Longhike Logistics

Organization Timeline

As far in advance as possible (just do it now)

Date

• Decide when Longhike will take place. It usually happens the weekend before Canadian Thanksgiving weekend (Second Monday in October). Try not to book it on the long weekend, as people may not be in town or busy giving thanks, etc.

Location

• Decided where post-climbing venue/festivities (dinner, parting, accommodations, breakfast) will be held. This is the most important element of Longhike. From '06 to '09, Evans Lake Forest Education Center was selected since they best fulfilled our requirements (size, location, food, accommodation, price). Due to a newly restructured pricing scheme (2010), Evans Lake has now become unaffordable. A new location must be selected as soon as possible to insure availability.
• When booking a location, get invoice sent to AMS, pay deposit
• Get contract signed by AMS and faxed back to venue.

# of Participants

• This will depend on how many the venue can accommodate. Remember to include instructors in the count, and the DJ.
• Figure out how much to charge participants in order to break even. Remember to budget for instructors.

At least 6 weeks before event

Door prizes

• Get door prizes from MEC – Grassroot Product donation (~$200)
• Where: Online application @ MEC website
• VOC's MEC membership number: 521
• When: Up to 6 weeks before Longhike.

One month before event

Climbing Instructors Sign-up

• Post a call-out for climbing instructors on the message board. Make a wiki page to compliment it. Have them contact you so there is some quality control over who can instruct. Discuss at Exec meeting to have feedback about climbing qualification of instructors volunteering if you personally don’t know them. Depending on the final projected Longhike budget, instructors may have to pay a fee in order to balance budget.

Special Occasion Liquor License

• Get a SOL (Special Occasion License) form from a BC Liquor store. Someone with a Serving It Right certification must do this. The certification can be done online at www.servingitright.com, takes 2 hours to complete and cost $35. Bring paper filled form (no faxing) to RCMP in Squamish (1000 Finch Drive) to approve and sign it. Bring completed form to BC liquor store to purchase it. Give it to the AMS and get insurance (this is expensive and must be done at least 3 weeks in advance of the event!)

Book a DJ

• Book a DJ for Saturday night. Traditionally, old VOCer Arlin Kalenchuk has been our main DJ. Oker Chen is sometimes available to co-DJ. Arlin has all the necessary gear but Oker requires renting some equipment. It's highly recommended to get some lights to increase the dancefloor ambience

2-4 weeks before event

Longhike Tickets

• When: Sales start during UBC Clubs days (mid-September)
• Number of ticket: 150 (depending on venue size)
  • Make sure numbered tickets are correct (no duplicate or skipped numbers)
  • Tickets are non-refundable
  • Students can resell them to other students
  • Make sure pre-trip meeting is written on the ticket and participants know that it's mandatory.
  • Ticket templates are in the Exec section of the VOC website or the VOC Google Docs account (VarsityOutdoorClub at gmail dot com)
• Sign-up list (Spreadsheet):
  • Name, Student#, Climbing level (1,2 or 3), Food preference (veg/omnivore)
  • Make sure that the numbered list matches the numbered tickets.

Recruit Volunteers (Beer serving, cleaning)

• When: Two weeks before trip
• Where: message board, VOCene
• Counts as a workhike
• Make a sign-up section on the Longhike wiki page with different tasks:
  • Serving beer (must be sober)
  • Cleaning up after dinner, breakfast and party

Rocket Candy Necklaces

• Where: Costco (need membership)
• When: Any time before Longhike
• At least 200 necklaces (150 attendees)

AMS Beer Float ($$)

• Where: ask Treasurer
• When: ask Treasurer

Pre-Trip Meeting Room Booking

• Reserve a room sufficient big to accommodate everyone (eg. Wood 6, Buchanan A100, etc)
• Check with the club's Public Relations Officer to do it
• A room with a big chalkboard makes it easier to sort out rides.
  • Bring a digital camera to take pictures of driver/passengers groups on chalkboard (it's faster than writing them down).
• A digital projector is optional if Longhike coordinator has a digital presentation.

Get Beer Quote
Includes kegs, pumps and ice buckets. Roughly 1 keg/50 people from Howe Sound Brewery in Squamish (37801 Cleveland Ave, Squamish, BC). Get beers that most people will drink. Credit card deposit is necessary for each keg and will be refunded when all equipment is returned

One week before event

Instructor Meeting

• When: 1 hour before pre-trip meeting
• Where: same room as pre-trip meeting
• Pair up instructors (similar experience level)
• Go over the 3 different rock levels
  • Rock 1: Intro to rock climbing
  • Rock 2: Top rope/Anchors
  • Rock 3: Trad
    • If there's a demand, can have
      • Hiking (don't call this Rock 0, there has been confusion in the past)
      • Rock 2.5: Sport
      • Rock 3.5: Rescue/Aid
• Review safety committee’s notes. (Mandatory helmets!)
• Figure out how many instructors are needed at each level
• Decide general areas (Neat and Cool, Burgers and Fries, etc.) for instructors
• Instructors are in charge of their students and should make sure they all get to the post-climbing venue/festivities
• Post information on Longhike wiki

General Pre-Trip Meeting

• When: 6:30 pm, Wednesday before trip
• Go over schedule, what people need to bring, safety issues
  • Students bring dessert
  • Bring their own beer mug ($1 charge for plastic cups)
• Organize rides
  • Write Driver names with their Rock level, departure area and available spots on the chalkboard.
    • If there is a Hiking group, they will need their own car group
  • Let carless students add their names & phone number to the appropriate drivers
  • Write down the list of drivers and phone numbers so you know if anyone’s missing
    • Preferred: Take pictures of ride list on chalkboard, saves time and more efficient.
  • Choose a single meeting time on the morning of climbing
  • Choose meeting times for post-climbing festivities (stagger the arrival times for dinner)
  • Bring printed maps to post-climbing venue for drivers unfamiliar with the area

At least 48 hours before event

• Order beer kegs and accessories.

Day of event

• Find someone with a car to pick up kegs, if the brewery doesn't deliver (don’t pay with debit, it is nearly impossible to get a refund for unopened kegs on a debit card. Not worth the trouble)
• At the designated time proceed with the parking lot faff and then gather instructors and divide students by level in more or less even groups.
• Re-iterate the time to meet back up at the cars and that instructors are in charge of making sure their students arrive at the post-climbing festivities/venue.

Useful information for planning Longhike

Recent Longhike Budget

When selling tickets

• Make it really clear that it's a members-only thing and you have to join to participate (to buy a ticket, even from somebody else).
• Make it clear that the pre-trip meeting is mandatory
• Tickets are non-refundable, but if they sell out there will be an after-market for tickets.
• We do not guarantee that there will be a carpool ride for you, but there usually is. You might have to take the bus.
• We want to sell all our tickets (to break even with budget), but we must not sell too many. This is tough.
• We do not sell partial event (people who just want to climb, just want to party, are not sleeping, not eating, bringing tents, or whatever).
• You can change these rules as Event Organizer, but at your peril. If you do change the rules, publicize them clearly,and don't change them too often.