Mar 2, 2015 6 min read

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Boy Scouts with Troop 1005 in Washington went backpacking in Raccoon Creek State Park last October.

Photo by Chip McChesney

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Students in the Canon-McMillan Ski Club take a skiing lesson at Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia.

Photo by Melissa Bellino

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A Canon-McMillan skier prepares to head down a “black diamond” trail, which is considered to be more difficult, at Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia.

Photo by Melissa Bellino

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Extra tickets for trips with the Canon-McMillan Ski Club are sometimes offered to club members’ parents who also have younger children interested in learning how to ski or snowboard.

Photo by Melissa Bellino

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Adam Brown, 19, of Burgettstown, has an outdoor skating rink in his backyard, which he uses, in part, to coach varsity hockey players at Trinity High School.

Photo by Adam Brown

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While many of their peers are inside playing video games, the Boy Scouts of Troop 1005 in Washington are learning the true meaning of the motto, “Be prepared,” by braving the frigid cold and snow.

They hike 15 miles over the course of two days, carrying only the necessities in their backpacks – extra layers of clothes, disposable lighter, Ramen noodles and precooked chicken. When it snows, they become miniature MacGyvers and fashion makeshift sleds out of their scant belongings.

Local Boy Scouts – not to mention ice hockey players, ice skaters and snow surfers of all sorts – have found that the fun doesn’t stop once temperatures drop.

“Layering is key,” said Jonathan Moyer, a Boy Scout with Troop 1005 and seventh-grader at John F. Kennedy Catholic School.

Moyer said it’s actually easier to hike in cold weather than scorching heat.

“When it’s cold, you can wear as many clothes as you want,” he said, “But when it’s hot out, you can only do so much.”

Ryan Broaddrick, a Boy Scout and freshman at Trinity High School, hasn’t gone on a winter backpacking trip, but said he looks forward to the experience.

“I’m not sure if ‘fun’ is the right word for how they describe them, but I still want to do it,” he said of winter backpacking.

But he has gone winter camping at Camp Anawanna in Amity, which has a wood-burning stove inside the lodge. Several inches of snow covered the ground during his first trip.

“Despite the snow, we still played, messed around with a soccer ball. We’ll throw a Frisbee on the campouts and get annoyed when the Frisbee lands on the roof,” he said. “When we go up to Anawanna, there’s always the tradition of (playing) ‘Capture the Flag’ at night. We can play that for like three or four hours from maybe 9 p.m. ’til 1 a.m., so we always have to make sure we have enough layers.”

Scoutmaster Chip McChesney and leader Damian Wolf said the boys learn how to protect themselves from the cold, pack lightly and properly build a fire. But inclement weather also leaves them with lasting memories.

“The perfect campouts, you don’t ever remember,” Wolf said. “Perfect weather, perfect sleeping, perfect food – you do not remember that at all.”

McChesney chimed in, “It’s the campouts that have some sort of adversity that you overcome that form a memory that you carry forever.”

Scouts had to take shelter under tarps during a hailstorm one winter, but the boys welcomed the excitement. When it snows, they make sleds out of garbage bags, cardboard boxes and, when supplies are lacking, “They will pile on top of each other to slide,” McChesney said.

“Teenagers will come up with some crazy ideas,” Wolf added.

For those who prefer the great indoors, sliding down a mountain at a high speed may seem like the craziest idea of all. But hundreds of local students sign up for ski clubs each year and head to Seven Springs and other resorts.

Alex Ablak, a junior at Canon-McMillan High School and president of the Ski Club, has been skiing with his family since he was 5 years old.

“I just like the environment. I’m not afraid of being in the cold,” he said, adding that it can be relaxing or exciting, depending on one’s skill level.

“I like a little bit of both – going down the hill casually or doing the jumps and stuff,” he said.

Matt Gielarowski, a sophomore at Canon-McMillan, started with skiing, but now opts for snowboarding.

“I just like being strapped into one board. I like going down sideways rather than with two skis,” he said. “It is a little more physically demanding than skiing because you’re always moving.”

He said winter sports aren’t as popular in Pennsylvania as they are in other states like Colorado because many people “don’t want to go out, or they’ve never tried or never had the opportunity to give it a try.”

Adam Brown, 19, of Burgettstown, brought his love of winter sports right into his backyard. His family placed an order for a custom ice rink, and it was filled with water, frozen over and put into use for the first time this winter.

Brown coaches varsity ice hockey at Trinity High School, and sometimes invites his players over to practice. But he said the best part is giving his little cousins, who have never played a sport, the opportunity to try ice hockey. At a standard ice rink business, hockey players are only permitted on the ice if they have proper safety equipment, which can cost up to $500.

“All you need is skates and a stick,” Brown said of his backyard rink.

The only disadvantage to his open, outdoor rink? Losing all those hockey pucks in the snow. He started with 60 pucks and is already down to 10.

But he said the varsity hockey players love practicing there because it takes the pressure off.

“When you’re outdoors, and especially when you’re not in a practice environment, when the Trinity kids come over, you can work on your hands … there’s no one there to scold you if you screw up,” he said. “It’s a lot more natural, and you’re just out there having fun.”