Friday, July 8, 2005

Kids take to mountains


Mount Heyburn from the Redfish Creek Trail on the approach to Elephants Perch.

Send the kids out with a few ropes and carabiners and see what happens. Climbing, the natural instinct of all young ones is a terrific way to gain experience and confidence.

The ninth annual Sawtooth Youth Mountaineering Camp, for youth ages 10 and over, takes place all summer at a variety of different locales: City of Rocks, Wednesday, July 13, through Saturday, July 17; Mount Heyburn, July 16 to 17; Finder of Fate, July 29 to 31; The Elephant's Perch, Aug. 5 to 7; and Mount Borah, Aug. 20.

Time spent in the programs provides an opportunity to develop a life-long relationship with exceptional backcountry environments. During camp participants are presented with a variety of wilderness challenges.

The Sawtooth Mountain Guides operate the kids' camps each summer. The first seven days are spent in the Sawtooth Mountains focusing on mountaineering, rock climbing, low-impact camping, backcountry traveling, orienteering, and fly-fishing. They generally operate day excursions from one or two different base camps.

The Mountaineering Camp focuses on experiential and group-centered learning, wrote Sawtooth Mountain Guides owner and guide Erik Leidecker in a press release.

He went on to explain that the kids work together to perform duties, prepare meals, and participate in activities. Unlike many other wilderness programs, the Sawtooth Youth Mountaineering Camp isn't rigidly institutionalized. Learning and growth are rooted directly in the individual and collective experience of the group, and in the guidance of the instructors who are experts at utilizing opportunities at hand to provide valuable learning situations. Though the camp is physically demanding, and participants must learn to cooperate and communicate to maintain a healthy and friendly group dynamic the emphasis is on maintaining a light- hearted spirit and having fun

For more information, call (208) 774-3324, 720-1823, or visit sawtoothguides.com.




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