January 24, 2015, it’s 6:30 in the morning as we took attendance in the parking lot and loaded up the cars for the trip to Shawnee Ski Mountain in East Stroudsburg Pennsylvania… 16 scouts and 9 adult where on their way. Thanks to our adult support and pre-planning, we arrived with all lift tickets and ski rentals labeled with our names. All we had to do was Grab and Go. The weather cooperated, with light on and off flurries all day. The temperature was in the low thirties which allowed for a great day. The scouts broke up into small groups and hit the lifts. Double lifts, triple lift and two quads including the high speed quad kept dropping us at the top of the mountain all day long. A couple of our scouts took a lesson at 11:45, some for the first time and a few as a refresher. Breaks and lunch were taken as needed by each group. Our scoutmaster, who doesn’t ski, kept a
table in the lodge for us to use. He was
in the window watching all of us, as the day went on. Other adult leaders were
skiing with the scouts or seen at the lifts or trails and joined us on and off in
our downhill challenges as the day went along.
At 3pm our Winter Sports merit badge
councilor gathered all the scouts at the double chair for a Troop 150 downhill
ski! All of the scouts and leaders / parents rode to the top and worked our way
down the “Pennsylvania” green beginner trail.
We took some time for pictures and 12 of us even completed the
requirements to earn the Winter Sports merit badge. Great job all! Even though most of us took a spill now and
again everyone had a great time with a lot of laughs.
With that accomplishment under our belts, the skiing continued until the night sky began to show some stars. With our legs burning and the lights on the trails blazing for the night skiers, the day ended at around 5:30. The walk back to the parking lot was much slower that the walk in the other direction 8 hours ago. This told me that we gave it all we had and then some. See you again next year Mother Nature and maybe some diamond trails will be tested then! Yours in Scouting, Thomas Pitarresi ASPL |
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