johnmbowen

Another interesting high adventure/training program from an outfitter which caters Scouts in the Rocky Mountain Area. See www.hpoiadventure.com, look under Programs, then Teen Programs to see a listing called "Ultimate Adventure Program" which appears to be geared toward Scouts and includes climbing, mountaineering and rafting, which goes for 6 days at a reasonable price/person for so many events.

That is pretty elaborate, and based on the rafter's fire pan. We have usually got a couple of large logs to set on the snow and then built a fire on top of them. They all eventually sink a bit. We also tend to dig pits with seats on the sides to keep out of the wind, and the sides of the snow pits will also tend to reflect the heat back on you. If you are rigorous you can also build a channel to a lower pit to siphon off the cold air which sinks, but we were rarely that concerned.

For a recent trip, we invented a nice "Troop scout hat" which is OK for a "B" uniform. It consisted of a tan baseball hat we got from a vendor that does screen pringing and embroidery and cost $5. We added the BSA pin for the adult campaign hat for $6.50 and had a nice hat. THe equivalent type of hat is the "commemorative 2001" hat for $23. You could have the troop number embroidered on it, why not?

Hi again guys. Hi Buffalo2, this is of course jargon stuff that one gets from going to too many swift water rescue clinics, or having to do it for real on the river. I have been lucky with Scouts and have never had to unwrap any boat when they are involved...but just like WFR...it is better to 'be prepaired'. Voyager! I am not familiar with the Mariner Hitch but believe it has to be similar to a hitch called the UMIT (which stands for something that I have forgotten). It was developed by Canadian and US (USFS etc) SAR people for releasing tension on very highly tensioned ropes, as in high angle rescue where the rescuer and victim are being lowered simotaneously...or on a z-drag. THis is basically 2 carabiners which have some high tech line looped through them twice so as to make a simple double pully system. The rope is then hanked around the loops between the carabiners back toward one side, and tied off using a slip knot. As you want to release the tension, all that is necessary is to unwrap the hank lashings until the unit slips. Works really well. The advantage is that it is a made up unit, and the disadvantage is that being already made up it is an extra gadget that you have to carry around. My stuff like that goes in an ammo box with the Z-drag equipment. It works well for rafts and I assume canoes. I can try to make up a diagram to send if you are interested. Can you send me a discription of the Maraner?? Thanks JB PS at present I am in OK, and running trips in MO in April...prior to heading back to Wyo for the summer, are you guys near for some river fun?

THough I have used z-drags for inflatabls (and for practicing cravasse rescue) I have not done canoes. How much force can a pinned canoe take? The usual system for a broached raft, after you equalize the D-rings is to try to run a line around the boat at the point where your 'best pull' angle will do the most good...but those things give! Do you do the same with a canoe? (Which oughta make since?) When do you stop and try something different...I would hate to pull a livery boat apart with a Z! My last canoe broach was solved by the 10 "boyscout" pull which is of course more gentle than the Z.

Ha, All this is NOTHING!! A tempest in a teapot. Do you all remember that nationwide case where these two toughs killed that little homosexual in Laramie Wyoming by pistolwhipping him to death, and leaving his body hanging on a buck rail fence? Well, one of the perps was Russell Hinderson, Eagle Scout, now serving a life sentence. Being a Scout doesn't necessarily give you sense or brains. Be glad that these kids are only doing small stuff.

The CRASH nymonic is very useful to check redundancy for each partner in a climb. However, I would highly recommend that any group that goes out to climb on their own cultivate (after checking) actual experienced climbers who can help insure that the anchors for the top roped climbs are bombproof and redundant too. There are lots of people who can help if approached. Our method (after I check them out) is to make them an ASM but only call on their expertise when the Troop wants to go climb. THis also works well for river people, rafters, kayakers or canoers that can help your unit on these special ocassions. JB

The CRASH nymonic is very useful to check redundancy for each partner in a climb. However, I would highly recommend that any group that goes out to climb on their own cultivate (after checking) actual experienced climbers who can help insure that the anchors for the top roped climbs are bombproof and redundant too. There are lots of people who can help if approached. Our method (after I check them out) is to make them an ASM but only call on their expertise when the Troop wants to go climb. THis also works well for river people, rafters, kayakers or canoers that can help your unit on these special ocassions. JB

