What Makes A Good Philmont Crew
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1. Good crews spend quality time together before their trek. Sure Philmont crews have shakedowns and planning sessions, but good crews go out for pizza and a movie, or go bowling, or just have fun together.
2. Good crews have honed their outdoor backcountry skills so they can operate on remote control when they hit their campsite. Key skills are safe use of stoves, water purification, cooking, cleanup, personal sanitation, bear bags, and tarp set up. Poor crews struggle when they get into camp because they waste time doing in camp chores inefficiently.
3. Good crews get out of camp early. Poor crews can't get out of camp early, so they hike in the heat of the day and arrive at their program sites after all the slots are filled.
4. Good crews can read a map and use a compass. Good crews prepare Time Control Plan the night before and share it with the entire crew. Poor crews struggle with the map and compass. In poor crews, only the youth navigater and adult advisor know where they are going, how much change in elevation there will be, where the next water source will be. The rest of the crew simply follows along.
5. Good crews are in top physical and emotional shape, including the adults. Poor crews struggle along the trail and pull into their camp sites exhausted so they cannot enjoy the program activities.
6. Good crew keep communications open and honest with Roses, Thorns and Buds and hold daily devotions. Poor crews wait until an issue boils over and scream at one another.
7. Good crews let the youth lead and the adults take a back seat. Poor crews, the adult jumps in when the youth crew leader seems to fail and takes over.
8. In good crews, everyone understands that "the crew come first" and "everything is everybodies job". In poor crews, personal tents go up before the crew tarps or bear bags and crew members follow the duty roster, never offering to do more than what is expected.
9. Good crews develop a set of "crew rules" that outline what is expected of each and every crew member. Good crew rules are developed by the youth with little input from the adults and serve as a behavioral contract.. In poor rules, no one knows what is expected as a crew member, so that anything is acceptable.
Cooper Wright
Associate Advisor, Crew 1519
Co-author of the Philmont Advisor's Guide
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