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Scouts brave elements in annual 'Chill-Out'
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful....”
The seasonal lyrics of the long-time popular song still hold true. While many folks spent the past weekend snuggled up in front of a flaming hearth with no plans to venture out in the cold, eight young boys were doing just the opposite, bundled in “mummy” sleeping bags in front of an open campfire.
Most of the members of newly formed Boy Scout Troop 911 joined other troops from the Piedmont District on a winter survival weekend, popularly known as a “Chill-Out.”
The annual camping adventure certainly lived up to its name, with temperatures plunging to single digits at night as troops gathered at Camp Snyder in Haymarket for the outdoor excursion.
Although the boys experienced snow flurries and wind during their trip, they were camping on top of already fallen snow and attempting to stay dry.
To belong to a Boy Scout Troop, members must be between the ages of 11 and 18. While a few of the 11 year olds in Troop 911 decided to stay home, four of the youngest boys braved the elements along with the older Scouts. Alex Pinelli, 15, and his younger brother Kyle shared the experience with their father Greg, assistant Scout master.
The purpose of a Chill-Out is to teach young boys how to survive in the cold. While outdoor equipment catalogs feature Global Positioning Systems and personal locators to enhance survival skills, “the last time we used a GPS we got lost,” Alex said.
Alex and his fellow campers preferred relying on more traditional techniques. Being good Scouts, the troops brought their own firewood, but found that it was easy to forget the little things, like a spatula to turn the breakfast pancakes or additional containers for water to avoid the long trek for refills.
Alex lamented that they also forgot duct tape, the universal cure-all for most problems. All of the inconveniences, however, were soon forgotten when the boys began to play “snow-soccer.”
What Alex did enjoy the most was one of the main activities during the Chill-Out, the beef stew cook-off competition among the 12 troops in the district. Troop 911's recipe called for beef, corn, green beans, potatoes, carrots, and noodles — with the addition of chipotle and cayenne peppers added for “extra warmth.”
Although the recipe didn't win the cook-off, it could work for non-campers, too. And for the “extra warmth” ingredient, one could always stay indoors.
E-mail the reporter: afelts@timespapers.com.
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