The CRASH nymonic is very useful to check redundancy for each partner in a climb. However, I would highly recommend that any group that goes out to climb on their own cultivate (after checking) actual experienced climbers who can help insure that the anchors for the top roped climbs are bombproof and redundant too. There are lots of people who can help if approached. Our method (after I check them out) is to make them an ASM but only call on their expertise when the Troop wants to go climb. THis also works well for river people, rafters, kayakers or canoers that can help your unit on these special ocassions. JB

The CRASH nymonic is very useful to check redundancy for each partner in a climb. However, I would highly recommend that any group that goes out to climb on their own cultivate (after checking) actual experienced climbers who can help insure that the anchors for the top roped climbs are bombproof and redundant too. There are lots of people who can help if approached. Our method (after I check them out) is to make them an ASM but only call on their expertise when the Troop wants to go climb. THis also works well for river people, rafters, kayakers or canoers that can help your unit on these special ocassions. JB

Yes! I highly recommend Warren River Expeditions Warren River Expeditions P.O. Box 1375 Salmon, Idaho 83467 Office: (208) 756-6387 Reservations: (800) 765-0421 Fax: (208) 756-4495 SalmonRiver@raftidaho.com Dave Warren is very personable, and has just got a permit on the Middle Fork. I believe you can either fly in to the half way point or start from the beginning and end up at Corn Creek on the Main. I have rowed for Dave many times and he always has high quality and knowledgible boatmen who are patient with kids. I was on a trip down the Main Salmon with Dave and a group of Scouts before and they liked it very well. Dave is also very good with safety, and the group is briefed very thoroughly and the boatmen are attentive. Dave can also send the group with duckies (inflatable kayaks) and depending on the volume and rapids, with sit-on-top kayaks as well if they kids like the idea. The food is also exceptional! Please give him a call! John Bowen

