Once again it is necessary to suspend Outdoor Club activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been no Outdoor Club trips since Dr. Bonnie Henry raised the bar on restrictions on November 19th. I was initially hesitant to accept that we could not do group outdoor activities safely with strict protocols, but with additional information and continued high case levels, it was clear even before the extended restrictions, that Outdoor Club trips would not be possible. We now know that the restrictions on socializing and gathering will last at least until January 8th.

It’s regrettable that this comes at the worst possible time for most of us. We are eight months into the pandemic, at the darkest time of the year. The thing we want the most, to be with other people, is essentially now forbidden. The Public Health Office still encourages everyone to go outside and we still have all the beauty and trail infrastructure available to us. But anything that is a “gathering” is not allowed under the heightened regulations. There do not appear to be any outdoor clubs in the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC offering trips at this time, and many in the lower mainland never resumed in the summer.  So go outside, but go small and safe.