Why do we do High Adventure? Why do I take a week out of my limited vacation time from work to go camping with the scouts? Why do we encourage scouts to go on a challenging high adventure? Because it IS challenging! Because it stretches them and allows them to get out of their comfort zone and see what they are capable of (not what their character in their video game is capable of). Once they see that they can do hard things, they will be more willing to take on even harder things. Our scouts love to be challenged! They have named one of the high adventures they went on before I was involved, "medium adventure" because they didn't do anything to challenge or stretch them. They just went camping near a lake. None of them wants to do another "medium adventure", they want a High Adventure that will challenge them and be hard to complete.
Yes, that requires some training, some classes, and some specialized equipment. And unfortunately BSA is making it harder and harder to do your own High Adventure by forcing you to take tons of extra trainings and certifications to be able to do High Adventure activities. (Click HERE to see more about the trainings and stuff required for canyoneering and rappelling). Unfortunately, that's the hurdle you have to get over right now with BSA. I think they are trying to get you to just go to Council operated High Adventure Bases - so they make more money. But there's something about going out and doing it on your own that is so much more adventurous for the boys (and leaders), and you can do it for 1/2 of the cost of a council camp. We can't afford to go to council camps for high adventure, even if we wanted to!
To see more of my thoughts on challenging boys, click on the link below:
Challenging Boys helps them become Men
Also, check this one out about getting outdoors with the scouts:
Put the Outing in Scouting
BACK TO BLANDING HIGH ADVENTURE
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