2024 Ice Climbing Recap & Photos
This past weekend we branched out and attempted something the troop hasn’t done before – Ice Climbing at Camp Alexander! A great time was had by everyone who attended thanks to the amazing weather, challenging but fun Ice Climbing, relaxing ice fishing, physical ice hockey (in boots), and cooking! We departed the church around 6pm and arrived at Camp A (via the windy, “mountain” route) approximately 2 hours later with a fully loaded, extra grande Big Blue Trailer and 3 vehicles. All noises in the cars abruptly stopped when we rounded the bend at Camp A and the beautifully illuminated ice wall came into view – followed by in sync “wow’s” from the passengers. It was quite a sight to behold! We checked in and proceeded to unload our trailer to our spaces at Bunkhouse #5, #6, and #7. We set up patrol boxes so we were prepared for the next mornings meals and started a fire whilst enjoying our cracker barrel.
We retired around 10pm and set the alarms for 6:30am – giving us time to cook before our scheduled ice climbing at 8:00am. We enjoyed our meals and then started right into gearing up for our adventure. It was very advantageous to be literally next door to the gear bunkhouse so we could finish eating and start dressing at the same time. We saved the dish cleanup for after our climb. After getting all geared up and taught the ropes (literally and figuratively), we began our grande adventure! Everyone took turns cycling through climbing, belaying, and backup belaying and we spent a solid 2 hours going up and down the 10 various routes. Many Scouts (and even 3 of the 4 adults) made it to the top of at least one route. It’s not for the faint of heart yet our Scouts performed admirable – enough so that the guides remarked that we were one of the best crews they had seen on the ice!
After we were forced down due to time limits, we proceeded to clean up camp, make a quick lunch, then headed out to the frozen lake where we started ice fishing and hockey playing. Much to our surprise, Eli reeled in the first fish of the day – a grande rainbow trout coming in at a plump 16 inches. While we debated a meal change for dinner, we opted to let the big guy go and continued our luck later when Mr. Borstad caught another one almost as big as the first. Later on, Mr. Naber nabbed our third catch of the day while Mr. Bielkiewicz tried his hand at cross-checking Scouts on the hockey “rink.”
As the sun started to descend, we wrapped up the fun on the lake and headed back to camp to cook our meals. It was a pasta themed dinner – Mac N’ Cheese, Fettucine Alfredo, and Bow-Tie Pasta with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions in Vodka Cream sauce rounded out the 3 meals made. Mr. Borstad made a phenomenal double-dutch oven serving of cherry, chocolate cake/brownie goodness that everyone was able to enjoy. We all settled around the fire with our grande bellies before retiring after a long, fun day at 10pm.
Sunday was brief as we got up at 6:30am again, had quick breakfast, and packed up the trailer. We did our part by cleaning up the Scout restroom before Roses and Thorns and then heading back to the church. We arrived around 11:15am, unloaded the gear, and departed for home.
Thanks to everyone for attending this amazing adventure – attendees were:
Luke H. (SPL)
Alexander R.
Zack B.
Nash W.
Aidan S.
Caleb N.
Andrew N.
Damon B.
Connor L.
Eli S.
Bjorn B.
Adults:
Brett Borstad
Chris Naber
Jacob Bielkiewicz
Mike Bielkiewicz
And photos have been uploaded to the website at the normal location: https://www.bsatroop640.com/photos/
P.S. If anyone took home a purple, reusable bag that held some food in it (or anything else that isn’t yours), please bring it back to the meeting tomorrow to return it to it’s rightful owner. Thanks!