Join the Club

Join the CEC

Renew your Membership

Online Store

Subscribe to our eBulletin

Vision, Mission, Values, Goals & Strategic Plan

At its fall meeting on October 24, 2009 the Board of Directors adopted the following Vision, Mission, Values, Goals and Strategic Plan. These are not new principles or beliefs for the Club, but they have been gathered over the past few months and articulated in this format for the first time.

VISION

Preserving, practicing and promoting Canadian mountain culture and self-propelled alpine pursuits.

Préserver, pratiquer et promouvoir la culture alpine canadienne et les activités non motorisées en montagne.

MISSION

The Alpine Club of Canada fosters alpine experiences, knowledge and culture; promotes responsible access; and supports excellence in alpine leadership and skills.

Le Club alpin du Canada favorise l'expérience, la connaissance et la culture alpine, le respect de l'environnement ainsi que l'excellence des compétences et du leadership en montagne.

VALUES

Values are fundamental principles and beliefs that serve as implicit criteria guiding all actions and decision-making. We, as club members, are committed to the following values:

• Fidelity to our mountain roots and club history.
• Faithfulness to the intrinsic value of the alpine environment to the human spirit; we believe this is best realized through alpine focused, self propelled recreational pursuits.
• Commitment to training & safety in mountain pursuits.
• Devotedness to personal fulfillment in the outdoors - to our own end and in our own way.
• Responsibility for increasing our knowledge and understanding of mountain environments, and our impacts upon them, so as to inform and guide our mountain practices and stewardship efforts

GOALS

Goals are ideal states to be achieved at some time in the future.

1. Be the club of choice for self-propelled alpine enthusiasts.
2. Be a strong advocate for alpine enthusiasts.
3. Strengthen the ACC’s effectiveness in satisfying its stakeholders’ needs.
4. Be a healthy and sustainable organization.
5. Be a leader in climbing and mountain skills and leadership development.
6. Continue to be Canada’s leader in providing backcountry recreational accommodation.

STRATEGIC PLAN

In 2009 a Strategic Planning Committee was struck to develop a strategic plan. The resulting plan, including a vision, mission and statement were presented for review and discussion at the Board’s autumn 2009 meeting and was enthusiastically adopted.

The Strategic Plan

A note of caution – it is possible to isolate particular elements of the strategic plan and conclude that it has one overriding purpose. One or two people have mentioned to me that this is simply a methodology of membership growth; others that it is aimed at funders. I hope you will not do that. I do not see it that way. I think the more important benefit of the plan is that it will compel the ACC to better serve its existing members, improve the manner and type of services we provide to sections, and achieve the Club’s underlying potential to advocate and encourage those activities we passionately believe in. In so doing, if it makes the Club attractive to more members, well, that will be great. But no one aspect should necessarily be the reason we undertake this step. If a sole reason for a plan fails, we so easily lose faith in the plan and miss its potential to allow us to grow better just for the benefit of doing something better.
The strategic plan is not the end of the process by any means. The Board’s acceptance was just the beginning; now the big task of implementation will begin.

As we go forward, we will measure each step of our current and new initiatives and operations against its helping the ACC in reaching its vision. The strategic plan will challenge the Club’s progress down that road.

I am convinced that the plan will make the Club stronger and more able to react to its challenges. This is an exciting step forward. I believe the Board has acted bravely and positively in taking this important step, and in so doing reminded us of David Lloyd George, who once said, “Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.”

–Peter Muir, ACC President.