Ski Camp - 2022 Edition

I’m writing this post through a different lens than I would have done twenty-four hours ago.

With everything going on in the world at present, there is some guilt mixed in with the sheer joy of spending time with a bunch of youth at their Ski Camp this past weekend. We were lucky enough to be invited along to this one and I offered to help out with shifting gear to and from the hill as well as hanging around on the slopes.

It’s almost three years to the day since we last ran a camp for Scout-aged youth to test out their skiing skills on big mountain terrain. This past weekend saw a few of the Senior Scouts and their peers in Vents take to the slopes of Sunshine Ski Resort in Banff, AB.

As camps go, this kind of linking event was again a reminder of just how fortunate we are to be able to spend time guiding and mentoring these kids in activities they love to try and time they want to spend with each other. It’s a real privilege to see how much they have grown and developed as individuals and as a community during the most tumultuous times we have witnessed in generations.

Selfishly, it also meant that I had time with other adults who see the promise and purpose in giving up their time for these kids.

It is difficult to overstate just how very normal and understated the entire weekend was. These kids continue to grow up in a world that is so very different to that of my own youth and it is my firm belief that by providing them these opportunities is at least some route to normalcy.