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Kandersteg Expedition 2011 – text of the message sent to all members in September 2010

Dear Scout/Expedition Member

We are continuing to plan for next summer’s expedition to Kandersteg, and we are sending this message to make sure that you know about what we are planning, what is expected of you and to ask you about the activities that you (personally) would prefer to do while we are there. Please read it in full and let us know your choices in the next few weeks. At the Summer Camp report back at the Greenfinch Troop Meeting this Friday, 24th September we will also be re-running our preview of the last Kandersteg expedition, where you will be able to see some of the activities, what they mean and how much fun they are. You might want to come to this meeting regardless of whether you went to Scout Camp this year, so you can take the opportunity to ask us questions about the activities as they are shown.

Payments

The payment schedule that was sent out earlier this year remains the current schedule. Don’t forget that the next payment, to bring the total paid so far to £250 is due by 30th September. Please do not forget this payment, as it is necessary so that we can book flights and activities for you.

Passport and Insurance

Please can you make sure that you have a valid passport which runs for the whole duration of the expedition. Don’t forget that there can be significant delays in passport issuing, so it is worthwhile applying for one NOW if you haven’t already got one. If you don’t have a valid passport at the start of the expedition, you will not be able to go. Please do not leave this until the last minute.

If you are going to be travelling on a passport that s not issued by a member state of the European Union please can you contact the leaders as soon as possible, to make sure that we can help to get you into and out of Switzerland.

We will be applying for travel insurance shortly via the Scout Association, to make sure that we are covered for our bookings. It is fairly standard travel cover for expeditions of this sort and covers the usual eventualities and risks, including cover for the expedition and adventurous activities that we are intending to do. If you want to know the full details of the insurance, please contact one of the leaders.

Programme

The camp will be very different to Summer Camps as we have run them in Britain. Apart from staying in a chalet, we will not be able to run the expedition using only our own skills and resources. Instead, for some activities, we will have to use some of the staff at Kandersteg, which will cost us money as well as allowing us to do a much wider range of activities. Also some activities are only available if you are a certain age.

The programme will include Alpine Hikes, rock climbing, river rafting, glacier hikes, town visits (one in Italy is possible), water activity days, wide games, international camp fires and many other activities.

There will not be enough time or money for everyone to do everything. Because of this we are asking everyone to choose which of the optional activities you would prefer to do. Each activity has been given a different number of points, depending on how much it will cost us and how difficult it is to organise- some of the activities are also restricted to those who have reached a certain age. We would like you to choose 3 activities. You can choose activities which use up to 12 points (no more), although there is no reason to use all the points up if you don’t need to. If you aren’t sure about any of the activities or what they mean or involve, please ask Tim or Chris.

We have put the full details of all the activities on the group web site at https://1finch.org.uk/content/kandersteg-expedition-2010-activity-choices. Please look at them, make your choices, and send them by email to Tim Booth at tim.booth@1finch.org.uk before Guy Fawkes night, please.Don’t forget that this Friday you can ask us questions about the activities as we are showing them.

We will do our best to keep to your choices, but we may need to ask you to choose again if we find that we can’t do them. Also note that if some activities don’t have enough participants, we might not be able to run them.

Organisation

For the duration of the expedition, we will be organised into expedition patrols, each headed by a Patrol Leader. The Young Leaders on the expedition will be organised as a separate patrol. Patrol Leaders for all patrols will be nominated soon and will hold their first Patrol Leaders Council shortly. We will be organising patrol members into their patrols next year, once we have got your programme options (see below) and have organised the patrols so that the programme stands more chance of working.

Patrol organisation will be used for some of the activities, for domestic arrangements in Kandersteg and for organising ourselves when we are travelling to and from Kandersteg. Most of the optional activities, as described above, will be organised by age ranges and for those interested.

And Finally?

If you have any questions about this expedition or the way in which it is organised, please do not hesitate to ask one of the expedition leaders.

Tim Booth and Chris Ramsay