The camp season is almost here! Exactly 2 months from today (yes, you read that right) campers will arrive at Alta Mons for our very first week of summer camp! Words cannot possibly convey to you how excited I am—it is the campers that make it all worth it. They are the reason we have all been working so very hard these past couple of months! On my end of things, I’ve been busy interviewing staff, writing our brand new junior high prayer guidebook, recreating the entire staff manual, and my favorite—formatting and planning the ever ominous all camp schedule! In the past, the all camp schedule has been a bit confusing (for those of you who don’t know, the all camp schedule is just what it sounds like—a document that details every little thing that happens at camp) but I am trying my best to come up with some creative designs to help it become a bit clearer. Creating the all camp schedule has personally been a lot of fun for me—I happen to love scheduling. Looking at a list of camp activities and figuring out what’s the best order to do them in so that the campers can maximize their time and fun while at Alta Mons just makes me smile!
Another big element of my job lately has been learning a lot about high ropes—from the daunting task of learning to tie a triple figure eight knot to reading forty-six pages of the course’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) I’ve been quite the busy girl! This past weekend, Sarah Kate and I had the awesome opportunity to be trained by Gary Nussbaum from Project Adventure. Gary is probably the most awesome person you will ever meet—he knows everything about ropes courses, he’s a great teacher, and he’s just so nice! Alta Mons is so fortunate to have his guidance and advice as we continue to improve our course and training program. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I love talking about high ropes and facilitating them…but from the ground. I am not exactly the biggest fan of climbing 60 feet into a tree with all sorts of heavy metal gear attached to me and nothing but a single rope holding me up. However, this past weekend I did just that. I was terrified, but Sarah Kate and Gary coached me through it and, with some practice, I think by the end of the summer I’ll be able to overcome my distaste for heights!
Like I’ve said before, camp teaches you so many new things. My mind has been going in a million different directions lately learning everything and double checking everything, but I am learning so much and it is this knowledge that I am so thankful for. I know I promised that I’d cover Willie Jack stories in this blog, but between learning about ropes and the ever demanding UVa physics major (I swear, my professors think I just sit around and do physics all day) I have been unable to. But good news: next time I will definitely have something to report back! And for those of you who are super curious about Willie Jack, check out Sarah Kate’s next vlog! I may or may not be making a guest appearance…
In the meantime, keep those camper registrations rolling in! I want camp to have as many kids as possible this summer!
Peace, Love, & Jesus Christ,
Meredith Simmons
Program Intern
Another big element of my job lately has been learning a lot about high ropes—from the daunting task of learning to tie a triple figure eight knot to reading forty-six pages of the course’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) I’ve been quite the busy girl! This past weekend, Sarah Kate and I had the awesome opportunity to be trained by Gary Nussbaum from Project Adventure. Gary is probably the most awesome person you will ever meet—he knows everything about ropes courses, he’s a great teacher, and he’s just so nice! Alta Mons is so fortunate to have his guidance and advice as we continue to improve our course and training program. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I love talking about high ropes and facilitating them…but from the ground. I am not exactly the biggest fan of climbing 60 feet into a tree with all sorts of heavy metal gear attached to me and nothing but a single rope holding me up. However, this past weekend I did just that. I was terrified, but Sarah Kate and Gary coached me through it and, with some practice, I think by the end of the summer I’ll be able to overcome my distaste for heights!
Like I’ve said before, camp teaches you so many new things. My mind has been going in a million different directions lately learning everything and double checking everything, but I am learning so much and it is this knowledge that I am so thankful for. I know I promised that I’d cover Willie Jack stories in this blog, but between learning about ropes and the ever demanding UVa physics major (I swear, my professors think I just sit around and do physics all day) I have been unable to. But good news: next time I will definitely have something to report back! And for those of you who are super curious about Willie Jack, check out Sarah Kate’s next vlog! I may or may not be making a guest appearance…
In the meantime, keep those camper registrations rolling in! I want camp to have as many kids as possible this summer!
Peace, Love, & Jesus Christ,
Meredith Simmons
Program Intern
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