This blog tracks the daily activities of scouts and scouters from Troop 1018 on their Summer 2006 trip to the Kandersteg International Scout Centre located in Switzerland.
Monday/Tuesday, July 24/25, 2006
This post covers the Fründenhütte Glacier hike and the Fründehütte hikers' activities on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. This post also covers the Ueschinenhütte hike and it's hikers' activities on Monday and Tuesday.
Fründenhütte Group
Hike to the Hut
At the start of the Fründenhütte hike, we took a chairlift up about 400 meters (1300 feet). We then hiked downhill for about 20 minutes until we reached Oeschinensee ("see" is German for lake). We actually hiked down about 70 meters (220 feet) to get to the lake, even though we were going to hike up a mountain. We then hiked up for almost all day with the lake as a very senic backdrop. In fact, it looked like one could just dive in and take a swim, even though we were a long ways up. The hike itself was not too strenuous, even though there were switchbacks at almost every possible oppurtunity, until we were very near the top. Then, there were stair-like things that we have to climb, as well as less oxygen which caused us to be completely exhausted by the time we got up. Thankfully we got up there just as dinner was being served, which helped us get our energy back.
Glacier Workshop
After a night where all 12 of us slept in a giant bunk-bed, we woke up early to have breakfast at the hut and have a glacier workshop, which was almost the entire point of the hike. We got ourselves equipped with specialised boot attachments that had spikes to grip to the ice, as well as an ice axe that had pointy things on all three ends. We walked up to a snow-covered part of the glacier where we had the First Annual Troop 1018 Mid-July Snowball Fight as well as practicing recovering from falling down the glacier using our ice axes. Then, after we did some more hiking up the glacier and rescuing each other from falling down crevices (it was cold!!!), we hiked back down to the hut and then back to town.
Tobbaganing
At the top of the chairlift, we found tobbaganing course. Well, actually, is was more like a luge course without the ice. We already had tickets from when we tried to go on Friday, so we split the tickets and rode on it. Unlike what you`d see in America, there were no seat belts, no safety gear, and you could control the speed. When you`re florring it the entire time, you can go very fast. The one problem is when you catch up to the person in front of you. Then you have to slow down. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a Very Enjoyable.
Ueschinenhütte
International Flag Ceremony
A few hours prior to the Ueschinenhütte trip, the scouts remaining at the Scout Centre participated in an international flag ceremony. All the scouts in camp wore their respective full uniforms and, in order, said ``good morning`` in their native language and presented a troop cheer. We then rose the camp flags. Finally, we did a strange activity similar to one we did in COPE back in USA. All of the scouts from all over the camp lined up next to each other in a circle and then went sideways. And then... we were all supposed to sit down on the person behind us, it was great, we all became eachother's chairs. Eventually, some of the very young Spainards began to fall, this caused all of the scouts in the circle to fall like dominoes, it was hilarious.
Ueschinenhütte Hike
After a ride up the steepest ski-lift I've ever rode up (about 70° angle), the 12 hikers on the Ueschinenhütte hike hiked for about four hours through spectacular landscapes and amazing sights. The mountainsides were dotted with small huts typical of Switzerland. Many of the hills and mountains were loaded with cows and goats (each with its own bell). At about 5:30PM we arrived at Ueschinenhütte (the name of the hut we were staying at) to find wonderful accomidationds (soft pads to sleep on, warm wool sheets, stoves, etc.) After all of the hiking, we were all beat and met up with a troop from the Netherlands (or Denmark, or Ireland, or something... it was hard to tell by their responces). We had some great pasta and beef and fell asleep all night until the ripe late time of 8:30AM! Some of the scouts had problems sleeping because of all of the cows outside that refused to sleep. They ``moo``ed and rang their bells all day and all night. The power failed part-way through the night and we needed to use candles, it was great.
Other
The "Race Around the World"
Hundreds of scouts from the camp arrived at the main sports area to participate in the Race Around the World. This "race" was just a series of relay races, but it was lots of fun, because the teams were split up randomly. For example, my group consisted of myself, Mikey, some Scottish kids, Dutch kids, Italian kids, and more people. We did different types of races and it was loads of fun. Note: That is me in the pink skirt.
The Rain
It's currently raining harder than I've ever seen. In fact, it's hard to see anything beyond 20 feet, and some scouts from the UK have been flooded out of their camp site and are rushing here in to the Centre. The rain here is insane! All day, it will seem perfectly clear and not as if it's going to rain, then some random rain clouds will appear within a few minutes, it will begin lightning, and flash hardcore-rain will bombard the earth at full force for about 30 minutes. Then it will all clear up as if nothing's happened, and the camp sites will dry out within the next 30 minutes. IT'S CRAZY!
Conclusion
So far... this trip rocks.
That's all I have for now. Cheers!
