RRC Archives

Climbing Community Unite! Another year has gone round and we find ourselves with the democratic opportunity to have input and be a part of a up and coming dynamic Non-profit organization - namely the Red River Gorge Climber's Coalition. Each year I say this and each year it is more true, these are heady times for climbing in the Red and the Southeast in general. There has never has a better opportunity for climbers to have input into the organizing of the community that facilitates the sport/lifestyle that we all know and love.
The RRGCC is looking for people to be involved in the Climber Advisory Counsel. The CAC is a group of nine people and a president that give the RRGCC executive director input about the pulse of the community. The three committees that are formed by the CAC members are the Fixed Anchor committee, The Development and Review Committee, and the Safety and Ethics Committee. These committees give input to the ED about all aspects of the community. The Development and Review Committee reviews and approves or disapproves new routes on the Daniel Boone. The Fixed Anchor Committee is involved in the maintenance of existing anchors and responsible for review of standards of best route development practice. The Ethics and Safety committee are involved in the standards and expectations of use of the resource, the cliff and land. These committee's purviews have a significant amount of overlap. Recommendations are made to the ED for implementation or action. You can refer to the RRGCC.org site for further explanation of the CAC.
In a nutshell, we are looking for people with an opinion about climbing in the Red who care about the future of climbing in the Red and who are excited about how that future is shaping up. Nominees should be willing to meet in Lexington or in the Red on a quarterly basis. Meeting are usually scheduled around climbing (Sat. nights, for example).
Self nominations are welcome.
Contact me, The Lurkist, aka Hugh Loeffler at hloef@lexclin.com with your nominations

I'm game!! Sign me up.

are there 9 positions open? Is that 3 per committee, or some other mix? How many current members are staying on for another term?

There are a total of ten positions. Nine members and one president. As Scott Hammond so loquciously put it, this is a titular position (this should pique some interest by itself). Three members to a committee with the president sitting as a fourth on one of the committees.
The presidents main job is to develope the agenda and run the meetings. This is quite a job when you have several things to accomplish, a finite amount of time, and everyone wants an opportunity for input.
The best part of the CAC is the meetings is where 10 people (or more with the ED and visitors) passionate about climbing, get together and hash out the issues. It is a dynamic, intelligent, sometimes heated exchange and always productive.

Sorry- forgot to answer the last part of your question Lynne. All postions are open. While we hope to have returning members interested, each has to be re-elected.

I volunteer for a second term on the CAC. My interest is in the Safety and Ethics Committee. I believe it would be very timely for this committee to help develop an official RRGCC position/response to the Draft Forest Management Plan. In addition to attending CAC meetings, I would continue attendance/assistance on as many RRGCC events as possible.

Can someone please answer this:

Who or what is the ED?

What role does the "Development and Review Committee" play in the approval or disapproval of new development or new routes? I thought all new development or routes were reviewed by the Forest Service for approval/disapproval.

ED= Executive Director=Shannon Stuart-Smith

Captain Static- Good to hear. Actually, you are not up for re election as you were elected at the Derby Fest last year, but I am happy to know that you will retain your seat. The term for newly elected members is for two years. There were two others elected to the council last year as well, Rob McFall, and Dave Hume. I am not sure if both will return to complete their terms.

The Developement and Review committee is actually responsible for reviewing new route applications for potetial developement. The Stanton Ranger District has an agreement with the Coalition that climbers will oversee application screening and approval. The routes are then all batched together and submitted to the Forest Service for batch approval. Basically, thanks to the hard work of Shannon Stuart Smith, the Forest Service has entrusted the task of screening route to the Coalition. This screening process is the job of the CAC. The Developement and Review Committee does the initial screening and then the rest of the council has input. It is an important step and streamlines the process immensely.
Incumbent on the Coucil is to use good judgement, taking into account arch sites and threatened and endangered species They must think like land managers when doing this.
This process has happened once. We got through all applications but have been put on hold for final approval by the Forest Service unitl the final Forest Wide Revision Plan is in place. Soon.

OK so how many positions are actually open? I think some people are confused. And how long is a term once elected?