Survival Of The Driest

Becca took an option this semester called "Survival of the Smartest". Its an outdoor ed class led by Mr Giroux that teaches survival skills. To cap off the class and use the skills that they were taught they had an overnight wilderness camping trip to an area about 1 hour from Airdrie in the Elbow River valley.

Will and 3 others from Company of Adventurers led the camp under the supervision of Mr Giroux, Mme Emilie and 2 parents including myself.

The kids built shelters, cooked their own meals on single burner stoves, went for a hike, practiced building fires and played a lot of fun games, all outside, in the snow. 

As the temperature dropped during the night to -5C the kids learned the importance of warm sleeping bags and dry clothes as they tried stay warm and fall asleep in the shelters that they had built.

Becca had some trouble falling asleep after a roommate said that Chucky was outside their shelter. Mme Emilie reluctantly got out of her warm sleeping bag and went over to comfort and reassure the girls that Chucky wasn't out there.


After a long, dark and cold night the sun finally came out and the adults and kids came back to life (sort of...). The kids made themselves breakfast which varied from cereal and milk to breakfast burritos. Then they played some field games, followed by an awesome hike to a ridge overlooking the Elbow River Valley. The bus was waiting when we got back from the hike and took us back to warm dry homes and beds.

I'm proud to say that all the kids and adults survived the adventure. At the end of the second day they were asked what advice they would pass on to the next group of kids. The comments included:  dress warmly, stay dry, bring extra socks and choose your roommates carefully, which is probably the best piece of advice given :).