AMC 4000-Footer Club Welcomes 10,000th Member

Irishskier said:

In my humble opinion the number matters little, nor does sending in the application (which I did), unless it means something to you. I think (and hope) most of us hike for personal reasons such as the experience, fitness, spirituality, etc. Sorry for getting deep.

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Many organizations (including I believe the AMC) assign member numbers and in some organizations people consider them important as to how long you've been one of us, in others probably nobody even knows their own

Might mean something to the Four Thousand Footers Commitee members who volunteer SO MUCH of thier time to know just how many applications they have processed.

Let's not confuse two concepts. The number of people who have finished, finished per year, applications processed, finishing peaks, etc., are all interesting and worthwhile data and should definitely be collected as it always has been. Handing out individual finisher numbers is what is being discussed, beginning with the 10,000th applicant. The concern is, as I understand it, that we'll get people in three buckets - I didn't submit my application (too cool, too lazy, don't care), I got in before 10,000 and "I'm number 10,406, what number are you?"

Tim

Statistics can be used in other ways also. 10,000 finishers means that a minimum of 10,000 people (and one can only speculate on the number of trips) have been up Owl's Head. It's about time for an official trail don't you think?

10,000 people claimed they've been to Owl's Head And if they followed Wilderness rules, then there were a minimum of 1000 trips.

Tim

bikehikeskifish said:

10,000 people claimed they've been to Owl's Head And if they followed Wilderness rules, then there were a minimum of 1000 trips.

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There are, unfortunately, people who flaunt that group size rule all the time, which is especially bad when going off-trail.

MichaelJ said:

There are, unfortunately, people who flaunt that group size rule all the time, which is especially bad when going off-trail.

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Sure there are groups that go over, some incidentally and some on purpose. I'd be willing to bet the average group size is less than 10, and likewise that Owl's Head has had far more than 10,000 visitor-visits. I've been three times myself.

Tim

I was at the awards dinner. Everyone gave lots of cheers to the guy who was #10,000. Love of big, round numbers somehow just comes naturally. Sure, the guy didn't do anything more than the other thousands of finishers; but it was fun to cheer for him anyhow. FUN is the point after all, isn't it?

My question is when are they going to start numbering canine finishers? (And what numbers were my two?) Or did the 10,000 include canines? If so, what would the Committee have done if #10,000 were a dog?

Elizabeth said:

My question is when are they going to start numbering canine finishers? (And what numbers were my two?) Or did the 10,000 include canines? If so, what would the Committee have done if #10,000 were a dog?

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A couple of years ago when Sabrina's dog Terra got her patch they mentioned that they had reached the 100 mark for canines. So they do have a count. I gather they didn't mention any numbers this year, but if you E-mailed Eric Savage you could probably get the number. Mohamed might even be able to tell you.

I THINK the guy's name was Bill. I also think Eric said his final peak was in October.

Now that they have started numbering, they have to go with it. I finished before the 10,000th finisher, but my finish was only about a month earlier, so obviously I'm aware that WAY more than 10,000 people finished before me. Therefore, to me the number isn't important, its the accomplishment and each individual's personal experience to themselves.

I don't think they should put the number on the certificates (going forward), but like Tim says, the AMC should keep the statistics, as they have done. Leaving the number off the certificate keeps the accomplishment on the same level as anyone who does it. Hopefully, people will be able to hike these mountains forever, and when the 1,000,000th person completes it, the AMC will still be around to announce that they have reached that milestone. When that happens, it will still be the same accomplishment. Maybe the AMC could think of adding an extra cost type of item if people wanted numbers on there certificates. (I know that is unlikely) If the AMC is unsure of what to do, at the very least they should probably make the first sentence of the reply mailing to say: "Dear Joe Hiker, Congratulations, you are the #th registered member of AMC's 4000-footer club."

If it is just a private tracking number (ID in the database), then they can easily assign numbers to the first 9,999. The only reason to start "issuing numbers" is if they are going to number the certificates. Assigned numbers are not required for the statistical gathering process.

Tim