North Star Ski Touring Club
Policy on Club Trips and Activities
Updated 11/11/2017
The following schedule of activities is presented for the enjoyment of NSSTC members. To provide a good experience for all participants, and protect the club and activity leaders, we expect all involved to adhere to the following guidelines.
Liability —
Official club policy prohibits you from participating in any activity unless you agree to be bound by the club's liability policy. You must agree to sign a waiver before the start of the activity, agreeing not to hold liable NSSTC, its officers, or activity leaders in the event of injury or death. Likewise, you must agree to be bound by the policy even if the required waiver is not signed for any reason, or if you are injured at a meeting, party, dinner, etc., where signed waivers are not required. This is a fair and essential policy for an organization like the North Stars that depends on volunteers.
Who can go —
Activities are open to all club members and all ability levels unless otherwise indicated. Persons under age 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult member. If in doubt about an activity, contact the leader before the event. Activities designated as: {A} - open to all members; {AK} - open to all members, including kids and families (sometimes with age restrictions); {S} - open to adult singles only, although overnight singles trips may be opened to other club members if not all places are taken; {WW} - Wednesday Wanderers engage in a daytime, aerobic activity 52 Wednesdays a year -- with skiing, biking and hiking events dominating the schedule and weather and conditions being the deciding factor.
Reservations and Deposits —
All overnight trips and some day activities have limited space and require reservations and deposits. You do not have a reservation for such activities until the trip leader has received your deposit and a signed waiver. Reservation/waiver forms are available at club meetings, in the Document Library on the club’s website, and in each issue of the Loype. Please note that deposits for overnight trips may be required significantly in advance of the trip, along with the signed reservation/waiver form. Members should review the entire schedule and plan accordingly. When signing up for a trip, contact the leader first and send your deposit and waiver to him or her, not to the NSSTC post office box. Make the check payable to the leader, not NSSTC. Registration is not complete until both a deposit and a signed waiver have been received by the trip leader. If you sign up online, with a credit card, an additional charge of 2.5% is added to cover the additional costs to the club. Waivers can also be affirmed online. The leader will contact participants prior to departure regarding trip details.
Cancellation —
Deposits and scheduled payments are to protect leaders and the club from financial loss when participants cancel. If a participant cancels, trip deposits will be refunded only if the cancelled reservation can be filled and no additional cost is incurred by trip leaders or other participants. Any refunds will be made after the trip is completed. Any non-refunded deposits will be applied to trip expenses.
Winter Trips Sign-Up Policy —
For shorter overnight trips (4 nights or less), trip leaders accept sign-ups on a first-come, first-served basis beginning November 1. Some very popular weekend trips may have reservations allocated by lottery. For these trips, be sure to submit your reservation request before the cutoff specified in the schedule.
For extended overnight trips (5 nights or more), trip leaders can begin accepting sign-ups as soon as the trip is posted on the website and in the e-Loype. All extended trips must be approved by the NSSTC Board of Directors prior to being posted on the website or announced in the e-Loype.
New Member Priority —
Some weekend trips are designated as having new member priority. On these trips, 20% of the reservations will be held for new NSSTC members. New members are those who have been members for less than 12 months.
Transportation —
The club encourages carpooling to trips and events. Passengers in carpools of three or more individuals will pay for all fuel costs, including the driver's. For carpools of two individuals, the driver and the passenger will negotiate fuel costs. It is considered good form for the passenger(s) to buy the driver a meal during the trip. For bus trips, all participants must pay for the bus even if they prefer not to use it. Exceptions will be allowed only if doing so does not raise the trip cost to other participants.
Smoking —
Club policy states that there will be no smoking except outdoors in designated areas.
Leaders —
Leaders make the final decision in all cases regarding participant safety, lodging, transportation, and general trip conditions.
Bike Trip Ratings & Safety —
North Star policy requires that all participants on a bike ride wear a certified bicycle helmet and that it be properly fitted. Leaders may classify their rides with relative designations: A - Advanced; B - Intermediate; C - Casual. We advise you to check with the ride leader to make sure the trip meets your ability and interests. Leaders provide maps of the route or periodically insure that all riders are caught up and accounted for. All riders should make sure their bikes are in good operating condition before the ride. All riders are strongly advised to have a spare tube, patch kit and tire pump.
Changes to the Schedule —
Check the e-Loype, our weekly electronic newsletter, or the North Star website (www.north-stars.org) for current schedule information. Trip leaders should post updates and other pertinent information on our website event calendar or send the information to our trips coordinators at schedules.trips.coordinator@north-stars.org.
Scheduling —
For changes to scheduled trips, leaders should notify the trips coordinators (schedules.trips.coordinator@north-stars.org) and send an update to the e-Loype editor (eloype@north-stars.org). Submit new schedule items online via the Trip Leader Info page on the club website (www.north-stars.org). The deadline for electronic submittals is the first day of the month preceding publication of the printed Loype. If you have questions, please call or e-mail one of our trips coordinators. You'll find their information by clicking "About Us" on the home page of our website, then clicking "Contact Us.
A complete, up-to-date schedule of trips and activities is on our website, www.north-stars.org. A folder of club policies is stored in the Document Library, found by clicking "Resources" on the home page.