Thursday - Friday, 13 February 2014.
We teamed together with the other troops in the Stake. Cranston, Sundance and Parkland. Weather worked our really well, with light dustings of snow and mild temps. Our group was putting on the Hockey game for Thursday afternoon. Then for Friday we were putting on some cross-country skiing along with some tubing. The ski trails were all around us, so it was real easy to hit the groomed trails. We had to hunt around for a good tobogganing hill. There was one quite close on a cut line, but the trek in and up was brutal. We ventured out a bit further and came across one at William Watson lodge. Even had road access to pick up tubes and passengers and drive them to the top again.
The other groups put on lots of great activities as well. Quinzee builds was first on the list when you got to the site. Had some significant engineering variations. From trough style to full blown igloos. We brought tents for backup, but there was a ton of snow there, so no problem with getting enough construction materials. Got a session on wildlife identification, a Great Escape event for the first evening, and some snow shoeing.
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Peter Lougheed Provincial Park - Group Use |
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Karl Burndorfer, Nigel Kennett, Glen Buchanan, Jason Smith, David Crane, Ryan Gilchrist - Scout Leaders |
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Ethan Conrad. RJ Laigo, Seth Ek, Taysen Saravia, Austin Smith, Andrew Lund, Joshua Thompson, Duke Buchanan - Scouts |
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Sam Lloyd - Venturer, Assistant |
| Setting up camp and Quinzees | |||
Great spot for a camp eh boys. Not too cold either. |
Guess the leaders don't want to get snow in their boots walking to their
tent. |
This looks like a great spot for our shelter. Snows so deep I can't feel
the other side. |
Hobbit Shire doors are very intricate doors. You need special tools to
make them. |
Precision cutting is a must. |
Hotdogs never tasted so good. |
Done, lets get back to work! |
Now for the door frame and hinge assemble.
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I think the trough is deep enough now Ethan. |
OK, lets start hollowing out the side bunks. |
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| Hockey Olympics | |||
Just because we used picnic tables for our goals doesn't mean you need to
sit on them. |
Try and check him into the boards. We made them out of snow. |
A ref needs to make some tough and unpopular calls at time. |
It's a break away, he's coming in fast.
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Where's my defense? |
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| Finding a Toboggan hill | |||
OK. I heard of limited traction but these skis could slide out on a flat
plane. |
What's your problem. The skis and snow temp are just right! |
Check out the stick and glide on mine. |
We are now in a white out and behind me is a possible toboggan hill.
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| Home Inspections | |||
Check out this quinzee door |
Nice door knob, hand carved. |
Great weather seal from the inside. |
Roomy 2 level split inside.
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And no leaks. |
After an 8-9 hour team effort we have a fully constructed igloo. |
Great interior lighting.
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Nice entrance closet for snowshoe. |
Here we have the K-Tel snow block maker. |
Great when you don't have drifted snow. Just pack the snow into the
box and move forward 1 block at a time. |
Does get a bit picky on the type of snow you feed it.
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| Fire Making Contest | |||
Our boys pull off 1st prize. |
Not too close to the fire, chocolate melts! |
I'm sure if they knew you won 1kg bag of mini eggs, the other boys would
have sacrificed their dry socks for tinder. |
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| Bed Time | |||
After a thunderous round of singing, the activity flips to a marshmallow
eating contest. |
Got to swallow them all to win. |
Is it OK to sleep on a full stomach of marshmallows? |
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| Morning | |||
These hobbit houses are quite sturdy. Just get myself onto the roof. |
Impressive, no creaking or collapsing sounds. |
Maybe if I jump a bit. |
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| Cross country skiing | |||
Not bad for my 1st time on skis. |
So now you want us to go down this big hill? |
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| Snow Shoeing | |||
Nice traction on these. Kind of like ice claws. |
Snowshoeing is all about distributing you weight. Oh, that's while your
walking. |
I've seen those frogs with these tongs to snatch bugs right out of the
air. We can do it with these snow flakes. |
On fresh snow my weight sinks my in 6 inches with these babies.
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| Mountain Tubing | |||
Worst case scenario is you bounce out of the tube at high speed, land in
the soft snow and than I run you over. |
OK, sound worth risking. |
Whoa, that was crazy steep. |
Look we almost hit the tree.
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Always say your prayers before going down a mountain slope in a tube.
(video) |
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| Breaking Camp | |||
Now that's a fire! |
The aggressive birds move in for lunch. |
There was a bit too much bun for me anyways. |
We are impervious to snow.
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or we just don't mind wet cloths. |
Groups shot 1 |
Group shot 2 |
Group shot 3
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Group shot 4 |
Group shot 5, and not a single good shot of me. |
Awesome camp everyone. Thanks | |