From: Feurtado, Walter (Contractor) (Walter.Feurtado@ed.gov)
Date: Wed Jan 29 2003 - 06:29:14 CST
I have been in your position and it is not fun. In 1997, of the 10 scouts
that wanted to go to Philmont, I took only one and then combined with a girl
scout troop because the scouts did not have the proper "mind set". I
received a scathing letter from one parent who questioned my intentions. It
became ugly. On day three of the trail, the father of the one scout who
went came up to me and said, "I understand WHY you did WHAT you did".
Advisors who have been there fully understand what you are going through. I
have had advisors upset with me, too. I told one scoutmaster that his 16
year old son was wasting my time and told our committee chairman that his
son was not ready to have their best Philmont experience. Of course they
were not upset with their sons but with Me and strained relationships exist
even today.
I feel badly for troops who need a "weak" link to fill out a crew. It
certainly does impact the rest of the crew's experience even though there
will be people who list success stories of how the crew pulled together.
My philosophy is this, "If there is a problem before Philmont, it will only
get worse at Philmont".
If the advisor is insistant on going, I would take his money and give him
until May to get in shape. If by May he could exercise at 85% of his target
heart rate (which is 220 minus his age) for 20 minutes, he, in my un-medical
opinion, is in shape to go to Philmont. If he is in bad shape now, he needs
to workup to that number very, VERY slowly. Even now, there might not be
enough time. I would strongly encourage him to get his doctor's clearance
before undertaking this challenge.
And finally, the majority of the treks hike an average of 5-7 miles per day.
Some treks have layover days. Philmont is challenging and some days it
seems like you are hiking 10-15 miles a day!!
Wally Feurtado
Philmont Training Coordinator
National Capital Area Council
co-author of the "unofficial" Philmont Advisor's Guide available from
CoopWright@aol.com
-----Original Message-----
From: mnep@att.net [mailto:mnep@att.net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 9:23 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: [Philmont]: Advisor participation
I want to give a big thank you to the list for the various topics discussed
over the last year as I work to get my troop ready for their Philmont Trek
(June 21 - July 3). As I have never been to Philmont, nor been backpacking,
the advice has been valuable, in particular, with a discussion that I had
last
night with one of the Dads that want to accompany the trip as an advisor,
but
is seriously overweight and out of shape.
I recommended to him that we not send in payment for his spot with the rest
in
February, but rather wait and see if he is able to get into proper physical
condition before the trek date. That would save him from losing the trek
fee
if I saw that he was not properly prepared and couldn't let him go. He took
it
as a personal affront that I would even consider that he might not be in
shape
by the time that the troop left for Philmont. The discussion went through
that
he has missed all of the early shakedown hikes that we have had so far (he
believes this is not his fault because he had to work), nor will he be able
to
go on any in February, March, or April, again because of work.
He is convinced that he will be in condition for Philmont, because he is
walking on a treadmill for 1 - 2 miles per day, and this is a strenous
workout
for him. He was upset that I would require him to prove that he would be in
shape before I would let him go. Because he is convinced that he will be in
shape, he expects me to have the same conviction, even if he does not
participate in any of the crew preparations. I have had numerous
conversations
with him encouraging him, inviting him to hikes, and telling him that he
needed
to be serious about getting in shape, though I believe he has been relying a
bit too much on wishful thinking.
He pretty much used all of the excuses that have been discussed on this list
in
the past, so I was prepared for the discussion. It would have been easier
if
he wasn't a nice guy. My biggest hope is that I have upset him enough to
motivate him to step up his training and prove that he can get in shape.
Though I have serious doubts that given the minimal progress in the last 12
months.
Just needed to get that off my chest by sharing with those who have helped
me
from making a mistake by ignoring what could become an even stickier
situation.
Paul Nepermann
Troop 43 advisor
Batavia, IL
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Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------
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