Volunteer Staff Summer Acclimatization 

June 20-22, 2025

When Alpinists tackle one of the great summits, they approach it in stages. The air is just too thin at the top of earth's mightiest mountain ranges to take it all in one go - so the climbers climb to a midway point, and then... wait. They wait for their bodies to adapt to the lack of oxygen. They aren't really doing anything, but merely waiting. Just being that high has a preventative effect, and makes it more likely that they will reach their goal - the summit.

A summer at camp - even a week at camp - is a bit like climbing K2 (Daniel says "No amateurs climb K2"). You shouldn't expect to have success if you "just wing it." Preparation is idispensable. You'll be tested, and if you are ready, you will leave with memories and an accomplishment shared with an elite few.

Acclimatization Camp is our chance to prepare for the summer. It's our way to ease into the tasks so that the shock of camp life doesn't hit you all at once. It is protection against the known dangers of taking on the summit before you are ready. It is a time that looks a little like recreation, or rest, but is actually an essential space for equipping the body, mind, and heart for the challenges that are coming.

This year at Acclimatization Camp, we will work to develop skills in cabin management and spiritual instruction for kids; we will pray, worship, and eat together, as a way to develop unity and trust within the team; we will probably play board games, drink tea, and sit in the sauna because that is fun. But mostly, we will be together at camp, acclimating to Camp Life and breaking reliances on the supports that work "out there" in the real world (We don't have Netflix, champ, so if that's your preferred way to recharge the ol' battery, it's going to be an adjustment!). 

You should come.