From: Chris Summers (chrisinhouston@kingwoodcable.com)
Date: Wed Oct 23 2002 - 12:22:10 CDT
While I would congratulate you for having a crew leader already picked and
already holding a training hike, I think your crew leader is setting an
extremely high expectation this far out. My experiences have only been with
"Maverick" crews; that is crews on our Council Contingent made up from boys
in different troops within our Council. That made for challenging schedules
to say the least. We had kids in different school systems so dates for
school events were not the same. Couple that with other things like sports
and band and you get the idea. I can only tell you what worked for us, but
keep in mind we had to be quite flexible because of these scheduling and
distance conflicts. Demanding things can only cause conflict and no crew
needs that in the equation.
I think you need to consider several things. What type of trek are you
planning, typical, strenuous, super strenuous? Then you need to consider the
general condition of your group; are the physically average, below or above
average? For instance if you are planning a typical trek and your crew is in
decent shape (no one is really over or under weight height guidelines) you
will need to have a set of training events that is different if you have an
overweight member or are planning a really tough trek. This can guide you in
how flexible you can be in setting your guidelines. Incidentally, it has
been my experience that the youth are much more prepared for their time on
the trail at Philmont then any adult is.
In my opinion, there are several reasons for pre-Philmont training events. I
use the term "training events" because they aren't always hikes or the like.
Consider why you are getting everyone together in the first place. Some
possible reasons are:
1. Physical conditioning.
2. Breaking in boots.
3. Getting packs fitted properly.
4. Teaching which equipment to bring and what not to bring.
5. Developing crew teamwork for camp life at Philmont, such as cooking and
cleanup.
6. Building teamwork and a sense of comradary.
While an overnight backpacking hiking trip can cover all of these areas, I
believe that there are other options that can cover them and also work with
to achieve the expectation of the crew leader and the advisors. I would also
advise you that since there are about 8 months until next summer's Philmont
season, so you might try a number of types of events so as not to bore your
crew with nothing but full pack on hikes. In my experience here in Houston
we worked on the first 2 items mentioned above by not only having some
weekend trips but also just walking. Because I had kids from all over the
greater Houston area in my crews we set a number of scheduled day hikes,
some on a Saturday, some on a Sunday and some on weekdays after school. We
had different advisors and parents help us make them happen and if we
planned 12 (I think that was the number) we insisted that the members make
at least 8. They were 5 to 15 miles in length and were everywhere from
country trails to inner city waking paths (including one in downtown
Houston) to bleacher climbing at Rice University stadium. Some were with no
packs, some were with daypacks and water and a snack and some were with full
packs. It gave them variety and achieved the goal of getting in shape and
breaking in boots as well as getting the packs fitted.
We held 2 to 3 weekend long backpacking trips with each getting a little
harder. That was enough for us, your mileage may vary! These of course,
cover all items mentioned above.
I always tried to have my groups do a challenge event such as a Council COPE
course to work on item 6. Usually we did this in the spring prior to our
Texas heat wave but close enough to the trek to be of value.
Lastly, I'd advise not to over train. There is some magic and mystery in
opening a Philmont food package and making a meal while on the trail at
Philmont. While I encourage a demo or 2, I never see the point in using only
their food packets in your pre training. Your kids will get more out of
learning how to put their own meals together from supermarket backpacker
shopping then buying everything from Philmont or eating MRE's.
Hope that helps and best of luck
YOF
Chris in Houston
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