~Dan (Ueschinenhütte and Other)
~Harry (Fründenhütte)
Note: Keep the comments coming!
This post covers the Fründenhütte Glacier hike and the Fründehütte hikers' activities on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. This post also covers the Ueschinenhütte hike and it's hikers' activities on Monday and Tuesday.
Fründenhütte Group
Hike to the Hut
At the start of the Fründenhütte hike, we took a chairlift up about 400 meters (1300 feet). We then hiked downhill for about 20 minutes until we reached Oeschinensee ("see" is German for lake). We actually hiked down about 70 meters (220 feet) to get to the lake, even though we were going to hike up a mountain. We then hiked up for almost all day with the lake as a very senic backdrop. In fact, it looked like one could just dive in and take a swim, even though we were a long ways up. The hike itself was not too strenuous, even though there were switchbacks at almost every possible oppurtunity, until we were very near the top. Then, there were stair-like things that we have to climb, as well as less oxygen which caused us to be completely exhausted by the time we got up. Thankfully we got up there just as dinner was being served, which helped us get our energy back.
Glacier Workshop
After a night where all 12 of us slept in a giant bunk-bed, we woke up early to have breakfast at the hut and have a glacier workshop, which was almost the entire point of the hike. We got ourselves equipped with specialised boot attachments that had spikes to grip to the ice, as well as an ice axe that had pointy things on all three ends. We walked up to a snow-covered part of the glacier where we had the First Annual Troop 1018 Mid-July Snowball Fight as well as practicing recovering from falling down the glacier using our ice axes. Then, after we did some more hiking up the glacier and rescuing each other from falling down crevices (it was cold!!!), we hiked back down to the hut and then back to town.
Tobbaganing
At the top of the chairlift, we found tobbaganing course. Well, actually, is was more like a luge course without the ice. We already had tickets from when we tried to go on Friday, so we split the tickets and rode on it. Unlike what you`d see in America, there were no seat belts, no safety gear, and you could control the speed. When you`re florring it the entire time, you can go very fast. The one problem is when you catch up to the person in front of you. Then you have to slow down. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a Very Enjoyable.
Ueschinenhütte
International Flag Ceremony
A few hours prior to the Ueschinenhütte trip, the scouts remaining at the Scout Centre participated in an international flag ceremony. All the scouts in camp wore their respective full uniforms and, in order, said ``good morning`` in their native language and presented a troop cheer. We then rose the camp flags. Finally, we did a strange activity similar to one we did in COPE back in USA. All of the scouts from all over the camp lined up next to each other in a circle and then went sideways. And then... we were all supposed to sit down on the person behind us, it was great, we all became eachother's chairs. Eventually, some of the very young Spainards began to fall, this caused all of the scouts in the circle to fall like dominoes, it was hilarious.
Ueschinenhütte Hike
After a ride up the steepest ski-lift I've ever rode up (about 70° angle), the 12 hikers on the Ueschinenhütte hike hiked for about four hours through spectacular landscapes and amazing sights. The mountainsides were dotted with small huts typical of Switzerland. Many of the hills and mountains were loaded with cows and goats (each with its own bell). At about 5:30PM we arrived at Ueschinenhütte (the name of the hut we were staying at) to find wonderful accomidationds (soft pads to sleep on, warm wool sheets, stoves, etc.) After all of the hiking, we were all beat and met up with a troop from the Netherlands (or Denmark, or Ireland, or something... it was hard to tell by their responces). We had some great pasta and beef and fell asleep all night until the ripe late time of 8:30AM! Some of the scouts had problems sleeping because of all of the cows outside that refused to sleep. They ``moo``ed and rang their bells all day and all night. The power failed part-way through the night and we needed to use candles, it was great.
Other
The "Race Around the World"
Hundreds of scouts from the camp arrived at the main sports area to participate in the Race Around the World. This "race" was just a series of relay races, but it was lots of fun, because the teams were split up randomly. For example, my group consisted of myself, Mikey, some Scottish kids, Dutch kids, Italian kids, and more people. We did different types of races and it was loads of fun. Note: That is me in the pink skirt.
The Rain
It's currently raining harder than I've ever seen. In fact, it's hard to see anything beyond 20 feet, and some scouts from the UK have been flooded out of their camp site and are rushing here in to the Centre. The rain here is insane! All day, it will seem perfectly clear and not as if it's going to rain, then some random rain clouds will appear within a few minutes, it will begin lightning, and flash hardcore-rain will bombard the earth at full force for about 30 minutes. Then it will all clear up as if nothing's happened, and the camp sites will dry out within the next 30 minutes. IT'S CRAZY!
Conclusion
So far... this trip rocks.
That's all I have for now. Cheers!
~Dan (Ueschinenhütte and Other)
~Harry (Fründenhütte)
Note: Keep the comments coming!
About:
- We are BSA Troop 1018
- From Dranesville, Virginia, United States