MMC remains hopeful about recruiting new guides

It takes about a semester for a dedicated, outdoorsy student to become certified as a standard hiking guide through the Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC), one of the College’s largest and oldest student organizations.  It takes about another semester to become a specialty guide, equipped with the skills necessary to lead groups of students on high-intensity winter, boating or climbing excursions.  Only about eight to 10 students achieve standard guide status over the course of a typical year; even fewer attain specialty status.

This is part of the reason why the MMC is working hard to recruit new guides. The club faces a potential shortage of guides in coming months, due to the at least temporary suspension of the first-year outdoor orientation program. Before MOO and MiddView were shelved, the MMC offered a “bridger,” whereby a MOO or MiddView guide could more quickly and easily become certified as an MMC guide.  With any first-year outdoor orientation program now on hold for the time being, the MMC expects to lose these potential guides, typically a significant number.

“The long-term impact of this remains to be seen,” said director of outdoor programs Derek Doucet, “though if I were to guess, I would say that we might expect a gradual decline in the total number of MMC guides until it stabilizes at a somewhat lower level than in years past.”

Beyond the potential loss of guides from the outdoor orientation programs, normal turnover rates will reduce the MMC guides’ ranks in coming months.  Out of the 44 current guides, 13 either just graduated in February or will graduate this spring.

However, Doucet noted that even this potential drop in the number of new MMC guides would not have a significant impact on the program’s quality.  Though the MMC rosters frequently list 40 or more guides on any given year, a committed core of around 10 or 12 guides lead the vast majority of MMC trips.

“I firmly believe such committed core members will continue to join the club and achieve guide status, even in the absence of the MiddView program,” he said.  “I remain hopeful that the MiddView program will ultimately be revived, making this only a short term challenge” — and the club will continue to offer, as always, a variety of trips to varied wilderness locations.

All guides are certified in CPR and Wilderness First Aid, possess College driving licenses, have participated in an MMC-organized, weekend-long guide seminar and have co-led an MMC trip with a student who is already a guide.

“It is a somewhat time consuming process, but we want all of our guides to be fully prepared when they head out into the field,” said Holly O’Donnell ’11, MMC co-president.

Doucet maintained that the requirements are small compared to the level of responsibility guides must undertake to lead groups into the wilderness and the many rewarding experiences being a guide yields.
“Many active MMC guides make involvement with the Club and leading MMC trips the central co-curricular focus in their time at Middlebury,” he said.  “Viewed from this perspective, the return on time invested is pretty phenomenal.”

Beyond organizing trips, the MMC also offers free outdoor equipment rentals, hosts community events and sponsors environmentally-themed presentations and symposia.  The club also organized Outdoor Introduction for New Kids, or OINK, in September, and will lead members of the Class of ’13.5 on skiing and snowshoeing trips through February Outdoor Orientation, or FOO, this coming weekend.

O’Donnell expressed concern about what the loss of a first-year outdoor orientation program would do to the MMC and to the College as a whole.

“Middlebury is well known for [having] a student body that is involved in the environment and passionate about the outdoors,” she said.  “Its peer institutions are continuing their outdoor orientation programs. I think having an outdoor orientation program makes a statement to prospective students that our school is very involved in the outdoors.  I fear that without a program we could lose our appeal to prospective students looking for a school that is really ‘outdoorsy,’ and many of those students are the ones that keep the [MMC] running once they get to campus.”

However, O’Donnell and others involved in the club remain optimistic about the club’s ability to recruit new members.
“We are working as hard as ever to try and generate interest and recruit students to become a part of the MMC,” she said.  “We are being successful at generating interest among underclassmen.”

The decreased number of guides “will mean that the [MMC] will need to focus on continued recruitment and training of future guides, and that younger club members will need to step up and assume leadership positions within the [MMC],” said Doucet.  “From my perspective, it appears both of these things are happening.”

Head guide Marty Schnure ’10.5 agreed, noting that underclassmen members of the club have been particularly active this year.

“I believe the MMC is headed in a great direction right now,” he said.  “I’ve been on the board for six semesters, and I have never seen as much excitement, dedication, and enthusiasm as we have right now.”