Hi Folks, I had to write this up for one of the groups that I work with, and since I saw that some of you are interested in ideas as well, thought I would bore you with some of these. Note that I abbreviated backpacking, as there is a very complete discussion here. High Adventure Ideas for Scouts Water Stuff: Assuming you have or can rent canoes and or kayaks. Note, be sure to train your Scouts very well in all aspects of river safety. Safety Afloat is NOT sufficient. A source of trainers is to find out who in your area runs rivers a lot. Try them. Also call the American Canoe Association (or look up their web page) and find out who is an ACA certified instructor. A minimum of training would involve: Self Rescue, Boat based rescue, swift water safety (ie how to swim and what to do if you are in swift water), the use of throw bags and other rescue devices (including helmets where applicable), as well as the ability to un-capsize what ever boat is being used. All this in addition to the regular swim safety, buddy system, and the ability to actually swim. Include a final test of the boys in more or less swift water (in a safe area with a large pool at the bottom to catch them) where they practice swimming in swift water in PFDs as well as throw bag practice for the others. Check with the university Outdoor Adventure program for possible instructors. 1. Many universities with an Outdoor Adventure program often have kayak roll sessions where they can teach people how to do an Eskimo Roll. If you dont bring but several interested kids along, then you may get in for free, or a nominal fee. Kayaks are often available. These people also have a long list of places to go. HS kids can sometimes go as the University can look at this as a recruitment tool. 2. Go to most any river that has an outfitter on it and rent canoes or kayaks for a trip, or go rafting on a commercial river. 3. If you have a source of canoes/kayaks/rafts, pick out ANY section of a flat water (Class I, or even Class II) river and go on a day or overnight trip. I have found a great deal of pleasure in exploring the upper end of lakes, and nosing my boat back into flooded creeks. The wildlife is great, and the speed boaters are NOT there. 4. Find some Private Boaters who will work with your group to take you farther. They would probably help if you dont insist that they be at EVERY meeting all the time, but would be called on only for teaching and that particular outing. Climbing: Most places have some kind of climbing available. If you have a climber/parent or adult leader and are not using them, shame on you! Check your local outdoor dealership and just ask. Find out if anyone teaches climbing and co-opt them for a teacher as in 4. above. Make sure that your instructor is able to set bombproof, safe and redundant top rope anchors and is up to date in these. Ask questions. Dont overload your climbs with 40 kids. Just take along those willing to learn. They should know absolutely how to use the figure 8 knot, clove hitch, prussick, and absolutely how to do a safe belay (which you can back up with a prussick knot if you are paranoid (as you well should be). Go OUTSIDE and only use a climbing gym if you have nothing else (alright that is my jaundiced trad idealism showing through). 5. Go anywhere that climbs are available. Start with established routes, many will have 2-3 bolts at the top along with chains for your top ropes. These are called Sport Routes and are generally (note that word) safe. Caving: This is truly fun! But NOTE CAREFULLY, the very features that make caves so wonderful can be destroyed in an instant by unthinking Scouts or adults. SO: Get in contact with the National Speleological Society (NSS) and find out what the nearest NSS Grotto (Caving Club) and contact them. Ask if they can put on a caving instruction for your group (again dont do this 40-50 Scout overloadBSA requires ONLY 14 or older for this experience. LEARN Cave Conservation and Ethics, and abide by it. Only after the Grotto contact deems your group ready, then ask for a trip. Overtrain your Scouts on this one. They will love it. Volunteer to help with a Cave Restoration trip, the cavers will love you. DO NOT go on your own, unless YOU are that Grotto person, as above! Other Ideas: 6. Here is a more complicated one, more work, but hey why not: The 24 hour experience. In this you set up a series of events for competition, just like an eco challenge. Things like fire building with 1 match, Tyrolean traverse...set it up and get your team across a creek or gorge, cook bread with a fire and no oven (all they get to eat, why not be nasty), climb a technical face or wall, or something, and get your team over, and any others that in your devious mind would be fun to see others do. Tie them together in a big compass course, and why not have some of the course be navagated using stars!! (yeah that is pretty harsh, ha ha), make part of the event with canoeing across part of a lake...whatever you like...and start the whole thing about dark. This could be an idea to get all the venture patrols/crews together to compete with, first one through all the events and gets back to the starting position wins! 7. Challenge or Ropes course for the touchy-feelie (Team Building). Its kinda fun, but hard to take seriously...Universities often have one, as do several other outfits around. 8. Why not have a mile wide capture the flag event done at night? Pick a section of land with a fence all around it. 9. Full fledged Orienteering Match. Challenge the other scout troops to play this game. Orienteering is where you get a map with points that have to be visited (some games have them in order, and some you just try to collect all you can in a given amount of time). The individual or team that finishes in the least amount of time wins. There are whole books on this topic, and with some effort and care, anyone can set one up. These can be done anywhere, even in a city! 10. Hiking down a river bed in the flatland states...just hike and wade down a flatwater river bed from one point to the next. An overnighter backpack would be super. In the winter The river is hardly deep and you can hike most of the way barefoot! OK, TX, NM, MO, AR, and all the Southern States would be super, and the water not too cold. Most states will allow you to sleep on the river bed but NOT the banks. A totally easy trip to do. 11. Backpacking pretty much anywhere. Start with a small trip nearby to get the hang of minimalist camping and the nomadic spirit. If you dont do thisSTART! It is hard to get into trouble. To make it more exciting, combine it with a road trip. Enough Said. This is a STAPLE of High Adventure. 12. Peak Bagging. All states have a high point (even Kansas, which has Mt. Sunflower!) Find it and bag or collect it. The mountain states all have mountains to bag, and most are walkups, and books and guides are available for the looking. Colorado by itself has 54 mountains above 14000 feet, and more than 100 others above 13000 feet, and it is a statewide mania to climb them. You can go on a road trip to knock off some 2-3 each time! If you have any interest, email me and I can try to help you with one.

The trip cost everyone about $1k which included the airline tickets (we had to scramble around to get cheap ones, mine was $450) and all on ground transportation as well as food. Busses from Mexico City to Puebla cost less than $10US, and $6 to Tlachachuca one way, the shuttle to the mountain and staying at the shuttle driver was $80US. We went to see Tiotihuacan $3.5 entrance + $6US bus ride, and the Anthrapological Museum (another $3.5US...that seemed to be the rate for all the archaeological sites). Meals in town ran around $3-5. I spent $1100 total. The difficulty is not the doing of a cool trip, but just deciding that you are going and discovering the ways to get there. Why shouldn't Scouts do these?

