High Adventure

High Adventure Bases

The BSA has four High Adventure bases. Details about each base and the experiences offered can be found at the links below:

1. Philmont in New Mexico
2. Northern Tier in northern Minnesota, Ontario and Manitoba
   • Okpik — Cold Weather Camping and/or Dogsledding
   • Boundary Waters — Multi-day backcountry canoeing trips
3. Seabase in Florida, US Virgin Islands and the Bahamas
   • Florida Keys — Various adventures from a BSA base camp
   • USVI and the Bahamas — Multi-day Tall Ship Sailing experiences
4. Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia

Some information about expects trip cost is below and information about scholarship opportunities (which are at the Old Hickory Council and National BSA level) is available from Old Hickory Council. If you have immediate questions on these topics beyond what is available below please contact the Outdoor Committee Chairman.

Procuring a High Adventure Trip

Before we discuss Eligibility and Selection, we must take a moment to discuss how Troop 934 reserves a High Adventure trip. The key takeaways are that 1) the process is not easy and 2) the process is not entirely within our control. Additionally, please note that the Trip Leader (and his assistants) are solely responsible for procuring a trip — not the Outdoor Committee and not the Scoutmaster. Put simply: If there is no Trip Leader there is no Trip.

Each High Adventure Base has its own registration process:

• Philmont treks are generally procured from the Old Hickory Council, which is allocated a certain number of treks by Philmont each year. The exact dates of these treks are not known until after the Philmont lottery. It is possible for Trip Leaders to enter the Philmont lottery directly, requesting specific treks and dates, bypassing the OHC, but actually “winning” a trek is not guaranteed.
• Seabase works entirely on a first-come, first-serve basis. All treks for an entire year are available on a given date — for 2024 that date is January 18, 2023 at 9:00am ET. Reservations are made online by the Trip Leader (and his assistants) and June and July “sell out” within 2 or 3 minutes. A $250/trek deposit is due at registration, which the Trip Leader pays out of pocket and which will be reimbursed by the Troop.
• Northern Tier works the same as Seabase, though the demand is not as extreme. The Trip Leader (and his assistants) are solely responsible for procuring a trip. The same $250/trek deposit is due. The date 2024 treks will be made available is not yet known.
• Summit is similar to Seabase; however, the payment schedule is different — instead of a $250 deposit, 50% of the fee for all participants (at least $440/participant) is due during registration. If you are registering for Summit expect to receive a ~$250/participant invoice immediately after the trip is reserved. The date 2024 treks will be made available is not known.

Scheduled Trips for 2024

There is one High Adventure Trip scheduled for 2024 – Tall Ships Sailing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As of March 2023 there is availability for Troop 934 scouts and leaders. Please see Mr. Danhauer with questions.

Expectations for 2025

Troop 934 has been allocated a Philmont Trek by Old Hickory Council for 2025. We have not yet set dates. We are taking $175.00 deposits for both scouts and leaders.

Additional opportunities for Trip Leaders to step forward for 2025:

1. Seabase — Florida Keys
2. Seabase — Tall Ships
3. Northern Tier — Boundary Waters
4. Summit

Eligibility

Scouts – Each base has its own eligibility requirements. Note that age is measured when the experience begins, not during registration.

• Philmont requires Scouts to have achieved the First Class rank and either be 14 years old or have completed the eighth grade.
• Northern Tier requires Scouts either be 14 years old or have completed the eighth grade (no rank requirement)
• Seabase generally requires Scouts to be 13 years old regardless of rank
  • One exception is the Keys Adventure at BEC which is 12 years old regardless of rank
• Summit generally requires Scouts to be 13 years old regardless of rank
  • There are exceptions, which will be handled on a one-off basis

Leaders – High Adventure is also available to any registered Adult Leader (male or female) regardless of whether or not the Adult Leader has a child on the trip.

Please Note: Most High Adventure bases have strict height/weight limits. Philmont is well known for sending home — at their own expense and without reimbursement — scouts and adults who exceed these limits. Likewise, Seabase (All) and Northern Tier (Canoeing) test swimming ability immediately upon arrival and will immediately send home — at their own expense and without reimbursement — participants who cannot pass the swim test.

Planning Timeline & Non-Refundable Deposits

High Adventure is planned 18-24 months in advance.

We are taking non-refundable deposits now for trips that will physically occur in 2024 and 2025.

