Programs
Cold weather training
From January 8 to 13, older Scouts and leaders interested in learning how to develop and run a winter program for their unit or council can attend a five-day Cold Weather Training Course. The Okpik staff trains participants in the skills of safe cold weather camping and the sharing of resources among participants, with emphasis on leadership and working with young people in a cold weather environment. Winter logistics and the safety of all participants are points of emphasis.
Weekends
The weekend program is the oldest Okpik program. From Friday evening through Sunday, participating groups receive instruction in the basic skills of winter camping and have the opportunity to practice them on an overnight campout. Training in cold weather dress, first-aid, menu and equipment are included in indoor sessions. Opportunities are also available for activities in winter ecology, igloo building, and other cold weather activities. Extra days can be added for school planning days and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
Holiday stay
Between Christmas and New Year's Day Scouts and Venturers from further away can expand their outdoor program into the north woods winter. With the extensive outfitting capabilities of the program along with instruction, even novice groups have the opportunity to enjoy the skiing, snowshoeing, and other activities.
Musher Camp
Those attending Musher Camp learn about dog sledding. Participants stay in heated Musher Camp "yurts" located next to the dog yard at Okpik base camp. Staying in a quinzhee (snow dome) is an option. Participants learn how to train, care for, harness, and run sled dogs. Participants have the opportunity to mush his or her own team on wilderness day trips or by visiting other Okpik crews and sharing their expertise at dog sledding. Musher Camp programs are limited to at least a three-day trek.
Skiing, snowshoeing, and dog sled treks
Participants ski, snowshoe, or have a dog sled transport their gear while they ski along to a distant backcountry site. These programs are for older (14-years old by the day of arrival) Scouts who can spend at least two nights on the trail.
Cabin stay
This program is for younger Scouts that are accompanying a group of older Scouts, or visiting Okpik on their own. This program includes skiing, snowshoeing, dog sled rides, and other winter activities. The group will stay in heated cabins and cook their meals outside. This program is open to any registered Scout youth member.
Scouting in Colorado has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the rugged, mountainous environment in which they live.
Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, near the village of Cimarron; it covers 140,177 acres of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountains. Donated by oil baron Waite Phillips, the ranch is owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America. It is a National High Adventure Base where crews of Scouts and Venturers take part in backpacking treks and other outdoor activities. By land area, it is one of the largest youth camps in the world. During the season, between June 8 and August 22, an estimated 22,000 Scouts and adult leaders backpack through the Ranch's extensive backcountry. More than 1,130 seasonal staff are responsible for the Ranch's summer operations.
The Greater Saint Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America was formed in 1911 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The council serves Scouts in the St. Louis Metro area, southeast Missouri, and southern and central Illinois.
The Quebec Winter Carnival, commonly known in both English and French as Carnaval, is a pre-Lenten festival held in Quebec City. After being held intermittently since 1894, the Carnaval de Québec has been celebrated annually since 1955. That year, Bonhomme Carnaval, the mascot of the festival, made his first appearance. Up to one million people attended the Carnaval de Québec in 2006 making it, at the time, the largest winter festival in the world. It is, however, the largest winter festival in the Western Hemisphere.
The Fur Rendezvous Festival is an annual winter festival held in Anchorage, Alaska in late February. The self-styled "largest winter festival in North America", Fur Rendezvous is highly anticipated by many Anchorage-area residents as marking the beginning of the end of a long winter and the approach of spring. In 2012, Fur Rendezvous was selected as the number one winter carnival in the world by the National Geographic Traveler.
Northern Tier High Adventure is a collection of high adventure bases run by the Boy Scouts of America in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota, Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park and Canadian Crown Lands, Manitoba's Atikaki Provincial Wilderness Park, Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, and points beyond. Northern Tier is the oldest of the four National High Adventure Bases operated by the Boy Scouts of America; the others currently in operation are Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Florida Sea Base in the Keys, and The Summit in West Virginia.
