This is a guide for the Organisers and would be organisers or members who want to plan a trip with GHAC. please go through this in its entirety and also refer to the rules

Organising a Trek

If you have an idea for a trek, discuss it with the Organisers or member of the Organising Committee for approval.

Once the idea has been discussed and taken up. an organiser will be assigned to you, or if you have sufficient experience you will be made the organiser. The trek after being approved can be announced to all members on the meetup list and forum and you can start organising and planning

You will be made Assistant organiser for period of this trek only to enable you to use the tools of meetup, please don't complain about it later when facility is removed

Approval
If you are not a Organiser with GHAC then New Trips must be approved by the Chief Organiser or approved by 2 members of the Organising Committee. The appropriate authority depends on the activity and magnitude of the trip, for treks that take more then 5 days the chief organiser and 2 members of the organising committee should approve the trek.


You will need to provide the following information:

• Your experience and qualification in organizing or leading the trek
• if you are not experienced, please name a experienced member from GHAC who is part of the Organising Committee who would be the Trek Leader( please speak to the member before submitting for approval)
• Plan, including fall backs; (refer planning below)
• Skill level required of the participants;
• What first aid qualification or kits are needed and taken;
• What equipment is required.



Planning
The following should be considered in planning a trip:
• Where are you going (get maps if needed).
• What do you plan to do there.
• What skill levels are required for the activities you are planning to do (including the level of
first aid skills necessary for the trip).
• What equipment is required (including the type of first aid kit required).
• Sometimes trips have to be canceled because of circumstances out of your control such
as weather or river conditions. Decide the conditions which will result in cancellation of the
trip (e.g. a flat water trip will be canceled if the river is in flood).
• Make at least one fall back plan for alternative activities if conditions preclude you from
going ahead with you original plan.
• Perform some risk analysis and plan safety precautions to reduce these risks
• What are you going to do if something goes wrong on the trip
• Get a list of nearest ambulance service/hospitals/clinics/doctors address and phone numbers.
• Get nearest Police station phone numbers
• Check if permission from Forest Officials or Police is required to camp /trek in the area
• Who is going to be your Emergency contact. When does this person take action and what
should they do? For example, if the emergency contact has not heard from you by a specified time, they may be given instructions to locate you

Trip Clashes Please avoid conducting trip to the same location where another organizer is doing a trip already. This causes confusion to members and issues in logistics. If you are organizing a trip to the same place then check with the other organizer on how you can avoid clashes by changing the place of stay, dates and transport arrangements.

Announcements
Trips must be announced through one or more of the Club communication channels (posting online, mailing list or forums). Do not announce a trip that hasn’t been approved.

Trek Organisers pre-trip Check List
• Do all participants know what they need to bring? It is a good idea to provide participants
with a checklist.
• Has equipment been booked?
• Does everyone have the required equipment?
• Do you have the navigation tools such as GPS tacker, compass map etc
• Do you need to collect deposits?
• Is it worth having a pre-trip meeting to work out equipment and logistics?
• Has the Trek leader been told who is coming and the level of their abilities? If you don’t give the
leader this information, they may refuse to take people who show up on the day (in the
worst case, they may simply cancel the trip altogether).
• Are you carrying Appropriate First Aid?
• Is there a first aider on the trip?
• Do you have the nearest ambulance /Hospital / Clinic/ Doctors address and phone numbers?
• Do you have the nearest police station phone number.
• Are Trek Information forms including emergency contacts filled up from the participants?
• Are Disclaimer forms filled up from all the participants?

Before the trip can commence the organiser or Trek leader should fill in the following form

https://spreadsheets....

During the Trip
• Please inform the nearest police station/ forest officials if you are camping in remote areas.
• Brief participants on dos and don'ts and what is expected on the trip
• Keep a count of the participants when you move from place to place or when you board or get down from transport vehicles
• Choose asst trek leaders , Delegate responsibility among them
• when in a large group divide members into small groups and identify a group leader, Have a experienced trek leader monitor everyone from behind to ensure no one is left behind.
• As a group leader your own priority in everything comes last.
• Make sure everyone has proper comfort and food
• Check with participants for any complaints, check for signs of illness, dehydration or dizziness
• Arrange for 2 sentries in shifts during the night if you are camping outdoors
• when outdoors never leave a member alone especially girls alone.
• Keep your emergency contact informed morning and evening.
• Do not litter and clean the place before you leave
• Safety comes first in everything, Always carry first aid along and Do not attempt or encourage anything risky during the trek without proper equipment safety gear and supervision.


After The trip

The entire Experience should be added to the Club Blog with photos. please submit this to the Club editor

A post trip form should be filled out so that the Club has a record of the trip, and to help the
next person who wants to organise a similar trip. The post trip form must be filled out if:
• It is a new or rarely run trip.
• The leaders are inexperienced.
• Conditions where different (ie high water level or steep hills).
• An accident or near miss occurred.

The Post Trip details should contain
1) Place
2) Travel arrangements to reach the place
3) dos and donts
4) contacts with phone numbers
5) approximate costs involved
6) if any permits are involved and the procedure to to take the permits


Roles and Responsibilities


Trek Organiser
• Should assess their own abilities before offering to lead the trip;
• Help, advise or do the planning of the trip;
• Delegate Tasks and responsibility
• Do a pre-meet if necessary
• Make judgment calls on whether the trip goes ahead as planned;
• Look after the safety and comfort of participants on the trip;
• Seek information on the participants’ suitability for the trip, including skill levels and
medical conditions
• Has the right to refuse a trip participant (no reason need be specified).
• Should try to pass on skills and experience to trip participants and assitants.
• Makes sure all participants know what skills and equipment is required and sets
expectations for the trip;
• Ensures everyone has adequate resources for trip (skills and equipment).

Trek Participants
• Should follow directions of the trip leader;
• Must be honest with themselves and the trek leader regarding their abilities;
• Should inform the trek leader of any conditions that may affect them while on the trip
(medical or otherwise);
• Is responsible for their own safety;
• Should be enthusiastic and interested in learning from the trip organiser (this is part of
training to become a trek organiser in the future).
• Enjoy the trip!