• Participant lists for the 2024 trip will be finalized mid-2023
• There is not a specific deadline for your non-refundable deposit other than “sooner is better”

To be clear:

• Non-refundable deposits are due BEFORE the trip dates are generally known.
• If you are offered a spot and you decline, your deposit is non-refundable unless
  1. the trip fills to capacity, and
  2. another scout/leader takes your place by paying his/her deposit to the Troop
• If the trip is oversubscribed and you are not offered a spot, you will be offered
  1. the opportunity to roll your deposit to another trip with capacity in the same year,
  2. the opportunity to roll your deposit to the same trip the following year, or
  3. a refund of your deposit.

Troop 934’s New Protocol for High Adventure Sign-up

Starting in September 2022 (for trips occurring in 2024 and 2025) Troop 934 is instituting a new protocol for Scouts and Leaders who wish to participate in High Adventure. The protocol is slightly different for (1) Trip Leader, (2) Scouts and (3) Adult Leaders. We will first address nomination and then, further down the page, selection.

Nomination

Trip Leader

Any Registered Adult Leader (male or female) can be a Trip Leader. Your leadership responsibilities start with securing the reservation for the High Adventure trip itself. From there you will (with assistance) select the participants (both Scouts and other Adult Leaders) from the pool, create the budget, book the travel, collect monies from the participants, make sure all paperwork is complete and, once the time finally arrives, lead the trip.

If you are a current registered Adult Leader with T934 and you wish to nominate yourself as a Trip Leader, please do so by giving the T934 Outdoor Committee Chairman (Lee Danhauer) a non-refundable $175.00 check with the trip preference in the memo line at your earliest convenience. To be clear: Do not reserve a trip online without having already paid your $175.00 deposit.

Being a Trip Leader is the only way to 100% guarantee that you will get to go on the specific High Adventure trip you wish to go on.

It is assumed that a Trip Leader’s son (or sons) will be given priority in the selection process provided 1) the son(s) are active in the Troop and 2) the $175.00 deposit(s) were paid prior to the procurement date.

T934 allows up to two registered adult leaders to jointly serve as the designated Trip Leader(s).

Scout (Including JASL)

If you are a Scout who wishes to nominate yourself for a High Adventure trek bring a non-refundable $175.00 check to the T934 Outdoor Committee Chairman (Lee Danhauer) with the trip preference written in the memo line at your earliest convenience. The choices are as follows

1. Philmont
2. Northern Tier–Winter Dogsledding
3. Northern Tier–Summer Canoeing
4. Seabase–Florida Keys
5. Seabase–Tall Ship Sailing
6. Summit

Please note that specific date requests will be ignored.

If you are a Scout who wants to be considered for multiple trips in a given season you should bring multiple checks.

Scouts who turn 18 between the registration date and the actual date of the trip are eligible! They are considered Junior Assistant Scout Leaders (JASL). For purposes of selection they will be grouped with the Scouts and treated equally. One catch — JASL must pay the annual recharter fee in March of the year of the trip and comply with YPT requirements.

Adult Leader

If you are a current Adult Leader who wants to help a Trip Leader plan and execute a High Adventure trip you should bring a non-refundable $175.00 check to the T934 Outdoor Committee Chairman (Lee Danhauer) with the trip preference written the memo line (same six choices as above and again without any specific date requests) at your earliest convenience.

If you are an Adult Leader hoping to go on a High Adventure trip with your son: We will try, but there no absolute guarantee that you will be offered a spot to accompany your son. If you are seeking a guarantee please nominate yourself to be a Trip Leader.

If you are a Future Adult Leader (that is, a parent who might like to attend a High Adventure trip with your son) you should a) bring a non-refundable $175.00 check to the T934 Outdoor Committee Chairman (Lee Danhauer) with the trip preference written the memo line at your earliest convenience and b) register as an adult leader and get involved in the Troop. Again, we will try, but there no absolute guarantee that you will be offered a spot to accompany your son

Leaders, please take note: For safety and security reasons, while the minimum number of Adult Leaders per Trek is 2, the ideal number of Adult Leaders per High Adventure Trek is 3. Certain High Adventure Trips have sister Treks, meaning up to 6 leaders may go. For other trips (Seabase treks of 8 in particular) this limit of 3 may be strictly applied. For other Treks (which have higher participant numbers) we may allow 4 or even 5 leaders per trek. However, the BSA generally requires that less than 50% (and sometimes 40%) of the participants on a Trek be adult leaders.

Also note that Adult Leaders who are not Medical Doctors or First Responders are expected to complete Basic CPR and Wilderness First Aid. The BSA requires CPR/WFA of just 2 of the leaders; for trip preservation reasons we believe all Adult Leaders should meet this requirement.

Selection

The T934 Outdoor Committee will maintain a list of everyone who has nominated themselves as Trip Leader, Scout Participant or Adult Leader Participant.

