SOAR, CO

I spent over a month in Colorado at SOAR (officially the "Steve Fosset Spirit of Adventure Ranch") during the summer of 2018 after transferring there after a large fire caused Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico to close its backcountry operations to scouts for the rest of the summer.

While at SOAR, I took out one crew on two sections of backpacking in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area, ran a climbing and rappelling program with them, and we summited Mt. Elbert (14,439 ft.). Most of my time at SOAR was dedicated to administrative and operational help including coordinating logistics for other crews' SOAR adventures. With a small staff of about ten people, I also ran the climbing program, worked in the dining hall, maintenance, gear outfitting, trail food, and drove crews to various trail-heads.

Activities for participants at SOAR included:
- Backpacking in Flat Tops Wilderness
- Whitewater and flatwater rafting
- Climbing and rappelling
- Caving
- Shooting sports
- Cycling
- Zip-lining/high ropes course
- Horse rides

Above: A view of SOAR from the top of the 3-mile acclimatization hike.

Crew photo with my first crew at SOAR.

Above: Hiking in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area with a crew. I let the youth-led crew lead the way and guided them toward working together.

Above: Teaching a lesson on Leave No Trace to my crew as we waited for the purple bus (in the background) to pick us up at the end of a four-day section of backpacking.

Above: Belaying a scout while helping them get over the edge of the cliffs on the SOAR property.