Taking Scouting to the Next Level: Immortals and Venture Crew
As an outgrowth of our Junior leadership Training Program, we developed a something special for Scouts who want to push harder and discover new capabilities. They are known as the “Immortals” and are our most advanced Scouts, who have learned and developed extensive survival and wilderness skills taught by our adult leaders. They wear special patches on their uniforms, are given black Machetes at their induction into the group and participate in extreme outings. Their motto is: "to Learn, to Teach, to Serve, and to Lead". They operate without tents, choosing on every trip to build shelters, and they never start a fire with matches, using only flint and steel. They move very quickly through the woods, and improvise almost everything they need from their surroundings .
We were proud when our group of “Immortals” were invited to visit the US Army Mountain Warfare School by its Commander, and to train with the Special Operation Groups that were learning winter mountaineering and avalanche skills. We constantly work to invent new challenges to test their skills and maximize what they can learn from difficult situations. Last year, we blindfolded the group and drove them 3 hours into the Vermont countryside where they were dropped off on the backside of a mountain in a rainstorm with no maps, no radios, no GPS, no tents, some food, water, and instructions to find the largest lake in the area (about 4 miles away, but they didn’t know that). The goal was for the scouts to get a water sample and return it to the drop off in 48 hours. At the next Troop meeting, we presented the same challenge to the younger scouts and asked how they would accomplish this challenge. By the way, like in all of our Scout programs adults were present at all times for safety.
This Spring, the Immortals are determined to conquor a new challenge -- traveling the entire White Mountain Presidental Range – 8 peaks in 1 long day 20 mile, 6,000 verticle feet.
The Ultimate Adventure – International Expedition Trips
Each summer, Troop 175 provides an opportunity for its most experienced Scouts to go on an
International/Domestic Expedition Trip.
Kilimanjaro - In 2007, nine of our Scouts and their parents traveled to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro. A
trip in the planning for over two years, it was an extraordinary adventure. We spent five days climbing the largest freestanding volcano mountain in the world. In the process we went through five climatic zones. Our group of 24 had 76 Tanzanian support Staff as everything has to be carried up the mountain. Our Tanzanian Guides were the best on the mountain and each two-climber team had a guide. On day six we started our final assault at Midnight from 15,500 feet, climbing up the Crater wall. The temperature was 15 degrees; the oxygen level less than half at sea level. We climbed for six hours with four, five-minute breaks. The crater wall was steep and in the dark under a full moon the group slowly moved to the summit. At 6 Am we reached the first summit at Gillmans Point. Water bottles were frozen, and fingers and toes had lost most feeling, but after a brief regroup it was on another two hours around the crater to the final summit at Uhuru Peak at 19,341 - the rooftop of Africa. Our group took a round of pictures and then went back down the crater wall and eventually down to 12,000 feet by 5 PM that afternoon. Everyone agreed that it was the longest – but most memorable day – of their life.
Amazon Jungle – In 2008, we took eleven of our Scouts and Leaders deep into the Amazon Jungle.
We flew to Lima, Peru and then into Iquitos, a city on the Amazon River that is the largest city in the
world that is inaccessible by road. After a journey up the river of 110 miles we went through jungle
training for 3 days with local Indian guides and then departed with a full expedition into a part of the
Amazon that had rarely seen humans. Under the auspices of Dr. Paul Beaver and the Amazon
Research Center, we observed and cataloged rare species of Monkeys. Along the way we had to deal
with tarantulas, poisonous snakes, deep mud, wild boars and incessant rain. It was an extraordinary experience.
Philmont Scout Ranch – This past summer 9 scouts and 3 adults from Troop 175 traveled to
Cimarron New Mexico for an unforgettable 2 week backpacking adventure in the Sangre De Cristo
mountain range. Philmont was donated to the Boy Scouts in 1947 consisting of 220 square miles of high altitude terrain.
Our crew hiked approximately 65 miles carrying fully loaded backs enabling us to be self sufficient for
our 2 week stay. We climbed one of the highest peaks, Mount Phillips at elevation 11,711'. Later that afternoon we cooked our dinner while watching the sunset behind the valley below.
Philmont is a wonderful experience not only for the outdoor adventure, but the wilderness and leadership skills each scout mastered along the way.
North to Alaska 2010 – Our Expedition Trip in 2010 will be to Alaska. We have reserved 20 RV’s
with an outfitter in Anchorage and will use these vehicles as mobile base camps. We anticipate as
many as 100 scouts and families may join us on the trip, which in two weeks will recreate part of the
famous gold rush to the Klondike, climb a peak in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park (the largest
National Park IN THE WORLD), raft one of the great Alaskan rivers and of course, catch and eat
plenty of Salmon, which will be in full run during our visit the end of July 2010.
