By Leon Pantenburg

My son Dan, and I were visiting  the annual 2001 Fremont District Freezoree to help fulfill a Webelos requirement for Dan’s Arrow of Light. The badge is Cub Scouts’ highest award, but we were also checking out troops to see if Dan might want to continue on into Boy Scouts.

Everybody was friendly and cordial to the visiting Webelos, but there had not yet been a connection between Dan and a troop.

Central Oregon's winter is beautiful, and Boy Scouts get to experience that at the annual BSA Fremont District Freezoree.

We walked around and saw several scouts were building an igloo. One of the boys, Sean Mueller, disengaged from the activity and came out to where we were standing on the road. Sean welcomed us to Troop 18 and we shook hands.

“Want to help us build an igloo?” he asked my son. Dan’s eyes lit up, he joined the group, and was busy for the rest of the afternoon. He joined the troop a week later, as soon as he turned 11.

That was my first Freezoree, and I’ve been to every one since. There have been years of deep snow or no accumulation at all, blizzards and cold temperatures, and bright, sunny unseasonably warm days, that are characteristic of Central Oregon’s winter. Despite the weather’s vagaries, the gathering is my favorite scout outing. I’ve heard that same comment from other adult scout leaders, and from honorees at several Eagle Courts of Honor.

Last weekend, 189 participants from 17 troops and two Venture crews gathered at Three Creeks Snow Park south of

Troop 18's sled team practices for the big race.

Sisters for the annual Freezoree. The weekend events included troop games competitions, campfire cooking, snow shelter building and skills development. The climax of the activities was the sled race, where troops build racing sleds powered by teams of scouts.

And talk about a good time…Most of us enjoy the manly, macho aura that surrounds snow camping in the dead of winter, (“Dude, guess what I did last weekend?”) But we are quite comfortable in our tents or snow shelters and I, for one, have no intention of toughing anything out.

To remain active in Central Oregon, a troop requires ongoing training. Central Oregon is high desert, next to the Cascades Mountains. The area provides extremes of climate and temperature, ranging from arid desert, to rampaging rivers, to several-foot deep snow in the mountains.

Scoutmaster Phil Brummett shows the steelhead fillet he is preparing for dinner.

Winter camping success starts with trained adults and scouts, and area troops have similar programs. For example, the newest troop in the district, Troop 90, went on its first campout last weekend at Freezoree after only meeting three times. Troop 25’s Venture Crew also went on their first winter campout.  But the adult leaders were experienced, trained and prepared and all the kids did great!

Other troops such as 18, 21 and 23 out of Bend, have been winter camping for decades.

Area troops tend to have similar training activities. As soon as a new boy joins Troop 18, usually in January or February, one of his first tasks is to assemble his Ten Essentials.

In March, there is a desert outing, where new scouts learn how to use a map and compass

An igloo can be quite comfortable inside.

and navigate in areas without landmarks.

Later in the spring, there will be events that emphasize different aspects of wilderness skills training. These skills include first aid, making tarp and other survival shelters, fire building, outdoor safety and campfire cooking.

Winter training intensifies right after the Christmas holidays. In Troop 18, meetings are dedicated to winter camping fundamentals. Scouts learn how to dress and stay cozy, what gear to take along and how to make comfortable, warm shelters in the cold.

For some troops, the weekend before Freezoree is traditionally Winter Skills Day, a day-long session where hands-on skills, such as survival firemaking and hasty snow shelters are emphasized.

Members of newly-chartered Troop 90 went to their first campout at Freezoree.

Troop 18’s meeting before Freezoree is a mandatory pack inspection. Every scout brings in his gear, and it is examined to make sure the scout will be safe and warm.

No one is allowed to take shoddy or inadequate equipment, and individuals within the troop have lots of gear that can be loaned out. No scout or adult has ever been left behind on a Troop 18 outing because they didn’t have adequate gear.

So, by the time Freezoree comes around the scouts and parents are ready to go.

Paul Abbott, Fremont District scout executive, says Freezoree is just one of many outdoor events that contributes to a good, overall scouting program.

“Scouting is about outings and being comfortable in the great outdoors year-round,” Abbott said.“The scouts learn the outdoor skills, but they also learn other mental skills, such as team-building, getting along with others, and working together. Both aspects are important. The character building that comes out all of this makes a better-rounded individual.”

(Leon Pantenburg has been an assistant scoutmaster of Troop 18 for nearly 10 years. His two sons have finished scouting, but he stays involved for the fun of it!!!)

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia