High Adventure

I want to share a great source for developing your skills! Outdoor leadership is different. What works at a Troop meeting or in the boardroom does not always translate well on a week-long backpacking or canoeing trip. Scouting offers great administrative training and valuable supplemental training in outdoor skills and safety. What we don’t have is a comprehensive training course in the group dynamics of long-term outdoor trips. Author Alex Kosseff has assembled what I would call a college level course for leaders in the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) Guide to Outdoor Leadership....

Wilderness First Aid is highly recommended, but when is it required? In this week’s podcast we’ll do our best to tell you when wilderness first aid training is required (although it’s just good common sense too!) , I’ll also answer questions about uniforms, the effective date a Scout earns a rank, and how Venturing Crews use the patrol method. LINKS Red Cross WFA Pocket GuideRed Cross WFA Reference GuideWebelos Crossover LetterGuide to Awards and InsigniaScout Leader Uniform Inspection SheetScout Uniform Inspection SheetGet text notification for Scoutmaster ChatsThe Big Three Resources every Scouter should read...

When a Scout takes on a position of responsibility… … we’ll discuss and agree on a set of shared expectations, and begin what will be an open dialog for their tenure in that position. Reconciling what a Scout did or did not do before a Scoutmaster took on the role is one of the things we’ll discuss in this podcast. We’ll also answer a question about Scoutmaster conferences. What high adventure experience will your Scouts be doing this summer?...

Scouts and their guide paddle during the beginning of a storm that threatened the lives of a group of Scouts. (photo from Cincinnati .com) On Thursday June 12th a group of Scouts on a trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness with the Northern Tier High Adventure Program were rescued by helicopter after their canoes capsized in a storm. Everyone survived, there were no major injuries. I study incidents like this carefully because our troop has been doing canoe treks in Algonquin Provincial Park for nearly a decade....

John Wiebke Scoutmaster of Troop 358 in Zionsville, Indiana, shares his summer plans (and what great plans they are!) Nothing makes the winter pass quicker than looking forward to a great summer adventure! Every other year our troop travels to Ontario, Canada, for summer camp at Haliburton Scout Reservation (three hours north of Toronto on Lake Kennabi) and a simultaneous high adventure trip just a little north of Haliburton at Algonquin Provincial Park....

Most wilderness emergencies are avoidable, but, if you spend enough time in the outdoors, one will likely come your way. What will you do? Studying scenarios and reports is a one way to sharpen your outdoor leadership skills. Canoe guru Kevin Callan is the author of 11 books, including the Paddler’s Guide series and The Happy Camper. He shares his extensive experience as a wilderness guide instructing college-level courses in Advanced Wilderness Skills....

The view from our campsite on Lake Hogan It’s time for show and tell! What high adventure trip did your Scouts participate in this summer? ( I am sure the Jamboree was great, but I am looking for reports on wilderness treks) Where did you go? How was the trip? Have any pictures? Answer in the comments below (you can include links to pictures) and share what you did this summer....

A Scout vacation doesn’t fit most people’s definition of a ‘vacation’. We were out walking uptown at our hometown art stroll last night talking to our friends (most of them present or past Scouts and Scouters). We chatted about the usual things; how the kids are doing, vacations, the weather. One couple was headed off on a Mediterranean cruise, some of our friends follow the annual migration to Disney world as reliably as the Canadian geese....

Taking Scouts caving is a popular, adventurous and exciting activity, but it’s not something to approach casually. The National Speleological Society, A volunteer organization dedicated to the study, exploration, and conservation of caves has made it clear that untrained, unprepared cave explorers endanger themselves and cause irreversible damage to fragile cave environments. Access to wild caves is appropriately limited, but there are commercial caves that offer adventurous ‘wet’ tours in addition to their more tame walkthroughs....

Here’s Arlen Ward and I discussing Kandersteg International Scout Center on the most recent ScoutCircle. I’ll be returning there next Summer and I encourage you to look into the possibility of taking your Scouts. If you are interested in arranging a trip I’d be happy to help. Kandersteg is a picture postcard town in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland that is home to Kandersteg International Scout Center (KISC)....

We depend on satellite phone rental for emergency communications during our annual high adventure canoe trips. Since we’ll be travelling out of cell phone range we want some way to contact help if needed. There are a number of technologies available but a satellite phone is the only one that enables two-way voice communication If you look around you’ll find a number of vendors in the satellite phone rental business, but buyer beware – there can be hidden charges for shipping, obligations to buy a package of minutes and up-charges for things like spare batteries for the phone....

On our high adventure canoe trip each crew packs and cooks food for a group of five to nine Scouts. Our menu is a combination of freeze dried and grocery store food that keeps the cost reasonable while providing good nutrition and good eating. After making adjustments to our menus and the kit we assembled to prepare it over two or three years we developed a pretty well tuned approach. Our cooking gear packs down into two basic packages – a cook box that we fondly call ‘Tidy Cats’ and a bag of cook pots....

If you read and listen regularly you know I am a big promoter of High Adventure in Scouting. How are your plans for your next high adventure trip coming along? That’s right, you, how are the plans coming along? Here’s a few reasons why most of us don’t even get started: It’s too expensive. No, it’s not. A perfectly great high adventure trip doesn’t have to cost a lot – we’ve done backpacking trips of five days for less than $200....

PROGRAM OVERVIEWTahosa Alpine Adventure is true back country mountaineering. Backpack thirty to fifty miles in the Indian Peaks Wilderness with a trained guide while learning all about mountaineering skills and practices. Rock climb in a true back country environment, glissade down snow fields in July, learn about weather patterns, summit peaks of over 13,000 feet in elevation, and experience the back country adventure of a lifetime. The Tahosa Alpine Adventure is for Scouts aged 13 and up by January 1 of that summer....

PROGRAM OVERVIEW Philmont style High Adventure Treks and Stake Encampment features. Slot canyoneering and Bicycling the top trails of Brian Head are two of the most requested side trips that can be built into the program for the units. Areas such as Mountain Men, Rappelling, Aquatics, Mountain Biking and Canyoneering areas all have a different program as the troops, teams and crews hike around a 31 mile loop. High adventure outpost camp geared for older Scouts thirteen (13) or above ....

In August fifteen of our Scouts and leaders are off to visit Kandersteg International Scout Center in Switzerland. We started planning and raising money last spring. Lots of research has gone into constructing a budget, planning the trip and making reservations. There is very little reliable information to be found about group air travel and the rules seem to change pretty regularly. In the hopes that I may be able to save anyone planning group air travel some time and trouble I’ll tell you the story of our quest to fly to Switzerland....

PROGRAM OVERVIEWBackpacking, Climbing, Kayaking, Cycling At Goshen Scout Reservation crews backpack from outpost to outpost on mountain trails on a schedule they choose. Program outposts include forge, caving, rock climbing, mountain biking, mountain man, civil war, and lumber jack. Crews arrive on Sunday and leave on Saturday. Crews visit 3-4 outposts and do one night of ‘primitive’ camping. In addition there is a week long canoe trek program. Food is provided for crews....

PROGRAM OVERVIEW Some people have called our High Adventure Program at Spanish Peaks Scout Ranch a “Little Philmont”. We think our program has as much to offer in a smaller, more secluded setting. One of the big differences is that you won’t be hiking on trails that are more than knee-deep or running into many crowds in the wilderness. Because of our much smaller size, we can plan a custom trip for your group that will be a unique experience....

PROGRAM OVERVIEW Climbing and Rappelling from several heights ranging from 50 feet to 110 feet Mountain Biking on a 10.2 mile trail with elevation changes of over 600 feet Shooting Sports with rifle, pistol and shotgun Whitewater Rafting on the Oocee River Sailing and canoeing on our 21 acre lake Backpacking All Treks at Latimer High Adventure Reservation are led by qualified staff members, who are trained in a specific area of expertise and certified in Wilderness First Aid....

PROGRAM OVERVIEWThe trek or “quest” is a 5-day and 4-night excursion that will follow the North Country National Scenic Trail with optional rendezvous with the Muskegon, Pere Marquette, Pine, or Manistee Rivers for day or overnight float trips. All treks will be accompanied by a trained Owasippe trail guide. Two of the above-mentioned rivers are “white-water” routes and should be traversed by experienced canoeists only. There are three types of Treks to choose from:...