It’s time for CHILLS AND THRILLS!!!

The 1999 Metro Lakes Winter Camporee will be held Friday, February 5^th and Saturday, February 6^th at Historic Fort Snelling. True Minnesota Troops J will camp Friday night on the parade grounds of the Fort. Troops from California or Florida, or other Troops not wishing to sleep out in the cold L may join us Saturday morning and just make a day trip out of it. Remember, this is Minnesota, it does get cold every once in a while, get used to it.

Fort Snelling will provide warm latrines J , water, and shelter in the event of inclement weather. All Troops will provide their own meals on Saturday, and please remember that there is no wood cooking fires allowed inside the Fort. All cooking must be done on Coleman stoves. Also note that there is no picnic tables available inside the Fort.

Remember this is tent camping, even though we are in the Fort.

Scouts will participate in the following events:

Snow Shoe Races: Each patrol will provide one set of snowshoes that they will use in a relay race. After the first Scout finishes a lap, he will give the snowshoes to the second Scout who will put them on and complete a lap, etc. Time will be averaged based on the number of Scouts in a patrol. If a Troop has multiple patrols, the rotation can be arranged to so the same snowshoes can be used for all patrols.

Cross Country Ski Races: Unfortunately this event had to be cancelled due to difficulties with ski boots/skis for each member of a patrol.

4 Man Cross Country Ski Race: Each patrol will bring one set of 4 man cross country skis. How do you make those you ask? Easy, it’s up to you. The only rules are that during the race, four Scouts must physically be on the same material that is used as the skis. Examples of this are a pair of 2x4s with holes drilled through them, string is placed through the holes to attach either to the Scout’s boots, or they can simply lift up on the string when they walk. Poles are optional. Scouts are highly encouraged to put some thought into this well before hand, and to remember that it could be 3 feet of snow, or it could be 2 inches of mud that day. Scouts also might want to practice a couple times before the day of the race. And remember this will not be a straight course.

Snow Blind: All of the members of a patrol, except the patrol leader, were blinded by the glare of the sun off of the snow and now it is up to the patrol leader to verbally guide his patrol back safely through a maze of obstacles.

Snow Volley Ball: In this exciting game the net is made out of a 6 foot wall of snow so that Scouts can not see the ball until it comes back over the wall. Other than that, it is normal volleyball.

Snow Snakes: A game where Scouts take a carved piece of wood, generally in the shape of a ski, and hurl it across the snow to see whose will slide the furthest. The piece of wood must be at least as long as the Scout is tall, and NO WAX of any kind can be applied to the underside of the wood. More detailed directions on making the snake, and the history of snow snakes, will be available at the January Roundtable. Scouts must bring their snake with them to the Camporee.

Snow Castle Building: Basically the same thing as building sand castles except it’s a little colder. Scouts are encouraged to plan the castle ahead of time, as well as practicing building the castle. This competition will be judged on creativity, size, detail, etc. Scouts must supply their own shovels, water bottles, and other implements for building the snow castle.

First Aid Competition: In this event, Scouts will be given a first aid scenario in which a Scout has been injured in a cold weather environment. Scouts must render first aid and then prepare to evacuate the victim. Scouts are encouraged to prepare in advance by doing first aid scenarios during Troop meetings. Patrols will have to furnish all first aid supplies such as neckerchiefs, poles and blankets for stretchers, extra coats/blankets to keep victim warm, etc. Each patrol will have to provide it’s own victim.

Bocci Ball With A Twist: For those of you who have never played bocci ball, basically you throw a small ball out as a marker, and then two teams try to throw big colored balls out to try and get as close to the small ball as possible. You can use your balls to knock your opponent’s balls away from the marker. In this game we will be using Frozen Milk Jugs as competition balls.

Winter Survival Demonstrations: We are talking with the U.S Army about providing tips and training on how to do winter camping/winter survival. We hope to have several Artic Infantry show us how to make snow shelters Army style as well as other ways to get along in the cold. We are also talking to several companies about doing winter camping product demonstrations. We all live in Minnesota, and if we want to do any camping during the cold half of the year we had better get used to it.

Reminder: We hope that all Troops in the District will be able to come out and enjoy the thrill of camping in Minnesota in the winter. However, we also urge Leaders to use common sense when it comes to making sure Scouts are fully prepared for the cold. Proper clothing, sleeping bags, tents, etc. should be checked long before February 5^th to make sure that they are adequate for the needs of the Scouts. Even if the Troop is only coming out for the day, making sure that the Scouts have good boots, long johns, gloves, hats, etc is vital to ensuring the safety and well being of the Scouts.

In the event of extremely cold or windy weather Fort Snelling personnel will open up several buildings for our use. These buildings have only minimal heat, but will offer some protection from the wind and cold.

If conditions warrant, Wind Chill Thriller patches will be available for purchase for those Scouts who spend the night outside. The cost per patch is $2.50.

Metro Lakes District will provide a hot chocolate station to make sure that Scouts get enough liquids.

The cost per Scout\Scouter will be $8 if registered by January 25th. Registrations after that date or at the gate will be $10. Troops are HIGHLY encouraged to pre-register as this will make a difference in the events offered. Some events will be canceled in advance if there are not enough units pre-registered. Participation ribbons and Wind Chill Thriller badges will be handed out to pre-registered units first. While we would like to have exact count of how many Scouts you are bringing, please at least tell us whether or not your unit is coming!

Timeline for Winter Camporee

Friday, February 5^th

7:00-8:30 Arrival and Check-in

8:30-10:30 Setup

10:30 Lights Out

Saturday, February 6^th

7:00 Wake-up

7:00-8:30 Breakfast and Check-in for units arriving Saturday morning

All units arriving Saturday MUST be registered prior to 8:30 to allow us time to prepare a rotation schedule for the events!!

9:00-9:15 Opening Ceremony

9:15-10:00 First Event

10:00-10:45 Second Event

10:45:11:30 Third Event

11:30-1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:45 Fourth Event

1:45:2:30 Fifth Event

2:30-3:15 Sixth Event

3:15-4:00 Seventh Event

4:00-4:45 Eighth Event

5:00-5:30 Closing Ceremony

At check-in, vehicles may pull up to the entrance of the Fort to drop off gear, but vehicles must IMMEDIATELY be moved back to the main parking lot. At no point may cars be left unattended at the entrance to the Fort. All units camping out Friday night should pack the majority of their gear out Saturday morning prior to the start of the events. Only gear necessary for the day’s events, i.e. snowshoes, food for lunch, etc. should be left in the Fort.

Once again we will have a survey form available at the end of the Camporee, we ask that each unit’s SPL fill one out prior to leaving. We received invaluable feedback from the survey at the Fall Camporee and would like to continue hearing your views on the job we are doing.