I attended a "climbing instruction" session run by BSA called 'Climb on Safely' which was a nice introduction to climbing for non-climbers. Mostly though, like the 'Safety Afloat' the session was mainly set up to inform the participants of the BSA policy. As an outfitter, I rapidly recognized this as a liability waiver situation, which merely informed the participants that if the BSA policy was not followed, the penalty was NO insurance coverage. I don't blame BSA for this stance, but outside of that, the instruction was not enough for a group to safely set up even the most rudimentary climbs for the units. It is the same with other fun activities. This brings to mind a thought about setting up a hands on class for adults that would give people the fundamentals on setting up and running the fun trips that the kids like in a safe manner. It could include climbing and watersports, but it might better serve a larger audience if it included planning for trips (or teaching the kids to plan for the trips), logistics, costing, as well as the more technical aspects. It could be followed by, or included in a backpack trip or other trip itself. That brought to mind another perceived problem. I was just asked to address an OA group about doing something other than bowling for an outing (no I'm not making up the bowling comment!)! There are all sorts of variations on outdoor trips, but youngtsters who have not had a variety of experiences don't know what there is to do. A different type outing for instance that I remember was called the 24 hour experience where the participants orienteered (at night) from one simple event or contest (one was just baking bread on sticks) over a 24 hour period. Anyway, what is your take on these ideas?

Now, I don't know if this is true, but I heard that the reason we wear the US flag on our shirts is that the John Birch Society gave the BSA money with the flag as a proviso. While I like the flag and don't mind wearing it, it does remind me of this story. I'm not too liberal, but I would distance myself in a hurry from the John Birch Society and what it stands for. Additionally, I am just back from Mexico on a Scout Trip, and know that the Scouts down there, while patriotic as any, do not wear their flag on their sleeve.

Our Scout Troop, which does a great deal of high adventure, does not use the Scout Uniform on any outing, as they are completely unsuitable for anything other than meeting in a room. The pants are expensive, not durable, and made of cotton which is useful only in the heat. The shirt (also more expensive than they are worth), while polyester, while it will pass moisture to outer garmets is too beribboned to be useful and too fragile to be used on a trip. So we don't. We are beginning to use zip T-neck long underwear shirts with a logo on them and the Troop number on the collar. (Check these out on the Sierra Trading Post or Campmore web pages.) These do work well in the outdoors for nearly everything. These shirts are actually useful as they are designed as high performance outdoors wear, not something to wear only to meetings. As for pants, we use gore tex pants when skiing or mountaineering, rafting shorts when rafting, and durable pants for climbing. Additionally, all are much cheaper than the usual uniform as well as being useful in the outdoors and, they can classify as Type B's. (With the exception of the pants). One of the real draws of BSA for kids is that we do outdoors activities! Why have an "inside uniform" at all?? My opinion is that until the BSA sets up a really useful uniform for outdoors, we will just make up a Troop one and be done with it. What ever happened to those outdoor uniforms of 40 years ago. I used to have a collarless mesh cotton shirt that was second to none in hot weather and had a nice outdoor color to it rather than the 'brownshirt' looking uniforms of today (which were apparently designed by Italians of all people!).