Powder Horn is a skills resource course for Venturing and Boy Scouting leaders and youth of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Powder Horn is also described as a "hands-on resource management course" designed to give Scouting leaders "the contacts and tools necessary to conduct an awesome high-adventure program" in their Scouting unit. The goals of Powder Horn are to help Scout leaders safely conduct outdoor activities of a fun and challenging nature, provide an introduction to the resources necessary to successfully lead youth through a program of high adventure, and familiarize participants with the skills involved in different high adventure disciplines. The Powder Horn course will also introduce Venturing leaders to the Ranger youth award program, so adults may better help Venturers in meeting the Ranger award requirements. Powder Horn presents a wide variety of hands-on high adventure skills experiences, and thus is not designed to provide specific skills certifications. The course is meant to be held over a one-week period or two three-day weekends. Youth attendees will get first-hand experience and information as well as resources so they can better act as Event Chairs for their units.
Scouting in Maine dates back to the creation of the Katahdin Area Council in 1920 and has continued prominently to the present day.
Minsi Trails Council is a council of the Boy Scouts of America that serves Scouts of eastern Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley and Pocono regions as well as parts of western New Jersey. The council serves five counties in Pennsylvania: Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Carbon, Luzerne, and Warren county in New Jersey.
The Lincoln Heritage Council (LHC) is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America serving 64 counties in four states: Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Tennessee.
The Northern New Jersey Council was formed in January 1999 as a joint venture between the independent councils of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties as an effort to better serve the Scouting communities encompassed in these areas. By drawing on the strengths of each of these individual councils and merging them together, the Northern New Jersey Council has committed itself to offering the finest Scouting programs, increasing membership and providing strong, supportive leadership.
The Winnebago Council is a council of the Boy Scouts of America (#173). The Winnebago Council serves Scouts BSA, Cub Scouts, adult volunteers and Venturers in 17 counties located in North Central Iowa. Including: Black Hawk, Grundy, Butler, Franklin, Wright, Hancock, Winnebago, Worth, Cerro Gordo, Mitchell, Floyd, Bremer, Chickasaw, Howard, Winneshiek, Fayette, and Buchanan.
Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activities can include fishing, hunting, backpacking, and horseback riding — and can be completed individually or collectively. Outdoor recreation is a broad concept that encompasses a varying range of activities and landscapes.
The Blue Ridge Mountains Council is a Boy Scouts of America council located in Roanoke, Virginia, that serves Scouts in southwest and south central Virginia. The Blue Ridge Mountains Council owns and operates the Blue Ridge Scout Reservation in Pulaski County, Virginia, the largest Council-owned Scout reservation in the United States. The council's Tutelo Lodge is part of the Order of the Arrow.
Northern Star Council is a Boy Scout Council headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The council was formerly the Viking Council and Indianhead Council until the two councils merged on July 1, 2005. The council serves communities across central Minnesota and western Wisconsin, encompassing 25 counties.
The Bay-Lakes Council is the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) council serving eastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, it is geographically one of the largest local BSA councils. Bay-Lakes Council #635 was formed on July 1, 1973, the product of a merger between six east Wisconsin councils. The council is served by Kon Wapos Lodge #635 of the Order of the Arrow.
High Adventure Bases of the Boy Scouts of America are outdoor recreation facilities located in several locales in North America operated by the Boy Scouts of America at the organization's national level. Each facility offers wilderness programs and training that could include wilderness canoeing, wilderness backpacking trips, or sailing, and provide opportunities for Scouts to earn the 50-Miler Award. These bases are administered by the High Adventure Division of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Laurel Highlands Council serves youth in Allegheny, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, and Washington counties in Pennsylvania; Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, and Mineral counties in West Virginia; and Allegany and Garrett counties of Maryland.
The Race to the Sky is a long-distance sled dog race held annually in Montana. There are several divisions offered at different distances. The longest race was originally a 500-mile (800 km) race but is currently 350 miles (560 km). It is a qualifying race for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and is sometimes called "The Iditarod of the Lower 48."
