[Philmont] Beginnings

From: Scott W. Schreiber
Can you good folks tell a new scoutmaster how to begin the process of
getting his troop out to Philmont?

Scott:
Unfortunately, it is not something you "just do". Philmont crews are
limited in size (12 per crew, with particular ratios of youth to adults),
age (14+ with some particulars) and gender (if female youth, need female
adult). So, for your typical troup, this is an outing that already is
limited to a very small subset.

Unit crews are selected by "random" lottery submitted via the internet. It
is a two year process, with a lottery entry in October of year 0 resulting
in a summer trek in year 2 if you get selected. It appears that units have
about a 1 in 6 chance of being among those selected. Units can have
multiple crews and that does not seem to affect your selection in the
lottery.

So, the earliest you can get a crew there is 2009, but that is chancy at
best.

The procedure for entering the lottery can be found at
http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/philmont.html#2.4.1.1
however, it should be noted that there are slight changes every year, so the
procedure that was followed for 2007 treks may not be quite the same as for
2009 treks.

It is adviseable for a unit wanting to commit to Philmont to make alternate
arrangements in their long term planning that are kept on a parallell trek
with a Philmont trek in the event you do not "win" the lottery. In that
way, the same boys who are prepared for Philmont can smoothly transition to
the alternative rather than having to be disappoijnted.

After entering the lottery in October, year 0, results come out in January
Year 1, with first payment ($50 historically) due March year 1. There is
then a payment plan over the next 1.5 years. You need to be prepared to make
the first payment when the time comes, rather than scrambling for funds.

Those units not selected get put on a waiting list. In a typical year, up to
300-400 on the waiting list will be offered a trek, though it has been as
low as 120 or so.

Another complication is that school schedules differ across the country.
Philmont has full treks starting in early June and ending in late August.
Units where school gets out memorial day can make the early June treks but
not the late August treks. Units where school gets out mid-june can't do
the early treks but have no problem with the late august treks.

Plan on being at the ranch on 13 days. Arrival day is day 1 of a 12 day
trek, hitting the trail on day two after a night in base camp. Closing
campfire is day 12, with an overnight at base camp to departure on day 13.

This year, they added short treks (offered as of the last day of full treks)
to the lottery. This is an excellent alternative. Other Philmont programs
are also great alternatives.
Explore the webpage link above for more information.

Regards
Don Roberts
Fullerton, CA

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Received on Mon Jul 16 17:05:38 2007