April 11_ 2011 - Troop 400

							Troop 400 – Philmont 2012 Adult Advisors Meeting Notes – 2011.04.11
Attendees:     Crew 1                   Crew 2            Crew 3

               Aletheuo, Mike           Buckles, Shane    Van Auken, Dave
               Bashaw, Rodney           Cenedella, Dave
               Martin, Robert           McDermond, Mark
               Rehm, Mark

Notes:

1) BSA Membership

All adults are required by Philmont to be registered members of the BSA. This means you
must fill out an adult leader application with the required (minimal) background check and
become at least a Committee Member.

2) Youth Protection Training

All adults must complete Youth Protection Training. This is an online course you can take at
home anytime via the BSA Online Learning Center. A link is available on the Troop website
www.troop400.org under Training.

3) Wilderness First Aid Certification

One adult from each crew must be certified in Wilderness First Aid & CPR. Proof of
certification must be presented at check-in or the whole crew goes home. This is a 16 hour, 2
day class that costs $75. Rodney Bashaw has taken this class and has a contact in Aurora
Medical who teaches it. Consensus in the group is that we would like to take it near to our
departure so it remains fresh, and have more than just one in each crew in case someone has
to cancel. It is sometimes offered through Denver Area Council but far away. Rodney will talk
to his contact and get info for us.

4) Physicals

Everyone, adults and scouts, must have a full physical within 12 months of the trek. This is
not the wimpy physical we usually get for 72 hours at summer camp but the full deal
including a current tetanus shot for adults. Plan ahead.

5) Crew Assignments

Crew assignments have been made and posted. We have a Troop 400 Philmont web page at
http://troop400.org/Philmont/Troop%20400%20Philmont.htm or just hit the Philmont link on
the main web page. If you have a personality conflict with someone in your crew send a
private email to Dave Van Auken, but we should all be prepared to work with anyone on any
crew as needed.
6) Physical Training

Physical preparation is absolutely essential for everyone – scouts and old guys too. Philmont
has excellent advice on this topic and we have put link to this info on our Philmont web page.
Everyone should spend some time cruising around on www.philmontscoutranch.org. But no
matter what, we all should start putting on a pack, filling it with gear, and starting to hike a
few times a week each and every week now. Do not wait!

7) Backpacking Merit Badge

Shane Buckles is leading this merit badge right now, and it’s not too late to get involved.
There is a preparatory hike at Flying J Ranch on April 17th with loaded packs. There will be 3
backpacking treks of 3 days / 2 nights before Philmont. The 1st will be July 8-10. The other
two will be somewhere in the fall of this year and the spring of 2012. The final 5 day trek will
be done at Philmont. This is a rare merit badge that is usually only earned by scouts who
attend Philmont, so don’t miss this chance to train for Philmont and earn this badge. And
don’t just send your son – you need the training too!

8) Height / Weight Requirements

Philmont has some very specific maximum weight limitations based on height. These can be
found here:
http://www.philmontscoutranch.org/Camping/WhoCanCome/HealthMedicalRequirements.aspx. These
are actually stricter for adults than for scouts. If you read this carefully, no exceptions are
allowed for anyone 21 or older, period. That weeds out fat old guys like us. For scouts, they
will allow an extra 20 pounds over the max with some discussion and a doctor’s approval. For
anyone under the recommended weight, they only want some discussion and a doctor’s
approval (we have done this several times before in our Troop including my own son Cooper).
The message here is clear – Pay attention and get in shape!

9) Gear

There is a fair amount of crew gear that we must provide in addition to the personal gear that
each person must supply. This list can be found here:
http://www.philmontscoutranch.org/Camping/WhoCanCome/CrewRequirements/crewequipment.aspx.
Some of this can be expensive (stoves), some we may already have among us. Each crew
should meet together to discuss how to satisfy this list and be ready to bring the required
items.

10) Autonomous Crews

Finally – each crew must operate as an autonomous unit, ready to take care of itself apart
from and isolated from everyone else. We don’t know if all 3 crews will be assigned to the
same itineraries or not. If we are lucky this will happen (it has in the past), but even then we
will still travel independently and meet up in the evenings. So each crew must start getting to
know each other and start working as a unit now. Each crew must elect its own youth Crew
Leader (who will lead the entire group for the duration of the trek) and its own Chaplains
Aide.

11) Adult Advisor Planning Guide

Philmont provides a detailed guide for adult advisors with tons of important and useful stuff.
The guide for 2011 can be found here:
http://scouting.org/filestore/philmont/pdf/2011CouncilUnitPlanningGuide.pdf. It would be very
wise for us all to spend some quality time with this guide so we can know what to expect and
communicate that to the scouts in the coming weeks and months.



This is going to be an extremely cool adventure. I dreamed of doing this when I was a 14 year
old scout back in Indiana (1974) but I never got the chance. I salute you all for stepping up to
the challenge!

Our next meeting will be May 2 at 7:30 PM after announcements during the regular Troop
Meeting.

Cheers,
Dave Van Auken
webmaster@troop400.org