Home Site search Activities Summer Camp  - 2005 preview  - 2004  - 2003  - 2002  - 2001  - 2000  - 1999 News B Active Troop Meetings Our Troop About Troop B Colin Time Leaders Internet Links page Guestbook Talk to Troop B Email Members

SUMMER CAMP 2004 NORTH WALES Summer Camp 2004 took us to North Wales. A massive adventure on land and water saw our best summer camp to date live up to and exceed all expectations. Read on to find out more... A5-a-go-go A mammoth drive up and along the A5, with sections of it closed, saw us arrive in the heaviest downpour any of us had ever seen. Matt enjoyed getting some cub leaders up at 1am to move thier van, and before you knew it camp had been set up. Well, two mess tents had been put up, housing thirty-something excited scouts for the night. Mine's an abseil There's an old mine we know not far from Cornel, our campsite. You warm up with an abseil down a waterfall, before dropping straight down a 100ft freefall into the mine, safely arriving at the bottom of the mineshaft. This is probably the most intimidating abseil we've ever done. Fortunately there is a dark passageway at the bottom leading to daylight! Gorge Blimey The first full day also saw a younger group head out for a gorge walk at Abergonolwyn. They had a great time and were relieved to get into dry clothes at the end of it. All, that is except for leader Al, who forgot a change of clothes! Splashing A trip to the swimming pool in Colwyn Bay (after going to the one in Rhyl that was closed) meant everybody was warm and clean at the end of day two. Scouts spent most of the time trying (unsuccessfully) to take down leaders. Neal created the biggest splash on the slide race, the FB. Pizza the action We stuffed our faces at Pizza Hut in Llandudno. Full marks to the waiting staff at this restaurant who worked hard and took really good care of some difficult customers - the scouts. Snowdon Done Every scout on the trip made it to the summit of Snowdon, which is a fantastic achievement. We picked different routes. The first set of scouts took the challenging route along the knife-edge Crib Goch ridge, before scrambling their way to the top of the highest mountain in Wales. The other group made their way up via the tough Pyg track, doing so in record time. Summit to smile about None of the leaders have ever been so proud of the scouts as we were at the top of Snowdon. They all did fantastically, even those who were a little nervous, and took the challenge in their stride. Forest bike We hooned it around the Gwydyr Forest, on the fire roads and also on the fabulous Marin trail. The local bike shop supplied the bikes and helmets, nature supplied the hills, we supplied the adrenaline! The uphills were tortuous, the downhills incredible and fast. All agreed it was some of the best biking to be had anywhere. Except Gareth I, who chose to stop using a gate (he was back up and doing activities in no time though!). King Biking We headed to Coed-y-Brenin (Forest of the King) for some amazing mountain biking experiences. Completing the full MBR route, we rode every challenging downhill, drop off and rooty bit to be had. Ended up muddier than the Mississippi too. Jack B managed to make his rear wheel fall off in the car park, which I suppose is better than it falling off on a rooty 30mph descent! RYA Powerboaters All the scouts completed their RYA Level 1 Power boating certicate, and Power Coxswain badge in the process. Blasting along at stacks on knots on the Llyn Peninsula in the sun, is surely the right way to be doing things. Learning how to manouvre and low and high speeds, how to anchor and set up the boat in a harbour, distress signals and more - this was more than just a ride. Sea Cliff Traversing Groups headed to Anglesey to make their way by climbing, jumping, swimming and crawling along the spectacular cliffy coastline. This included a scary tyrolean traverse. 20 foot above a choppy swell! Estimates for the height of the final jump vary between 15 and 25ft - but the scouts did it anyway. Looking forward to more of the same, or higher still, in Pembrokeshire. Sea Kayaking We also headed out to sea for some kayaking and paddle surfing. When the weather was a bit poor on one day, we headed inland for some games in a sheltered mountain lake. Wicked and reminded us why we should kayak more regularly. Deep Sea Fishing Varying degrees of success were had on our evening deep sea fishing trip. One boat caught 23 fish, another caught 1! It's how you hold the rod you see. One things clear, fishing is fun. Perfect sunsets to be had from the North Wales coast too. Rock climbing We did loads of climbing. Single and multi-pitch at some famous venues. Tremadog, Tryfan, Milestone Butress. It was great and the scouts all made their way to the top of some very big slabs of rock. We'll need some serious-strength insect repellent for our next time on Tryfan though! Toboganning We bombed it down the toboggan run at Llandudno for an evening. Some achieve ridiculous speeds by not breaking, others took a more sedate pace and took in the view. Friog day Mine exploration, rock climbing, abseils, tree climbing, the zip wire - it all happened on our day by the sea in the quarry at Friog. The zip wire at Friog has to be experienced to be believed. It's high, steep, fast and ends in a blue lake at the bottom. Will the ones in Whistler live up to it next year? Scrambling Other than our scrambles on Snowdon, one of our mountain groups headed to the top of Tryfan via the prickly north ridge. Some precarious manouvres were performed with ease and we topped out to jump between Adam and Eve in the sunshine. Multi-pitch climbing Milestone Butress, Tremadog and Little Tryfan all provided the setting for some excellent multi-pitching. Routes from Diff to VS were all had - Andy B, our mountain guru commented "these scouts will get up anything". Abseiling There were stacks of abseils: the mine abseil, the waterfall abseil, the quarry abseils and the self-protected abseil for the older scouts. Mountain Rescue Team We spent a morning at Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation, at their centre in the Ogwen Valley. They gave the scouts a tour of the base, let them try all the kit, demonstrated the control centre and were all round top blokes. They do a fantastic job serving the mountaineering world for free, and we totally appreciate them taking some extra time out to share their world with the scouts. White Water Rafting We did three descents of the grade four Afon Tryweryn - the UK's top rafting destination and home of the National Whitewater Centre. A great way to end the camp and get a soaking. Snow tubing Those not quite ready for the rafting spent an afternoon hooning it down a ski slope in rubber tubes. Great times were had and some sychronised formation sliding was debuted! McD's It wouldn't be a camp without at least one McD's. So we had our final evening meal with the friendly folks of Llandudno McDonald's. Gorge again Our final morning on camp was spent at the nearby Afon Ddu, ascending the torrents, waterfalls and sliding down rocks. It was great fun and ensured everyone was clean and the minibus was less smelly for the journey home! Thanks to sponsors A resounding thank you to all those who sponsored the scouts on their Snowdon achievement. Total raised topped £2,000, which goes a long way to furthering the cause of scouting at Troop B. Thanks also... A big thank you to leaders James, Alan, Matt, Matthew and Neal, Troop assistant Jane, and young leaders Arran, Jonny and Josh for all their hard work and dedication during the trip - it couldn't happen without them. Also to Nigel M, Paul C and Trevor F for ensuring the vans and kit got to North Wales and back. Finally to the scouts for ensuring it was a rewarding and fun week to lead! We still rate North Wales as a world class outdoor venue, and this camp proved what a superb troop it's members create. It is credit to the scouts that they achieved so much and got so much done in a week that none of us will ever forget. Next year we're off to British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies for the experience of a lifetime, watch this space!