[philmont] Ranger 2008

Matt: I am indeed flattered that you would consider my advice to be
useful for Rangers and staffers. Not so sure that trust is justified....

You are correct that everyone who responded to your original inquiry
would have likely changed their comments somewhat, had we known that you
are a Rayado veteran. I think we all assumed that you were a "regular"
trekker, and that of course influenced our responses, at least a little
bit. But you have already been to the mountain. That counts for a lot.

One thing you can cease worrying about is conditioning to impress your
first Crews. Assuming you are a full season Ranger, you will be at
Philmont weeks before your first Crews arrive, and so can inwardly smile
at our wheezing and (at least in the case of Advisors) geezing. Of
course, you will now need to be ready for the Ranger training program,
probably as brutal as Rayado was. At least that's my understanding.

Since I doubt that a starving college student will be purchasing a
hyperbaric sleeping chamber, or spending a month in Nepal, you need to
approach physical conditioning the old fashion way. The Marines have an
expression that's a favorite of mine: "You can't drown in your own
sweat". My rejoinder is: "But you can try". If you have spent time on
this list you have heard many methods for training for Philmont. You
have also heard my own, which is to backpack, a lot, building from a 25
pound pack to 60 or more pounds over 4 or 5 months. I also live at sea
level, and that's exactly what I do (though I stop at 55 pounds). And
though I am no longer able to keep up with my fastest gazelles, I can
still hold my own. At your age, if you prep like this, you'll run rings
around them. NOTHING beats backpacking for getting in shape for
Philmont. Another trick, if you have a free week before you hit the
Ranch, is go spend some time in the higher elevations of Colorado, doing
strenuous stuff like mountain biking and peak bagging. Some place like
Buena Vista. A week at elevation and Philmont air will seem rich. Even
a couple of days in Colorado Springs would help.

Advisor comments on what has "worked" - I'm going to punt on that one
for tonight (got a 5 am wakeup call), but I will think on it.

Gear - Something else I will think on. I don't think you have to turn
into a gear-head, and in fact I personally find that passion to get a
little tiresome with all the one-upsmanship going on. I've seen Rangers
with yard-sale cast-offs, and others with stuff worthy of an expedition
to K2. Didn't seem to make much difference to me with respect of the
quality of the guy or girl carrying it. If you're a jerk or a fool,
five grand worth of gear ain't gonna help the situation. Three
immediate comments come to mind. The first is that if the store you're
working at offers rental gear, that's an ideal opportunity to try a
variety of cool stuff over the next couple of months. Find out what
works, and what's just a bunch of expensive glitter. Second, don't
forget to talk to your fellow employees and especially the customers who
obviously have a clue. There's a huge amount of knowledge out there
from people that have actually done it, and done it a lot. You're in a
unique position - take advantage of it. Third, there are many
failed/former gear-heads out there. Got to have that 400 dollar Gregory
pack? I'll bet you can get it off ebay, used twice, for a third that
price. Ditto for Craigslist wherever you abide. Don't just look at the
personal advertisements on your store's bulletin board, put some
personal solicitations up there: "Hey, I'm looking for the following
stuff - wanna haggle?"

More coming, eventually. Stay tuned.

- Dr. Bob

Matt B. wrote:
> Dr. Bob,
>
> Please forgive my delay in responding but I have been waiting on a
> package from Philmont which arrived today with some information (staff
> guide, contracts, specific duties, etc.) I wanted to have more
> information from Philmont before I asked any other questions.
>
> Thank you very much for providing me with a great deal of information
> for the summer. It seems that most people I have talked to have told me
> to go out and get to know the crew which seems to resolve many issues.
> I must confess that I have a bit more experience than I may have
> suggested in my first message, did Rayado in 2006 but wanted to hear
> advice that would not be colored with the assumption of experience, I am
> sure you can understand how the responses might have differed.
>
> If I may ask for some specific advice from an Advisor, what have you
> seen from staffers in the past that has WORKED and that has made your
> trek better for the youth and adults? I am a bit worried about going up
> to Philmont from sea level and then leaving on my training trek, any
> tips for this? On my last trek, I got very sick the first week because
> of the elevation which is not something that I want to experience with a
> crew looking up to me to set the example. The last thing, for now, I am
> looking at making a list of gear to acquire for this summer (working in
> a gear store is a big plus in this area) but is there anything that you
> could reccomend to make life eaiser in Base and on the Trail?
>
> Thank you for your advice and I hope to hear from you soon.
>
> Matt B.

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Received on Tue Dec 11 22:22:40 2007