mentioned box... 5 km away ! I smell a rat.

After carrying the scrap back to Cerro Torre base camp, I erected a monument with the metal entitled "Fly It In, Chuck It Off". Not more than half an hour later, I heard the monument being disassembled. As it turns out, a group of Germans were outraged by my monument; a heated argument ensued. After agreeing to keep the monument down for the sake of the tourists, we carried the scrap out and offered it to the rangers. How interesting that the 1995 climb received international recognition yet the rangers had no idea of how the aluminium got there nor had they ever heard of our Italian champions. Thus, the Kitchen Sink Award comes into being: dedicated to the Italian champions for bringing way too much stuff. The Kitchen Sink Award shall be given to that VOC member who knowingly or unknowingly overloads his or her pack with superfluous devices."

-By Jeremy Frimer, VOCJ43 2000-2001 p.150-152

The Loving Cup

An award cup designed to embarrass couples whose romance has blossomed during the past year or to an individual who has tried repeatedly to engage other club members in relationships and failed.

Past Winners

B.A. Buggs Dick S. Al Smith Sue Saxton George Hassey Keith N. Marion G. Nick Glen Ion Stirling Ted Swanson Pat Williams

Anthea Farr Stuart Lynne Marg Symons & Joy MacArthur Jay Page & Gail Franko Jay Page & Gail Franko Anders Duram & his stuffed frog Leon Kolankiewicz Kathy Higgins Paul Phillips & Phyllis Mallett Bruce Blackwell & Paula Bergerjon Kevin Haber & Vicki Venner Mary McLean Rob Driscoll Rich "?" & "Dry butts" Jeff Greenwood & Lisa Moody Steve Dods & Anita Miettunen

Peter Celliers & Denise Hardy(?) Ken Legg & Barb Bell Lorne Hoover & Louise Blomer Guy Edwards & Ann-Marie Conway Jen Wild Dave Vocadio & Tamara Rusnak Ron Horwood & Alanna Brady Dan Perrakis Mike Guite & Stella Vetterlein Matt & Dora Kelly Franz & Marsha Hamilton Jeremy Frimer Vince Johnson Nick Waber & Christine Stathers Steve "Muffin" Mullen & Jessica Deutsch

Chorus Line Award

An award for a member whom has contributed to a trip or event involving memorable musicality.

Past Winners

• 2004 Oker

Geezer's Award

Dedicated for a member whom has remain with the club for a long amount of time. (Roland is obviously not eligible.)

Past Winners

• 2005 Jeremy Frimer (?)

The Goons Award

A public warning about the stupidity of certain members, usually including a prop to help them extract themselves from embarrassing situations in the future.

Past Awards

Pletch & Dorka's Steeple Chase VOC Girls Cup

Past Winners

Lynn Webster Sheila Fenton Nadene Gwyer Ginny Willis Ginny Willis Barb Whitaker Nina Locke Claire Fraser Diddi Young Julie Kiraly

VOC UBC Ski Championship Downhill Mens "A" Class

Past Winners

Gerry Lockhart Bill Howard Jack Skinner Abe McCarthy Harry Smith Nels Itterman Art Westaway Pat Duffy Pat Duffy Pat Duffy Jamie McLean Stu McKay Dick Street (lost) Albert Nickull Karl Ricker Kim Deane