Over the weekend of January 31st, our Wilderness School Cohorts 16 and 17 embarked on a three-day-long snowy adventure to Mount Washington. Their bags were filled with warm clothes, sleeping bags, cooking gear, safety equipment, and more, while their minds and hearts were filled with excitement for what lay ahead.
While both cohorts traveled up and down the mountain together, the two groups were able to have their own separate journeys. On Friday night, both groups stayed at Camp Gilwell – a scouts Canada camp up in Courtenay. The first-year participants stayed there on Saturday as well, while the second-year group embarked on an unprecedented winter camping adventure for their second night of the trip. This is the third year that Power To Be has done this program, but the first time that the dream of winter camping became a reality. In the past couple of years, the conditions didn’t allow it – two years ago it was too wet and cold, and last year there wasn’t enough snow. This year though, was just right.
The days were sunny and clear, cold, yet dry. There was a perfect layer of fresh snow on top of the hard, icy snow, which made snowshoeing and digging so much easier. The conditions made it effortless for the group to have a good time, and allowed the power of play to come out full force. While participants learned and practiced many skills, much of this was done through play – and what an epic playground to explore.
The groups hiked, made forts, went snowshoeing, practiced snow rescues, and built snow kitchens – digging out trenches and creating functional benches and tables. Participants were keen to learn new skills in a novel environment, with endless opportunity for open-ended play. On Sunday morning, the first-year group snowshoed for a while, but spent the rest of the morning exploring and creating in the snow. Most of them dug giant holes, which they then sat in to eat their lunch.
For program facilitator Tess, a highlight of the trip was having that unstructured time in the snow, and witnessing the learning, discovery, and bonding that took place through play “It was neat to see what the youth decided to do with their time, and how they decided to interact with the snow and hang out with each other. Building those meaningful memories is really special.” For the first-year participants, this was their first big trip with Power To Be off-site, and it will certainly be one that is remembered fondly for years to come.
While fun and exploration were important elements of this year’s trip, resiliency, determination, and preparedness were notable themes as well, particularly for the second-year participants. These are youth who have never slept in a tent in the winter before, and on their very first night out it was one of the coldest nights of the season at -15 degrees. It’s a challenge to stay comfortable outside when it’s that cold, and they did an excellent job applying skills they had learned in the Wilderness School program to keep themselves warm, including preparing properly for the trip, and bringing the right clothing and gear.
Techniques such as digging out camp kitchens, using snow to boil water, and creating a hot water bottle with a Nalgene and a sock to sleep with at night definitely came in handy. Important lessons were learned, including answers to questions like “How much snow does it take to boil a litre of water?”, and “How much time does it take to boil a litre of water with snow?” The answer to both these questions is “A lot”!
Wilderness School trips like this one are also a wonderful example of the need to come together as a team, and as a community, to execute programs that have such great impact. While our main program facilitators Mike and Tess did so much to plan and pack before the trip began, and wrap everything up once the trip was over, it took the help of many other staff, volunteers, and even local businesses, to turn our trip plans into a reality – a heartfelt thank you to Prospect Lake Auto for helping us with some last-minute vehicle issues before the trip, Camp Gilwell for welcoming our team with open arms and providing us with a wonderful basecamp, and all the staff and volunteers who helped out before, during, and after the program – we couldn’t have done it without you!
The Wilderness School program is such a unique experience for the youth that participate in it, and sometimes, there’s a special, shared understanding between cohorts of different years. In this case, the second-year participants had already done the lessons that the first-year group was learning, and this trip for them was about implementing those lessons in the field – things like snow safety, setting a comfortable pace, group management, reading the terrain, avoiding avalanche traps, and making good judgement calls for what route to take when there’s not always a clear path. What the groups shared was more than just wilderness skills, however – the peer-to-peer mentorship, shared learning, and mutual respect were remarkable.
This was the third trip to Mount Washington since COVID, and the fifth year running the Wilderness School program for Mike Milner, our Program and Risk Management Lead, who talked about how meaningful the experience of dropping participants off with their parents at the end of the trip was. “It was amazing to see how much they’ve grown in the last year and a half – the maturity and self-ownership that these kids showed is unreal.” One participant had been on the fence about staying in the program. They had been dropping many of their extracurricular activities, unable to find something that matched their energy. They weren’t sure about the Wilderness school – about the dynamics with the other participants or whether the program was something they saw themselves fitting into and graduating from. On the verge of dropping out of the program, our program staff encouraged them to stick with it through the Mount Washington trip. If they didn’t like it, they should follow their heart and go where they knew they needed to go. At the end of the trip, the smiles and tears after leaving the mountain was proof enough that they had made the right decision. “That shift in mentality, and to see their level of engagement in the program is huge”, says Mike.
One of the goals associated with programs like this one, and with Wilderness School as a whole, is to allow participants to explore and discover in a safe and supportive environment that encourages them to step outside of their comfort zone. And this trip did just that. At the beginning of the trip, many participants were apprehensive – about snowshoeing, about trip dynamics, about winter camping – but once they were out there with each other in the snow, things changed. Apprehension turned to confidence. Snowshoeing was beautiful. And building snow forts was awesome. What many have learned from programs like this one, is that you don’t have to immediately feel like you’re a good fit – there are so many ways to be. All you can do is give it a shot, and you never know – maybe you’ll find something wonderful where you least expect it.
In our post-program evaluations of this trip, we learned that 100% of participants felt a sense of belonging, and believed that their mental health was positively influenced by being a part of this program. If you or someone you know might be interested in an experience like this, CLICK HERE to learn more about our Wilderness School Program.