[Philmont]: An advisor's quandry

Susan's suggestion that moms should be invited on a difficult shakedown hike and then "left in the dust" to prove their sons' fitness for a trek was probably offered tongue in cheek and would probably be thought better of long before the invitation was issued.

At Philmont and in all hiking trips, no one should be "left in the dust" as the group must hike together. A mom would not think highly of a tour leader who planned an outing that was clearly too difficult for an identifiable group of the participants to attempt. If this is the case, in the troop overnight situation, a "two-tier" hike would be planned (assuming adequate adult leadership) with two different hikes adapted to the two skill levels.

I would not be in favor of inviting "spectators" to any Philmont shakedown outing. Consideration of the "spectators'" comfort could very well get in the way of the necessary conditioning and bonding of the crew itself. Nothing wrong with inviting an extra adult who is a Philmont veteran or otherwise qualified to provide more than "two-deep" leadership. I have often served as a "shakedown advisor" myself. Regular moms and dads are better invited to a troop overnight, in my view, unless "two-deep" would be compromised .

I think the best way to convince moms (and dads) that their son is ready and perfectly capable of a Philmont trek is statistical. Well over 600,000 boys and advisors have participated in the program over the last 65 years, with an exemplary safety record. If those boys could do it, your son can, too.

Of course, each advisor and lead advisor must "Be Prepared" to look and act the part at those all important meetings where parents are in attendance. You only have one chance to make a first impression and "Be Prepared" (as well as the precepts of the Scout Oath and Law) works every time.

All for now.

William A. Sheehan, ASM
Troop 55, Pitman, NJ
Philmont '70,'72, Autumn Adventure '01,'03,'05 and hopefully '06

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Received on Wed Mar 1 12:10:38 2006