Wow, what a memorable experience that I will certainly treasure for many years to come. With great leaders comes great opportunities and this week was a great example of this. From enjoying a swim in a lake surrounded by the Swiss Alps to conquering Bunderspitz at an altitude of over 2500m and many other activities this camp was certainly planned to be a non stop, hectic, action packed 10 days but I’m confident that I speak for many when I say that this was a good thing and allowed the fortunate 34 explorers and 7 leaders to enjoy what the Swiss Alps had to offer.

Although both the scenery and activities were truly tremendous I believe that this camp allowed a generous handful of different people from different units to bond together, providing new friendships and a healthy experience for us all. The 10 days in Kandersteg allowed us all to build upon skills as well as take in the breathtaking peaks that surrounded our home for the past week. In terms of the top experience, this is the hardest task for everyone who came along to Switzerland because every day had something special and different. However what I am sure about is that these 10 days must have been a real task to plan. Despite the difficulty I cannot express how much I commend the leadership team and in particular Marlon for getting this absolutely perfect.

The camp was planned to allow us all to relax at times, be pushed to the edge with the most challenging hikes to date but in my book this was all done so well. After a really challenging day came some sort of holiday relaxing cultured day, be it enjoying the local swimming pool, visiting a great spa, becoming tourists for a day in Bern or just being left to our own devices to explore the many other nationalities that used this amazing place as home just as we did for the past 10 days. Although I cannot pick one out right winner, I feel privileged with countless highlights that I will never forget. Hiking up to an altitude of 2546 meters to Bunderspitz and being treated with the most incredible 360 degree view was challenging but anything would have been worth it to see that view because it really was incredible.

Another highlight has to be hiking up to the Glacier and staying the night in a snugly hut and sleeping above the clouds. Playing cards with great friends produced great fun and laughs in the compact hut but when the clouds decided to part and produce a picture perfect sight this was a truly unbelievable experience. Another of the many highlights must be the Swiss National day. Although the heat was unbearable at times, this didn’t get in the way of the excellent atmosphere that polluted the streets of Kandersteg during the parade. A similar fun, warm and electric atmosphere was also present during the camp fire. With a collection of over 900 explorers and leaders packed around a campfire and a small stage, this was more than enough to provide us all with a great 2 hours of cultural laughs and songs. This was the best campfire I had ever witnessed. From the many uses of the phrase ‘the best ever’ I don’t think it takes many brains to work how amazing these 10 days were. I could go on and on with memorable experiences but non of these were possible with out the great leadership team and friendly company which made this the best ever, yes the best ever camp I have attended! Therefore I must by default dish out thanks to everyone for making this a truly remarkable experience that I and others will treasure for ever.

Thomas Griffiths