Colorado Mountain Club. 1974 was an extremely active year for the Colorado Mountain Club, despite the fact that our rapid growth rate of the last few years finally slowed down. In fact, the membership total for our 12 groups was only 4892 as of December 2, 1974, compared with just over 5000 at the same time in 1973.

Undoubtedly, the most significant event of our year was the club’s purchase of permanent quarters in Denver. Located on West Alameda, the building has approximately 5400 square feet of space, including an auditorium which is large enough for nearly all club activities. We expect to move in officially during January 1975.

Another major step taken during the year was adoption by the club of safety criteria for planning, describing, and conducting club-sponsored mountaineering activities. This was done in part to improve our legal position with respect to liability in case of accidents. However, adoption of these safety criteria is only the latest step in an ongoing series which is expected to improve our already good safety record. During the next few years emphasis will be on developing and implementing programs to insure better training for trip leaders, as well as upgrading the mountaineering skills of the general membership. These things are especially significant considering that our activities schedules listed nearly 1300 events for 1974, of which about 1000 were hikes, climbs, ski hours, or other outdoor activities. Included were several climbing schools and ski touring clinics, as well as a three-week hiking tour of Norway, a two-week family outing in the White Cross mountains, a two-week climbing outing in the spectacular Grenadiers-Needles area, a canoe outing in Minnesota, a one-week hiking outing in Canada, and an 11-day trail maintenance outing conducted in cooperation with the Forest Service. This last outing was the first of its kind we have conducted and was well received by all involved.

The club’s conservation related activities continued at an increased level also, and included work on initiatives concerning land use legislation, wilderness exploratory trips, and possible litigation against irresponsible mining interests in Colorado.

Bobby L. Bracewell, President