The Colorado Mountain Club. The year 1997 brought success and change to The Colorado Mountain Club. In January, John Juraschek became the CMC executive director and Chip Drumwright began his term as president. Their biggest challenge was finishing the $4.2 million fund-raising campaign for the creation of the American Mountaineering Center in Golden, Colorado. The AMC will be the home of the Colorado Mountain Club, the American Alpine Club (our partner in this venture) and other outdoor-related organizations. Those organizations include the American Mountain Guides Association, the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, Climbing for Life, and the Colorado Trail Foundation. Under the strong and able leadership of Juraschek and Drumwright, club members rallied in support of the AMC. They contributed more than $530,000—twice the amount originally projected. By the end of 1997, the CMC and A AC reached their goal, and the AMC became a reality.

In the spring, the Club’s board of directors held its first board retreat at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Fraser. The work done there became the foundation for board restructure. When approved by the requisite number of CMC groups, board size will be reduced from 35 to 20. A second tier of representation, the State Council, will be created to strengthen group relations and improve group communications.

Programs and services were a high priority of the volunteer leadership and staff. Kristy Judd, assistant director, managed the day-to-day operations while developing partnerships in the community at large. Scott Stebbins joined the CMC as publications manager in late 1996. His expertise in design and layout gave our monthly magazine, the Trail & Timberline, an exciting new look. The financial affairs of the club, as well as of the AMC, continued to be adeptly managed by Cathy McGuire. In September, Heide Anderson became conservation director. Her goal is to increase the CMC’s visibility and participation in the environmental community.

Club members continued to enjoy the hundreds of activities offered throughout the year. We adopted the Leave No Trace principles, which are now an integral part of our school curriculums. The CMC also became a partner with the Colorado Fourteens Initiative to help mitigate environmental damage on Colorado’s “loved-to-death” fourteeners. Many members took part in Adopt-A-Trail hikes, where they did both light trail maintenance and trail building. The High Altitude Mountaineering Section sponsored climbing trips to Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico and Russia.

The Colorado Mountain Club looks forward to serving the mountain lovers of Colorado from its new headquarters in Golden. We invite you to visit the American Mountaineering Center. For information on the CMC, please call (303) 279-3080, or visit our website at http ://w ww.entertain .com/cmc/.

Sherry Richardson, President-Elect