Want to involve your boys with another group? Looking for action, fun and a chance to learn and utilize new skills? Trying to find "adventure in the mud puddle," as B.-P. stated? Looking for a way to keep your gang outdoors now summer's over? I'd like to suggest that all of these questions and many more can be answered in two words -- winter camporee.
Obviously, temperature is a key consideration. Research in the Arctic indicates that, as the temperature drops, the body uses increasing amounts of energy just to keep warm. Temperatures above freezing create the problem of keeping gear and clothing dry. As a rule of thumb, ten to twenty degrees Fahrenheit seems to be a nice range. (Don't overlook the wind chill factor.)
Concern regarding the need for special equipment or personal gear can create some real blocks to conducting a winter camporee. Because of this, let's take a quick look at this area.
Two sleeping bags and a blanket will usually provide a warm bed. Make sure there is sufficient insulation between you and the ground. An air mattress is not a good choice but foam mattresses are very effective. A waterproof ground sheet with several layers of newspaper can also be used. Do not, under any circumstances, wrap yourself in plastic. The body gives off approximately two pints of water during the night and this moisture will condense on the plastic. Result: a wet sleeping bag and a cold night.
Clothing should be warm, windproof and, while not necessary, water repellent. For those who don't own special winter camping footwear, over-shoes -- the kind that buckle or zipper -- can serve just as effectively. Two pairs of heavy wool socks and a felt sole keep feet snug and warm. The winter activities section of the Canadian Scout Handbook can assist in this whole area, (available through your Scout supply dealer or Supply Services, National Headquarters).
Now let's look at activities. A winter camporee is a time for fast, vigorous pursuits.
Snowshoes, toboggans, skis, skating and even snowball fights can and should play a part in a winter camporee.
And although the snow may not be settling yet down your way, it is never too soon to start checking equipment and being prepared for all the fun to follow.
Allow each patrol or company one hour to build a snowfort. Mount a pennant on each fort. At the end of the hour, each team will attack the opposing fort or forts and endeavour to capture the flag. At the same time, they must protect their own fort and flag. If there are more than two teams involved, the first team to lose its flag must join the team which has captured its flag and assist in the attack on the other forts.
Each team is provided with a map showing the location of the north pole (how about a barber pole as a marker?) and a toboggan. Teams must race to the pole and back. One member of the team must be on the toboggan at all times. Fastest team wins. The map and the route to the pole can be as simple or as complicated as you wish to make them. Keep in mind, to be fun, the boys must find the north pole.
Have the boys build reflector fires using aluminum foil and award points for the most efficient fire. Fires must be restricted as to size. Use a thermometer and rate temperature at various distances from the fire.
The courier du bois were hardy men who sometimes carried packs ranging up to three or four hundred pounds. Their day was long -- 12 to 14 hours -- and their food minimal.
To stage this event, the following items are required:
Participants are weighed at the beginning of the course. The weight of the pack each will carry shall be no more than 20% or 1/5 of their body weight.
Sufficient sand is placed in a paper bag to equal one half of intended pack weight. The boy's weight, starting pack load and the judge's signature are entered on the score card.
Participants are then provided with the jam-can bucket, one tea bag and the sugar. These items are placed in their pack.
The start of the race can be done on an individual basis, with each participant starting down the trail as soon as he is ready. If this method is used, be sure to mark the starting time on the individual's score card.
Upon arrival at the one-mile marker, participants will build a small fire and prepare a cup of tea.
After preparing and consuming his hot beverage, the participant will report to the judge. The judge will mark the time on the score card carried by the individual.
The judge will then note the pack weight and add sufficient sand to bring the pack weight up to the full 20% of the individual's body weight.
The participant will report to the starter judge and begin the journey back to the starting point. Upon arrival, the time is noted on his card and the card is given to the score keeper.
The team or individual with the best time wins.
A number of people are required as officials. The actual number will vary according to the number of boys participating. Better too many officials than too few with the resultant slow-up of the event. Tasks to be performed which will require people:
Just a few final comments before we launch our camporee. Allow for several "beverage" breaks during the course of the day. Hot broth, either chicken or beef, provides nourishment and heat. It also replaces body fluids lost through perspiration. Try to avoid over-heating as chilling is usually the result. Meal should be high on proteins and fats. Winter's just around the corner, the fellows are champing at the bit and high adventure beckons. See you at the camporee in the snow?