Younger Scouts and High Adventure: Part of the method is the makeup of the Troop itself. All the youngsters coming into the Troop know what this troop is about right away. We have posters of previous trips on the walls and we take them through them, with their parents. The kids who are not interested, dont' join up. We also have a nice webpage (which needs updating) that the parents can look at (check Wyoming Troops, and 136 from Laramie) that spells out what we do. They come looking for high adventure...same as seen in the handbook. The second part is that at the first meeting they attend, we start seasonal demonstrations (just talking about it doesn't cut it with younger kids)on how to dress for the next trip, what that trip will be about, and a hands on lesson on how to operate on that trip. Of course we don't immediately expose them to a harsh trip right away, but invite them on a comfortable trip to start, which is a part of a larger trip that the older guys go on. For instance during this time of the year (Ski and snowcave season), we start talking about what to wear, layering and the acceptable kinds of clothing to wear. (We also talk to the parents as well, and have a casche of old polypro underwear and fleece etc for the ones who don't have the bucks to buy them.) This talk consists of a complete set of clothes pulled inside themselves as if they were being worn. Polypro underwear (never cotton...part of the talk...showing the differences), fleece, shells, wollen or fleece sweaters, gloves+inners, and socks+inners, hats, overmits, sun glassess and sun screen. The kids take off layers and put them on the clothes dummy. We next haul out the skis and go over bindings, boots, gaiters, waxes, non-waxibles, poles and then have the kids learn in the meeting how to turn around on skis, get up off the ground, etc. We then schedule a trip that has two parts. The first part is a short ski-around on a short trail to introduce the new Scouts to the activity, followed by play for them. During the play time the older Scouts head off on a more advanced trail (if the little guys want to go and seem capable of handling it we assign an adult or older scout to shadow them). We always have enough adults around to go around, as we do the fun things that they like to do normally without Scouts along. Rock Climbing is even easier, as the whole group (we are a small Troop of no more than 10) can be in the same general area. (Climbs are set up by the older Scouts and checked and critiqued by the ASMs) The technical part of the meeting consists of familiarization with climbing equipment, and learning to tie the appropriate knots (not skimping on the ones needed for advancement, but the kids don't need to know about that! As far as they are concerned, each knot is extremely important and needs to be well learned for a very important reason..."I get to go!" Older Scouts are taught more advanced skills such as constant tension top rope anchors, etc. They (the young ones) are never forced to go all the way on any trip, and can back out when necessary. When they see everyone else doing it, they bump on the edge of their ability envelope a few times and gain little by little. But we don't make special little trips for them very often. Camping skills are often learned on climbing trips which are generally not too far (about 1 mile usually)from the cars, so they don't have to carry too much. The older Scouts are used to some Sherpa duty. Well, so the little guys freeze up in the first five feet off the deck...well, they see the older guys up trying new climbs and they get used to it. It is a source of pride when they actually get up the entire first climb (usually around 5.6) and an accomplishment that is more respected among the older guys than any badge. Same thing for rafting. Even the little guys can row part of the way on flat water, and they don't seem to mind if the older guys take over for the rapids, so long as they get to go! All of these learning activities include in them advancement activities that are recorded for the first three ranks. After these ranks, the Scout is encouraged to go on, but is not forced. The outings, no matter the season, draw the boys back to the Troop because they are fun to the point of addiction. I don't believe in segregating the young ones, unless the actual outing is too physically demanding...such as ski mountaineering, or our last climb of El Pico de Orizaba, or mandated by the BSA as in caving. But even with these, it doesn't hurt to prepare the boys for these trips, it even enhances their interest. Some of our Scouts even "specialize." One Scout likes mountain biking, but not climbing or rafting, which is OK. On our Desolation and Gray's Raft trip, we also had two boatfuls of parents (we adults were banished to our own boats, though we often ran point and sweep. JB

HI Eisely! Wow, someone working on a holiday like me! This mountain is El Pico de Orizaba or Citlaltepetl near Puebla, in Mexico. We went down on the 26th and got back on the 6th of this month. It is the 3rd highest in North America, but is also the easiest of the high altitude mountains to ascend...therefore a target for Scouts. The guys on this trip were highly motivated about this trip and really wanted to train and learn more. The 18 yr old has signed up to be ASM with two of his friends (who didn't get to go). Because of proximity (we're from Wyoming), we have done several of the Colo 14ers, Gray's, Quandry and Bierstadt (those were ski trips), Crestone Needle, Longs, and a few others. We also did an ascent on Devil's Tower (too many on that trip), and have done Pingora in the Winds, which were rock climbing trips. On the non-mountaineering side, we also do some caving, skiing, and whitewater rafting (we use our own boats, and Scouts trained as boatmen) and some canoeing too. We have a good stable of adult affectionados for each of these activities that we call on only during the times that we do their type of outing. They help train and also go on the trips as ASMs. Have you ever heard of any history of big trips that Scouts do? Well, OK, I thought that this Orizaba trip might make an entry in it, but I would truely like to hear of other stories too! JB

Our Troop does exclusively high adventure, and has been very successful. We have good retention with older kids, and have a lot of fun. We are lucky enough to accumulated a group of adults who are experts in their field of recreation whom we ask for help only when the kids are interested in that kind of trip. We pull these adults in as ASMs but call them "specialists." They help do the extensive training for the kind of trips they do anyway, and the kids not only get to go, but to learn a great deal about that form of recreation. For example, we worked hard for three months on caving, vertical caving and cave navagation. We then went to a big vertical cave and spent a weekend exploring it. Well, OK it is a commonly done cave, but each Scout had to construct a Frog System (ascender system) that was used to climb out of the cave. We worked very closely with our Local NSS Grotto to teach cave ethics and techniques. Everyone liked it, and the Grotto members were highly impressed with the Scouts. (Usually the opposite attitude is encountered amongst the outdoor community about Scouts). We also train our Scouts from elevin on as white water boatmen, using the same subjects as river guides (several of us are professional boatmen) then letting them run big rivers. We just did Deso Gray on the Green River (84 miles) and the Scouts ran their own boats all the way. We also just got back from Mexico where we got within 500 feet of the summit of Orizaba (18800ft) in full conditions before turning around. Is there a compilation or history of BSA high adventure stories at all? I have not seen any at all. You would think that with so much going on that Scouts would accidently do something that is of interest to the adult outdoor adventure community! If there is not such a history, well, lets start one!! Didn't they use to have novels about Scout adventures back in the first part of the last century?? JB

