Sam Hoar teaches map and compass skills.
Ready to paddle to Alderdice Lean-to
War Canoe fully loaded with 14 paddlers
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ATIS Junior ProgramSee home page for how this program might operate this year.
Health Form & Waiver The Adirondack Trail Improvement Society's Junior Program was inaugurated in 1935 when Alice (Jo) Johannsen served as the first "Trail Hostess". Jo's sister Peggy joined her sister in 1937 with one or the other serving most years until 1946. After that, the title was changed to "Trail Counselor". Since then the program has grown in both numbers of counselors and participants to encompass a wide range of activities. The current staff consists of a head counselor, senior counselors, junior counselors, and counselors-in-training (CITs) who all work together to lead trips. Counselors are chosen for their wilderness expertise, leadership ability, and ability to work with children. The season starts with High Peaks Camp, which was inaugurated in 1965 and has been extremely popular ever since. Then during July and August up to six activities are offered each weekday, including day and overnight hikes and canoe trips, as well as swimming, rock climbing, nature exploration, and orienteering excursions. An introductory "Discovery" hiking program is offered for 4-7 year olds, as well. Two other highlights of the program are "Capture the Flag" on Monday evenings, and the two ATIS Picnics at the Lower Lake in the middle of July and August. List of trips commonly done by Category (i.e. "A","AA","B","C", "Canoe", "Overnight", TRIP LIST List of Driving Directions for ATIS Parents (thank you for all you do) DRIVING DIRECTIONS TO ATIS TRIPS ATIS JUNIOR PROGRAM - SUMMER 2020
Yes! We will run our Junior Program starting Monday, July 13, but it will operate very differently from past years. Read carefully exactly how to sign up for a trip, and please bear with us as admittedly we may struggle a bit at first to make this new system work. This summer we will not have access to either the ATIS Hut and its phone or the usual meeting place on the Club porch. Therefore, we will take signups electronically and will meet at trailheads. We will start with just two "A" or "B" trips per day with a limit of five campers per trip. If that works, the schedule can expand to more trips, some "C" trips, and maybe as many as ten campers per trip. The trip schedule for the following week will be posted weekly on the ATIS website on Wednesday. We will then take signups for all of that week's trips up until noon on Friday. It will not be on a first come, first served basis, however. All signups received up to that time will be treated equally. This will hopefully limit the rush to sign up for trips as soon as they are posted. If more have signed up than there are available spaces on the trips, there will be a draw. We will work on Friday evening and Saturday to sort out the requests with the goal of notifying each family of the trips they are on the following week by Saturday evening. If someone doesn't get on a trip on one particular day, that person will have preference to get on a trip on another day. The goal will be to have all campers go on a roughly equal number of trips each week. (In actual practice, this may not be as easy as it sounds, so, as we said above, please bear with us.) If a trip does not fill up during the initial sign up period, that information will be posted, and after Saturday signups for any empty spaces will be taken, this time on a first come basis. HEALTH FORMS We will continue to require a health form and waiver with contact and insurance information for each participant. We will have a fillable PDF version of this form on the website. Once it is downloaded and filled out, send it back electronically to signups2020@atistrail.org. Counselors will be able to access these forms (as they have always done with the paper forms) to screen for any potential problems. In the unlikely event that there is an injury, once at the medical facility this form would be available to view. COVID SCREENING FORM Per NY State guidelines, this summer we will also require that families answer some basic questions regarding any potential exposure to the virus. This form will also be available on our website, under the "Forms" tab. Please complete this form each week with your signup requests. If the answers provided for the week change, we require immediate notification. Please monitor your child’s temperature and alert ATIS if any child runs a fever. If a child or family member feels ill, please keep your camper home. SIGNUPS Along with the posting of the weekly trip schedule on Wednesday, we will post a Google Form (essentially a survey) to use to sign up participants for the following week’s trips. (Note that unlike in “normal” years you may sign up for any of the following week’s trips.) Families should fill out one form for each individual participant. Families with multiple children seeking to participate in any given week should therefore fill out multiple forms. As noted above, we will collect these responses on Friday at noon and will compile trip lists for all trips the following week. We will send out those trip lists to parents by Saturday evening. For those families who have not been able to fill out the Google Form before Friday at noon, or who would like to sign up for other trips after that time, there will be a link on each weekly calendar to call in via the internet. We will have a counselor on (virtual) “phones” duty from 9-10 am and 4-5 pm every weekday. If possible, please use these hours to sign up for or cancel from any trips; if, however, you cannot reach us at those times, you may also sign up for or cancel from trips by emailing signups2020@atistrail.org. We will reply to those emails to confirm your place on the trip. We ask you to avoid late cancellations unless health concerns arise as space on trips will be limited and it will be challenging for us to fill those spaces caused by cancellations at short notice. ON THE TRAIL We ask that each family drive individually to and from the trailhead where the hike is meeting. Driving directions will be provided for each trip on the schedule. All hikes will be relatively close to Keene Valley; consequently, the variety of trips will be somewhat more limited this year. We also will not be able to hold activities like Rock Climbing, Canoe trips, or Survivor trips since it is difficult to maintain social distancing and avoid participants touching the same objects on such trips. At least for the first few weeks, we will expect all campers and counselors to wear a face covering while the group is assembling. Each hike will be led by three counselors. This will allow for sufficient social distancing that a face covering will not have to be worn while hiking. The covering should be taken on the hike for summits or other stopping places too small to permit proper social distancing. Participants should also bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer, packed in a relatively accessible pocket. If you have any questions/comments, contact ATIS at: atis@atistrail.org. |
Map and Compass exercise before bushwhack to Elizabethtown #4.
2020 masked campers on Pyramid Peak. Emmelina Bales photo.
Group on the summit of Dix, 8/6/20. Julia Brown photo.
Nature Activities group
Rock Climbing gets creative on a rainy day
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Adirondack Trail Improvement Society
PO Box 565
Keene Valley, NY 12943
(518) 576-9157
atis@atistrail.org
(Above email not always checked daily. In season, call the listed phone for more immediate trip and sign-up information.)
PO Box 565
Keene Valley, NY 12943
(518) 576-9157
atis@atistrail.org
(Above email not always checked daily. In season, call the listed phone for more immediate trip and sign-up information.)
