Fellow llama packers – if you were not at the Silverton Pack Llama Festival last month, you must have heard by now that you
missed a great opportunity to learn and network!
Charlie Hackbarth, Alexa Metrick, Bill Redwood, and Mark Pommier pulled together an
event that had similarity only to that of the long-ago Western Idaho Llama Association’s (WILA) Packers Rendezvous held at Baumgartner
Springs in Idaho way back in 1998. At that event, the forward-thinking WILA Packing Committee members and newly formed PLTA
held a weekend of pack trials and talks about llama packing. So too was the recent Silverton Pack Llama Festival. Prior
to the 1998 Rendezvous, an invite went out to the llama packing community requesting that those interested in becoming PLTA Certifiers,
attend the event and participate in the Certifier Workshop and Master trial being held that weekend. To envision what a trial
Certifier is, think over-seeing benevolent llama packing judge type whose task is to make sure sanctioned pack trials are conducted
according to the governing organization’s regulations. Those considered to have successfully completed the workshop and trial
were approved by the PLTA Board as credited Certifiers.
The Silverton Pack Llama Festival repeated that event except on a smaller scale. While not the 100+ llamas staked out down the valley in 1998, there were certainly enough pack llamas participating in the 2011 event to make one feel fortunate to be among them. All four levels of PLTA sanctioned pack trials, a modified Packer’s Primer, and a Certifier Workshop were held as nationally advertised by the Festival hosts. In addition, while the PLTA did not take outextra national advertising, I personally sent an invitation, an application, and the recently revised Certifier requirements to every person who has ever asked about becoming a trial Certifier. Of the five people who responded, all were approved to participate in the Silverton Certifier Workshop and Master Trial. Three were able to attend, completed the requirements, and are subsequently now considered by the PLTA Board to be active trial Certifiers. Your 3 new Certifiers are:
Laura Higgins Bill
Redwood Mark Pommier
12626 Rd 25 PO Box 278 886 Ludwig Dr
Cortez, CO 81321 Dove Creek, CO 81324 Bayfield, CO 81122
(970)565-2177 (970)560-2926 (970)884-9621
hikingmd@aol.com redwoodllamas@frontier.net mpommier@bayfield.k12.co.us
Join
me in wishing them Congratulations and a big Thank You for stepping up to this voluntary commitment. For those of you in that
part of the country, there is no excuse now to not hosting a trial! Between the PLTA free Pack Trial Manual which is a thorough
booklet on How to Put On A PLTA Pack Llama Trial, and having three certifiers available in the area, we look forward to posting information
about new trials in this part of the country. I’ve already had a couple of emails from people interested in having trials in
their area after participating in the festival trials so I will be mailing out this manual in addition to the regular rule Handbook
to all new and renewed members who joined at the Silverton Pack Festival. If you are interested in hosting a trial and do not
already have a copy of the “How-to” manual, contact me and I’ll mail one out.
Remembering the “good old days” is often clouded in idealized
memories that may only be part reality with more wishful-thinking thrown in, but my personal perception of the formal talks back in
1998, were that they were more lecture-like where the speaker gave an opinion about a given subject and the audience listened with
only an occasional comment. (The Saturday night potluck exempted.) At Silverton, many of the talks became open discussions
among the variety of llama packers in attendance. That in itself, the variety of packers, was more noticeable (at least to me). Maybe I am more cognizant of the variety of llama packing going on around the country because of my roles as PLTA President, and keeper
of the trial database and membership roster.
