[at-l] AMC's intent & a little history

[agaudet at TheWorld.com (agaudet@xxxxxxxxxxxx)]

I haven't been reading much about Little Lyford and the new purchase in
Gulf Hagas area but I have noticed some discussion about AMC's intent in
all of this. Perhaps I can share some perspective on the AMC organization
as a former volunteer leader. In my 10 year stint, leading groups from the
beginner level to Winter attempts on the highest summits in the Whites, I
straddled the change in AMC organization & philosophy that moved it from
the "hiker club" model to the "corporate" model. My period of activity was
from 1987 to 1997, all as a member of the Boston Hiking/Backpacking
Committee (HBC).

The HBC has been an amazing group in that they continue to foster safe,
practical methods for getting folks into the woods while at the same time
providing leadership training for these trips. They also provide training
to newcomers & old timers alike - from intro walks in the woods to Winter
backpacking and Winter travel above treeline. They provide the instructors
and the instructional materials.

One outcome of all this good work - AMC now requires all of the Chapters
(there are 12 chapters in the AMC, from Maine to Washington DC)that
provide leadership training to use the HBC's methods and instructional
materials.

OK, so the HBC is a great group with a long history of doing good deeds.
They continue to do so, in spite of the changed philosophy at Joy Street
(AMC's headquarters). My ambivalence about the AMC mostly stems from this
alarming difference - my personal experience with high-caliber hikers vs.
the corporate mentality that has alienated the volunteers within AMC. One
wonders whether it's useful to continue to sponsor good actions within a
lousy organization. I'm enough of a realist to see that HBC will never be
able to affect Joy Street's attitudes.

So the history: I'm a little uncertain of the years but just prior to my
involvement (put it in the early '80s) the "hiking club" model fell to
pieces amid a public financial scandal. The head of the club had been
hiding financial losses, sometimes resorting to extreme methods to hide
the several millions the AMC was in the red. One hero stepped up to the
plate and actually brought the AMC to court in order to open it's
financial records. His personal effort & sacrifice was substantial, first
working within the AMC to find out what was going on, then resorting to
the role of "whistle blower" and dragging the AMC into court. It was
revealed that the AMC was heavily in debt and the head of AMC was forced
to resign. (I'm not sure of names here, or whether he suffered anything
other than public embarassement, I'm pretty sure the head wasn't a crook
but merely incompetent and then afraid of discovery).

In sweeps a new way of doing things: the corporate model. A board of
directors was assembled for the first time, and also for the first time a
high salary leader who's pay is dependent on the financial success of the
club. In fact, a very different way of doing things. At first volunteer
members were tolerant of the new way, it was preferable to the clandestine
past and there were hopes that eventually the corporate model would be
eased into a compromise between "club" and "corporate". But things got bad
and continue to be bad to this day.

The club, at the change, had membership around 40,000 paying dues of about
$20/year. Today's club is topping 90,000, dues around $60. With little or
no increase in actual outdoor hiking (as measured by the HBC) and no
additional need for leaders, (except to backfill the regular
attrition)these new members are perfect cutomers for the new AMC - they
give their money and ask little in return, their money is mostly profit.

For the HBC the new corporate AMC systematically created a new set of
tasks, each of which was to be endured by the volunteers on the HBC. The
process we observed was the following:
1. corporate AMC announces closure of a facility
2. volunteer HBC members scream about the change
3. corporate AMC asks for a report justifying "no change"
4. volunteer HBC spends a huge amount of time assembling detailed data to
justify a "no change" decision.
5. corporate AMC decides the case based on the corporate & volunteer HBC
reports with no additional input from volunteers.

I personally observed this process repeated for several facilities:
Harvard Cabin, Wonalancet Cabin, Cardigan Lodge, and the hostel at
Crawford Notch.(2 have gone, Cardigan is now group-only, Harvard Cabin was
rebuilt and makes money). It also occurred for Ponkapoag, Greylock, and a
pair of cabins in VTs Northeast Kingdom. It was apparent to us on HBC that
the corporation had adopted the view that each facility must make a profit
on it's own. No loss leaders allowed in AMC. Fees were also restructured
for the high huts at the same time.

Whew, this is getting too long... Now with the Crawford Notch Highland
Center the move is to access corporate groups, the move to Little Lyford
and Gulf Hagas area expands the territory. Greylock and other locations
have been divested so low-profit or no-profit centers are cut out. It's
apparent that the corporate model is here to stay for quite some time.
Given the track record I would view any announcements about AMC in the
same regard you would give a General Motors, General Electric or Boeing.
The purchases & sales of property are strategic & tactical, calculated in
advance with an agenda to make more money for AMC.

What seems pitiful to me is that AMC relies a great deal on volunteer
efforts in order to maintain it's popularity, while making life difficult
for those same volunteers. Efforts on the part of the USFS circa 1999
slapped the AMCs hands concerning their presence in the National Forest,
and that may be a big reason for their expanding into Maine this way. I
think they know there's a hard boundary for any further expansion in the
Whites.

For my part I don't and would never give an AMC volunteer a hard time.
These guys are entirely motivated by a love of nature and a willingness to
share themselves. AMC paid staff are another story though, for me. I've
adopted a very business-like mentality in dealing with them, at the same
time regretting my own "attitude" and wishing that the AMC was more like
the Boston HBC.

Arthur aka RockDancer '97