Having Fun on a Winter Camp
With extreme winter weather closing schools and bringing the United Kingdom to a near stand still it may seem surprising to hear that around 2,500 hardy scouts have just enjoyed (or endured) a weekend of winter camping fun in East London.
If you, like me, need a warm, comfortable bed at night then you will find it hard to understand why anyone would want to spend several nights sleeping under canvas in sub-zero temperatures. But as one hardy young explorer scout told me it’s all about being prepared (the old scout motto). This means having the right camping gear and some good quality, warm outdoor clothing and plenty of layers.
There were no less than 70 adventurous activities available for the scouts to enjoy and keep warm. They had the chance to warm up with a little trampolining and have a go at zorbing, abseiling, orienteering and, of course, some snowboarding.
Safety was, of course, a high priority for the event. Risk assessments were carried out with regard to the hazards involved in travelling to the Gilwell campsite in East London as well as the risks involved in sleeping out in sub-zero temperatures.
To keep warm at night, when temperatures plummeted to minus six degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit), the hardy scouts doubled up on sleeping bags and squeezed together with fellow scouts to share body warmth.
When I spoke to a few of these hardy young scouts they told me that the way to stay warm in these freezing temperatures was to wear plenty of warm layers. They recommended at least 7 layers on the body with at least two pairs of gloves and thick warm socks. They also suggested that I should wear a warm hat as a lot of the bodies heat can be lost through the head (something to do with its surface area, so I was told).
It looked like so much fun I was almost tempted to join them, but then I remembered my warm comfortable bed at home and decided that I was nowhere near tough enough for these sub-zero winter camping conditions.
