UPDATE

Wow! Have I got some exciting new announcements about PLTA for you - just in time for the start of the 2009 packing season.

I'm sure you noticed as you renewed your membership, the form asked if you would be willing to have your contact information listed in a directory. The majority of the current membership has agreed to this so the Board will be sending out a listing to that effect. We're keeping it small and simple the first time around to hold costs down but still provide you with the opportunity to locate other like-minded people who you might be able to share rides to PLTA events or to help in an emergency when you're on the road with your llamas.

For those of you thinking of hosting a trial, a flyer is available that pretty much covers what you'll need to know. We had planned to mail one to all members but have decided instead to be more frugal about that, letting you who are interested to request it. Just phone or drop me an email if you want one. PLTA's original purpose was to provide for a trial-based evaluation of pack llamas. We still support this mission and encourage you to help llama packers in your area by setting up a trial. Remember too that you no longer need provide your own insurance - PLTA has obtained liability insurance coverage for PLTA trials thereby eliminating that costly deterrent many found troublesome in the past. And the Board is prepared to provide you with lots of support so please take that first step and request the hosting flyer.

And here's the exciting new announcements! Your Board has agreed to a lot of new services that can affect pretty much every PLTA member - experienced or not. I am listing them here but the upcoming PLTA newsletter (available to members) will provide more details about each idea. These are in no particular order or of perceived importance but we do believe we've provided something for everyone.

Paperwork / Administrative:
• A Current Membership listing may be provided to trial hosts. This will help determine if an event participant is already a member or must join at that time.
• PLTA members will be allowed reciprocal links on the PLTA website. Contact Nancy Hester.
• An Associate Membership ($5 annual fee applicable towards full membership if joining within the same year) has been created and is required for non-member handlers leading members’ llamas and for participants in educational programs. This membership category has been driven by our insurance requirements.
• Age of handler who must be accompanied by an adult increased from 16 to under 18. An Event Entry Form and Waiver - must be signed by the legal guardian or parent with custody.
• An honor system based Mileage Club ($10 annual fee) has been created to highlight monthly accrued distance hiked by a member with a llama and to compile llama friendly hiking areas around the country. Provisions have been made for credited mileage by the person and by the llamas.
• An annual membership meeting will be held in July and conducted electronically. The formal notice and additional information about how it will be run will be posted in the PLTA newsletter, by E-alert, and on the web site.
• The questions will be deleted from the PLTA Membership form to make room for the proposed Associate and Mileage Club Memberships.
• The main trial Entry Form will be modified to reflect PLTA Events (not just Trials) and will include the core requirements of the Llama Registration Form and the Weight Certification Form to lessen the total amount of paperwork.
• Remove the weight certification requirement that a veterinarian sign off on the recorded weights.
• The Trial Database has undergone major changes to make it more functional. A backlog of certificates should no longer be the norm as long as Trial Hosts provide accurate trial data in a timely manner.
• Notifications to members who have earned certificates and requests from members for certificates due from completed trials back thru 2006 are up to date. If you believe you are owed any earlier certificates, Mike Thompson will try to dig out the supporting data. Contact him directly.
• Llama Registration numbers will be posted on the PLTA website

Trials & Events:
• A few small but clarifying wording changes have been made to the mileage and elevation gain requirements for Basic, Advanced, and Master level trials.
• To help insure that successful trials are set up, Mentors will be available to Trial Hosts.
• Substitution of mandatory obstacles will be allowed but only if the required obstacle is not available and for certification one trial must be with the mandatory obstacle negotiated.
• Manageability Tasks - no changes were made to the existing rules.
• The definition of a Jump has been modified to Jump/Step Over.
• A policy statement was created that since safety of both the handler and llama is paramount, obstacles need to be reasonable and responsibly created. Decisions are made at the discretion of the certifier.
• Additional clarifications to rules for Certifiers and Stewards have been written to ensure continuity from trial to trial.
• A new trial level above Master has been created called Extreme. Manageability, obstacles, weight, and performance point requirements are the same as for Master level but the distance and elevation have been increased to 10-12 miles with 2500’-3000’ of elevation gain. To participate, a llama must be already certified as a Master Pack Llama; in other words, one could not jump straight to this level as is allowed at the lower levels.
• New Strings trials have been added. A Strings consists of two llamas led by a single handler. To participate at the String level the llama must already have certification for that level or higher. i.e., both llamas must be certified Advanced Pack Llamas (or higher) to enter an Advanced String Trial. Details are still being worked out as they add considerable potential safety issues.
• A new PLTA education event (nominal fee to participate) called a Packer’s Primer has been created to instruct thru this hands-on clinic, safe ways to negotiate obstacles usually encountered while llama packing, including those evaluated during a PLTA sanctioned pack trial. The participants would be required to be PLTA Full or Associate members but their llama would not need to be registered with PLTA (nor would they go into PLTA's tracking system). This event may be held as a stand alone function but ideally, would be offered in conjunction with other PLTA sanctioned pack trials so that participants could learn by observing the experienced llama packers. The event could be conducted on Day 1 of a double trial, providing the participants the opportunity to participate in an actual Basic Trial on Day 2. No additional sanctioning fee will be required of the hosting entity if the event is held in conjunction with a PLTA sanctioned trial.

Your PLTA Board has been working diligently over the last several months to explore ways to best serve the membership. Many past and present PLTA members responded to our Questionnaire disseminated last year with suggestions on how to enhance as well as improve our Pack Llama Trials system. As a result of the membership input and much evaluation by your PLTA Board, a number of guidelines have been adopted and modified to better serve all our participating members, from beginning pack llama enthusiast to the well-experienced llama packer. Other change considerations were necessitated as a result of added trial events in addition to mandated insurance carrier requirements specifically addressing potential trail safety liability issues. Some guideline changes have resulted in a more detailed regulation that will take into account various pack llama and participant experience as well as address potential safety concerns. Our new PLTA guidelines were directed at helping all members enjoy a safe packing experience during the trial event, while working toward achieving individual PLTA accomplishments.

We hope you'll spread the word about PLTA. We accept memberships anytime although our member year runs Jan 1 to Dec 31. See the website www.packllama.org for the membership form and for more about PLTA. We look forward to your continued support and hope you are excited about the new changes to our list of services. Thank you for your suggestions.

On behalf of the PLTA Board, Happy trekking,

Viv Fulton, President & Membership Manager - 607-674-9488 bvfulton@frontiernet.net