While llama packing has always had representatives of the brand new packing beginner and
the long-experienced commercial packer, it seems even more prevalent today that there are as many different types of packing enthusiasts
out there, as there are types of llama owners. Probably due to the more widespread incidence of llama events, the readily available
communication through the internet, conferences, and shows, llama owners who become interested in llama packing are able to find out
about these different types of packing rather than be exposed to only the packing style of their local packer. One of the “perks”
of my service to PLTA is to hear the appreciation from those members who are excited that their rescued “throw-away” llama has completed
his Basic certification. Or that a family has now created a new income-producing business taking grandparents and children on
lunch hikes with their family’s llamas after taking part in the PLTA Primer. I hear from those that have completed the Master
level with their llama and wished they lived where the elevation would allow them to get in condition for an Extreme level trial –
and those that are thankful that they do not live in such a steep area. There are members who themselves (and/or their llamas)
can no longer hike the demands of the formal trials but appreciate the recognition of the PLTA Mileage Club. On the other end
of the spectrum, I hear that the commercial packers don’t need PLTA, thinking that formal recognition or a piece of certificate paper
for each of their individual llamas does not matter to them or their business. But the majority of the llama packing enthusiasts
across the country are not commercial packers so I’m encouraged that in the long run, PLTA is fulfilling its mission – “to preserve
and promote the pack llama while educating the public in the safe and humane use of llamas as packing companions”.
At Silverton, there
were great discussions about the future of llama packing and the roles that PLTA and others can and should play in the future. I recently read “A Report on the 2011 Pack Llama Festival” by Alexa Metrick and Charlie Hackbarth that was recently put on the ILR
ebulletin and with permission from the authors, I’d like to include a couple of the paragraphs here. It was so well written
and so exactly on point that I couldn’t express or write it any better.
“There are several concepts that surfaced continually
in our discussions throughout the weekend, the most important of which is the idea that regardless of the type of packing we do, we
all have something to bring to the table. Many different iterations of the sport were represented this weekend, from performance showing
to day hiking, from overnight family camping to commercial outfitting, and a wide range of intensity and experience were displayed
in each category. But we all pack with llamas, and a certain level of knowledge about the packing process is required to achieve success
at any level. We all have more to learn, but we all contribute something, too.
This also means that if we aren't willing to take the
time to educate ourselves, we shouldn't be involved with using, buying, raising and/or selling llamas for packing. It's simply not
good for the sport. At the same time, if we do breed, while we should always strive to breed up to improve our pack stock, we need
to recognize that not all llamas will make the top-tier cut. Those that fall short can fill needs at different levels, and this is
where being able to match a handler's expectations to a llama's ability (whether renting, buying, or selling) is essential.
The packing
industry needs all of us. Last weekend at a fiber festival, I was talking with a fellow packer and llama fiber enthusiast (yes,
light wooled pack llamas have usable fiber too!), and she was remembering her first days learning to pack. She had asked a number
of long-time llama packers how to start a llama packer. The advice she consistently got, was to “just throw them into the string”
– exactly how she was to do that considering she didn’t have a single pack llama, let alone a string, was never explained. To
her credit, she learned totally on her own! At least now, PLTA can help those in a similar beginner state! Keep in mind;
there are all types of llamas, all types of llama owners, and excitedly, all types of llama packing going on across the country.
The Silverton Pack Llama Festival was held in a beautiful setting with mountain trails that showed off quality pack llamas doing what
they can do best. However, it is not the only setting where quality pack llamas can show their best. The llama that instantly
stops in the middle of the stream while the older handler reaches out to steady himself against the animal in order to regain their
footing is a quality pack llama showing their best. The llama who immediately pulls back their forward moving foot, shifts their
own weight back, and places the foot back into the last footprint rather than step on the child handler that just tripped & fell
in front of him – that’s a quality pack llama showing their best. You don’t need a beautiful vista to enjoy a quality pack llama. Just ask the PLTA membership!
I’ll close with just a quick reminder; if your llama has recently completed a trial level and I’ve sent
you that formal notification, the only reason you may not yet have received your paper certificate, is that you haven’t sent me a
photograph!!! If you now would prefer just a black silhouette of a pack llama instead of the animal’s photo, drop me an email
so I can at least get that out to you. The data from the Silverton trials is almost all entered. While no one completed
a level at that time, all of the llamas who participated have earned one “leg” toward their certification. We are looking forward
to more trials in the area to continue and complete those certifications.
On behalf of the PLTA Board,
Viv Fulton – President
Email:bvfulton@frontiernet.net
Phone: (607) 674-9488