Trip Prep, Trip Prep, Trip Prep!

07/18/2015

Today was a busy day for Adventure Village as they get ready to depart on their 4 day 3 night Mini-Trips. It starts off in the morning with an activity called the duffle shuffle. This is when we have each camper set out all clothing and items that they want to take on the trip. Then as a group check that each person hasn’t forgotten anything important, but also that they haven’t over packed. This is extremely important as it means our campers don’t carry unnecessarily heavy backpacks. The village then breaks into their individual trips and do a rotation of four different trip prep stages.

The first is food pack out, this is where each trip works from their menus to weigh, sort and pack out each ingredient that they will need over the coming days. The second is gear pack out, again this is where each trip collect, sort and test all gear and equipment that they will be using on their Mini-Trip. If there is something broken or missing they can make sure the problem is fixed before they leave camp. This saves a significant amount of time and makes life much easier when on the trip; it also gives the campers a chance to become familiar with the equipment before using it on trail.

Our canoe trip then goes to Lake Cole with the Trips Coordinator to freshen up their paddling strokes, their portage skills and to enjoy the water. In the mean time the rest of the trips go to team building. This is where trips leaders set up a series of games, tasks and challenges that the group must work together to solve. This, while bringing the group closer together, shows in a very understanding way the importance of communication, collaboration and trust in a team environment. The final activity that they will attend is goal setting and trip expectations. This is where the goals and expectations are set for each individual and the group for the adventure ahead.

The groups will embark on their great adventure bright and early tomorrow morning.

Happy Trials

James Fox

Assistant Adventure Director

Frost Valley YMCA

2000 Frost Valley Rd.

Claryville, NY12725

phone: 845-985-2291 ext 265

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Russell Frisch

Russell started his time at Frost Valley as a camper in Forest Village in 2005 and has been here ever since. He was a camper in Adventure Village, Farm Camp, and on Teen Adventure Trips before becoming an AiT and eventually a staff member in Adventure Village. He worked as the Village Coordinator for Adventure Village before working as the Assistant Adventure Director for two summers. He is very excited to be working as Adventure Director for the first time this year.