Hi, Well, this is a somewhat serious mountain, 18,800 feet, glaciated with a steep snow approach. We did use crampons, ice axes and helmets. We have trained the four guys involved since June in ice and snow mountaineering, including climbing in rope teams, rope team management, ice axe arrest as a team, and as individuals. We also covered team rescue techniques, running rope belays, fixed rope techniques, etc. They were if anything overprepared (something that we insist on) for this mountain, which frankly is not too difficult, except for the altitude. The only significant thing that the Troop did was that the boys completely set the trip up themselves, did the logistics, and so on, something that most adult mountaineers can't do themselves. (Yes, there was teen aged agony expended in the preparation!) We actually didn't make the summit. The day we went up, the wind had come up, and as we ascended it just got worse. On these big mountains, you always start at night with headlamps to be able to safely climb on hard snow, rather than slushy show in the daylight with the possibility of bad weather setting in in the afternoon. I went down with the youngest kid (14) from about 16,500 feet. He got a touch of altitude sickness (that was my job, as I have been on this summit several times before), but the rest of the team, and their adult ASM mountaineers (one summitted Mt. Blanc in August) made it to the crater rim at 18,300 ft or so in what they thought were 70 mph winds with maybe 90 mph gusts that twice blew them into an arrest position. Though the summit was only a bit around the rim and perhaps 500 feet higher, they decided that conditions were too much and went down. All are OK and had a great deal of fun, though most slept for about 15 hours that night. In order to molify your anxiety that we are going to get these kids killed, we really do a great deal of training and preparation with our Scouts. We use teachers who are experts in their field of recreation, who also go on the more difficult outings like this one. Like your Troop, our Troop does a lot of things of this sort, though much closer to home. We have a small Troop, which enables us to lavish a lot of training in technical outdoor subjects on them individually during the meetings. We go on small trips, graduating to the larger ones. We do the usual just like you guys: rock climbing (which they really like), back country skiing, we raft whitewater on our own boats with Scout boatmen, backpacking (which we are actually lucky to do as many folks don't have access to boats), wild caving, etc, but we also will take the older kids on tougher adventures like this one mountaineering or ski mountaineering, or rafting more difficult rivers about once a year. Like most Troops who are addicted to outdoor adventure, we have no problem with retention of members, and take pains with the training of the little kids. (Our oldest three Scouts have turned 18 and have signed up to be ASMs just to stay in the game!) I am interested in any other Troops that have done this kind of big extensive trip and hit the summit of the more difficult mountains, gone caving in deep vertical caves, rafted rare and big rivers, or generally done somewhat exceptional outings. I know of one group that summitted Kilamanjaro in Africa, but not much more than that they summitted, and helped clean out a climber's cave. (We helped clean out the one and only (and disgustingly full) toilet at he Orizaba base camp). Apparently there is NO history of BSA attempts on big mountains, or other High Adventures that even adults would like to do. I think that stories of Scouts attempting big things (even those that didn't quite get there, like ours) would be a big draw for kids of Scouting age! I have asked the National Office about this, but no records seem to have been kept! I am hoping that we can get some good stories going that will be fun to read as well as making a basis for a high adventure history of our organization. I am sure that yours and mine are not the only groups doing fun stuff! For all of you out there who have done something neat, can you contribute your stories? They don't have to be about foreign trips to high mountains!! Just more than the run of the mill trips that we all do, where the kids pushed the boundries just a bit. Thanks JB

Our Troop has had a great deal of success with high adventure trips. We do a lot of training in preparation, and have good attendance. I think that you just have to go a few times, bring back pics and stories and you don't have any problems. Additionally, our Troop has just done a bit of mountaineering. I am very interested in Scout Troops that have done big mountains, or have done some mountaineering. I am particularly interested in international mountaineering trips by Scout Troops or Venture or Explorers, when they did them and what stories they have to tell.

Our Troop has just done a bit of mountaineering. I am very interested in Scout Troops that have done big mountains, or have done some mountaineering. I am particularly interested in international mountaineering trips by Scout Troops or Venture or Explorers, when they did them and what stories they have to tell.