On the day a High Adventure trip is procured the initial applicant pool is locked. To restate: in order to be fair to all, Scouts and Adult Leaders cannot be added to the initial pool after the exact date and destination are known

From this initial pool the Trip Leader (with the help of Troop Leadership) will select participants – both Scouts and Adult Leaders.

Selection criteria will be based on a number of factors, including (and in no particular order)

• Age and Rank
• Leadership Ability
• Physical fitness / Swimming ability
• Overall Maturity Level
• Regular Attendance at Monday Meetings
• Regular Attendance on Monthly Campouts
• Regular Attendance at Summer Camp
• Participation in Popcorn Sales
• Ability to Attend Required Shakedown Trips (especially Philmont and Northern Tier)
• Age Relative to Rest of Scouts Selected for the Trek and/or Intended Age for Trip
• Attendance on past High Adventure Trips (sometimes a plus, sometimes a negative)
• Other Criteria as Appropriate for the Trip in Question

These are not selection criteria:

• Date the deposit was paid (all deposits received prior to procurement date are equal)
• A Scout’s desire to go with a particular Scout or group of Scouts
• A Leader’s desire to go with his/her son when the Leader is not the Trip Leader

If the Trip Leader (with the help of Troop Leadership) is unable to fill a trip with participants from the initial pool he (or she) will expand the pool to include Adult Leaders or Scouts who paid their deposit after the procurement date. The same selection criteria (and factors that are not selection criteria) will be applied. Scouts and Leader who have not paid their $175.00 deposit will not be considered.

If I am Selected

First, your $175.00 deposit will immediately be applied to the Trek.

Second, expect to receive a payment schedule and information about training/shakedown trips.

As a reminder, if you are offered a spot and you decline for any reason, your deposit is non-refundable unless

1. the trip fills to capacity, and
2. another scout/leader takes your place by paying his/her deposit to the Troop

If I am Not Selected

First, the reason(s) will be communicated.

Second, you will be offered

1. the opportunity to roll your deposit to another trip with capacity in the same year
2. the opportunity to roll your deposit to the same trip the following year, or
3. a refund of your deposit.

Cost of High Adventure

Put simply — High Adventure is expensive, there is no way around that fact, and each family must weigh the benefits against the costs. Additionally, the way the BSA runs High Adventure forces a family to commit without knowing what the full cost will be — again, something that is out of our control. Finally, as with everything in 2022, rapid inflation is having a material impact. Therefore, rather than projecting future costs we will give some directional information where we can based on our recent past.

• Philmont is the most expensive High Adventure experience. Costs for the 2022 trip were ~$3,000/participant. We expect a minimum $500 increase for 2024. The components per participant (Leader or Scout) are:
  • BSA Base Fee: In 2022 Philmont tuition was $1,215. We know tuition for 2024 will be $1,575.
  • Transportation: Philmont requires round trip flights into either Denver or Albuquerque. In 2022 this was $650. Additionally there is transportation to/from Philmont at ~$250.
  • Blue Sky: Typically T934 extends the trip by adding some fun to the front or back end with a company called Blue Sky. In 2022 that was whitewater rafting and hiking at elevation for altitude acclimation and cost ~$600. This included food, bus transport and accommodations.
  • Other: Plan on ~$300 for group camping equipment, SWAG, etc.
  • Please note: The costs above do not include personal items like a backpack, sleeping bag/pad, boots, raingear, airport food, etc.
• In 2021 the Florida Keys Adventure at Seabase (excluding the post-Seabase fishing charter) was slightly over $1,500/participant while the 2022 Tall Ships Sailing adventure had an all-in cost of just under $2,000/participant. Northern Tier is comparable to Seabase.
• We’ve never run a trip to Summit, but we expect costs for one of the more basic adventures to be around $1,000/participant. Summit is ~3 hours north of Winston-Salem and the lack of extended travel works in our favor here.

Scholarship Opportunities. As noted above, there are limited scholarship and financial aid opportunities available through the Old Hickory Council and BSA Nationals. The most we can do here is put you in direct contact with these organizations.

Camp Cards. Camp cards are an underutilized resource, the proceeds of which can be applied to High Adventure as well as Summer Camp. Available in the spring, these are essentially coupon books that sell for $10 each. The proceeds are split 50/50 between the individual Scout who sells the card and the Old Hickory Council; the Scout must request the Troop Treasurer to apply his credit balance within 12 months.

Fundraising. Organizing a community fundraiser to offset group costs is not something Troop 934 has ever done. However, in this new world it may be something we need to consider. Launching a community fundraiser to offset trip costs would require discussion between the Scoutmaster, Trip Leader(s), participating Scouts and their parents.

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to read this information.

If you have questions please see the Outdoor Committee Chairman.