Champlain, the great French explorer, wrote after spending the winter in New Brunswick in 1604: "This land has ten months of winter". He made one basic mistake when he chose to winter in Canada during those early years of the 17th century. He wasn't prepared. During that first expedition on Dochets Island, a tiny isle in the St. Croix River between New Brunswick and Maine, he lost nearly half his party to the cold grip of winter.
Canadians have come a long way since those days, and for most of us, if winter is not enjoyable, it is at least tolerable. And it really isn't all that long.
There are even those who prefer the winter to our other seasons. Skiers, snowmobilers, snow shoers, skaters and Scouters, all speak of the glories of the frigid season.
"Scouters," you say. Indeed I do! For winter presents an opportunity for challenging Scouting that most boys will carry through the years as their outstanding Scouting memory. I'm speaking of the winter campout.
This magazine, over the years, has carried many informative ideas on winter camping and it is not my intention to rehash them. Just a few years ago, The Leader was one of the few sources of ideas on the possibilities of winter camping. Now, there are also a number of good books on the subject (check with your librarian) and several other major magazines have informative articles on the subject.
Our group have been at winter campouts since long before the present popularity came about. What we learned, we learned by doing, and there were some unpleasant nights those first few times when the vagaries of the winter weather caught us, like Champlain, ill prepared to cope.
But, when I meet Scouts that were in the troop ten or more years ago, what do they mention first? It's never the New Brunswick Jamboree, or the Parent and Son Banquet. Not too many even recall the time the boys playfully tipped me into a cold mountain stream as I bent to take a drink. Few recall the afternoon our Scouter lost his false teeth in the muddy Neripis, when two lads tipped him out of the lifeboat. But almost all recall the night the temperature dropped from a balmy 42 degrees F to a -12 degrees below, and we awoke to a morning with everything encrusted in a 2" thick shell of hard ice. Or the night we built snow caves and discovered one of the leaders had claustrophobia and couldn't climb in. It doesn't matter that some years the temperature remained constant, that no snow fell, or high winds didn't gust around barely flickering fires. The passing years seem to have clouded these good nights, and the boys only speak of the severest weather, the chilliest tent, the most uncooked food, in fact, anything that went wrong seemed to make the most impression on their young minds, and this perhaps added to the unique character of the winter campout, the challenge the cold presented and how they beat it.
This has been a rather long dialogue on the value of winter campouts. If your not persuaded now to try it, no amount of coaxing will likely change you from a summer Scouter. For those who will try a winter camp, or have been trying them, here are a few ideas we've used that were fun. They might not all work for you, just as some didn't for me, but that's part of the fun!
An activity day involving a sun-up to sundown round of activities is the next best thing to a winter camp. In fact it should precede any winter outing in order to check the boys' dress, brush them up on winter foods and cooking, and reinforce the idea of the shortness of the winter day. Many boys make the mistake of putting off chores in winter camp assuming, as in summer camps, they will be able to complete their wood gathering, or similar tasks, after supper.
The activities listed here work best when you have several patrols in competition. So invite your neighbouring troops or those from other districts. Have each set up a base station and on a pre-arranged signal, send one member of the patrol to receive instructions at a central point. Then the boy returns to his patrol, explains the activity, and the patrol carries out the project. First patrol finished or with best job, gets some reward--either points, ribbons, etc. At noontime all return to base to cook dinner, and after lunch the games resume. Some ideas:
You can round this program off with a toboggan pulling contest, tug of war on ice, tin can curling, ice pond bowling (using frozen milk containers for pins and frozen snowballs for balls), tin can hockey (using dead branches as sticks and tin cans for pucks).
For the troop well into winter camping or winter outings, or for a district looking for a good public relations project during Boy Scout-Girl Guide Week, I can't think of a better activity than a community "Living With Winter" demonstration. Here are some activity ideas:
Don't overlook the possibility of selling hot chocolate and donuts at such an event. Make sure it's well publicized and that the media are present for T.V., radio and news coverage. The above ideas are just starters; your community has other skilled winter workers such as St. John Ambulance, fire, police, radio, search and rescue, and others, that could easily add to the success of this program.
