WAKE Trip Initiation Rules
To better ensure that WAKE trips meet expectations for being well-planned, safe and enjoyable, all official club trips can be initiated only by club members who are approved WAKE trip leaders at the time of the trip.
Approved trip leaders can initiate club trips without further club approval for individual trips. Trip leaders have been chosen because they demonstrated the skills and judgement expected of someone who will plan and execute successful trips.
Official club trips will be posted on the Club Express event calendar and announced through Club Express communications.
Guidelines for Trip Initiation:
- Trip leaders should make their best effort to plan a trip with risk management and safety in mind. They should communicate the nature of the trip and expected conditions.
- However, trip leaders are not guides. They are volunteers operating with limited resources and training. The trip leader is never able to fully anticipate the conditions that will be encountered, they do not know the capabilities or limitations of participants, and they may make mistakes.
- Participants should make their best assessment of the nature of the trip and expected conditions and determine for themselves if they have the skills and fitness for the trip.
- Risk management and assessment of conditions is a shared responsibility between all participants. All participants should make their best effort to monitor conditions and developing risks and bring conditions of concern to the leader and the group.
- Leaders have the right to make any adjustments to the trip necessary to increase safety. These include but are not limited to: denying people participation in the trip, specifying required equipment and changing the trip route.
- The club oversees leaders but not individual trips. It is the responsibility of leaders to plan and lead trips. A trip posting does not indicate it has been reviewed and/or approved by club leadership.
The rules as listed above were adopted by the WAKE Board on June 8, 2026, to take effect Nov. 1, 2026. A PDF of the rules can be found here: Trip Initiation Requirements