A Catapult
--Design and build a catapult capable of a 100 foot throw with an
accuracy of 20%. Of course this will be followed by--
A Fort or Snow Castle
--Made from blocks of snow or slush compacted into a pre-made
form, laid on the snow fort and pushed out to form walls (see
diagram).
A Good Evening Activity
--Is practicing digging snow caves in city snow piles, but be
careful of traffic hazards.
A Bloodhound Hike
--Send someone out with a good quantity of red poster paint to
leave a fresh trail of "blood" on the snow. The troop
follows the trail, which, after a good two miles of hard
tramping, leads to a friend's house, where steaming hot chocolate
and cookies are served by the family.
Toboggans, Magic Carpets, Flying Saucers
--And all those other new fangled devices for sliding that have
replaced seats-of-pants and cardboard, are always good for an
evening's fun, especially if the Girl Guides are invited.
Good Turns
--There are always walks to shovel, fire hydrants to dig out,
crosswalks to clear, etc. In addition, older Scouts might offer
to do a free battery, oil and antifreeze check for the Sunday
worshippers in their sponsor's church, and also leave each car
checked, a couple of milk cartons full of dried beach sand for
their next bog down in the snow, along with a copy of the
emergency booklet described above.
Finnish Fire
--Two 6' logs are selected. The bark and about 1" of the
wood is cut out in the centre 4' of one side, of each log. The
two cut sides are placed together as in the diagram, and
separated by a green stick. It might be necessary to place the
upright supports shown to keep the logs from tipping and, if
used, the logs should lean slightly back against the support
sticks.
A fire is lit between the hollowed portions of the two logs, using the chips you've chipped out along with other wood. This fire is reputed to burn all night without attention, and to heat an open bivouac. It will burn all night (once started--which is difficult with frost-filled logs--but not impossible). I'll leave it to you to decide how much heat it provides.
Continuous Hot Water Heater
--Obtain a 2 1/2 gallon tin and clean it well to remove all
traces of previous contents. It should have a cover and should,
after all connections are made, be insulated on the outside (try
styrofoam and newspaper). Drill a 1/4" hole one inch from
bottom and two inches from top. Solder in a 3" length of
1/4" copper tubing. Obtain an 8' length of 1/4" copper
tubing and form a coil, as in the diagram, in the middle.
Join the ends to each of the 3" spouts by rubber hose. Fill container to dotted lines with water. Light fire in coil area, or place coil in previously lit fire. The water will heat quickly. Dip it out with a dipper (the sort used for hot chocolate or instant soups). Always replace whatever you take out to keep the level above the top tube, and if there is snow on the ground, have the heater set on logs. Next campout we're going to try heating a tent with this system. Do you think it will work?
Cardboard Cave
--Snow caves are not possible in many parts of Canada due to
fluctuating snowfalls and mild spells. However, if you can get
some large cardboard containers (like refrigerator boxes and hot
water heater boxes), you can build a nice cave which will give
you the same experience a real one would.
Flatten the boxes out and take them to camp on roof racks. Then toboggan them into the woods and reassemble them. Place a smaller box for the doorway, but just cut a flap. Don't cut the ends out of either box as this gives you a double door to your cave. You should cut a small hole in the roof for an outdoor vent. Pile snow on your box and around it. When there is 2" or 3" on top, lay several poles across the box and onto the snow bank as extra support. Then add another 4" of snow on the roof and 2' or 3' along the sides. It's assumed your box will rest on whatever snow was on the ground when you arrived. This, along with the piles you add, will make for a comfortable shelter. Don't use any form of heat in this shelter without plenty of ventilation.
Drainpipe Stove
--Pulp cutters often create makeshift stoves, to heat their
dinner shacks, out of 5 gallon tins (oil drums usually). This one
is made from a 5 gallon tin with a flat end. Paint suppliers or
roofers have these.
Cut a door in the cover end, and a hole in the top, with a flange to fit inside a metal drainpipe. Make a door cover of metal and fasten it on with hinges and sheet metal screens.
When you reach camp, give it a good burn to clean out the inside contents. Then set it up in your bivouac, with your drainpipe chimney poked through a hole in the roof. You'll need plenty of small wood for this stove, but it will make a bivouac a lot more comfortable than the best of reflector fires.
As with all stoves, guard against carbon monoxide.
Last edited: February 22, 2004
The NetWoods Virtual Campsite, Steve Tobin, Campmaster