By Joey Dierdorf
From the moment the innovative new program was announced, Arrowmen from across the nation have been wondering what’s going on at the Summit Bechtel Reserve for the new Order of the Arrow High Adventure program. Since early June, the Order of the Arrow Summit Experience (OASE) has been officially open for business!
Under the leadership of the 2013 Northeast Region Chief Tyler Allen, the program will host eighty participants this summer. Tyler remarked that the program is going smoothly and sees continuous improvements daily.
“The Order of the Arrow Summit Experience program is off to a great start, providing Arrowmen with the ability to apply conservation sciences, outdoor ethics and leadership skills at home with their units, chapters and lodges,” Tyler said. “The Summit Group and National Park Service could not be happier with the quality of trail work that the participants are providing. Adventure is the reward for cheerful service, and leadership is the result."
As with every Order of the Arrow High Adventure, this eight day program offers an amazing adventure to its participants. The first part of the OA Summit Experience program involves continuing the completed work from SummitCorps in 2011 by building trail along the New River Gorge National Park lands. The second part of the experience allows participants to see all that the Summit Bechtel Reserve has to offer, including whitewater rafting on the New River Gorge. Another added feature of this program is the emphasis on the Leave No Trace Program. All participants in the Summit Experience program will leave with the Leave No Trace Outdoor Ethics Award. Also for the inaugural year, all participants will sign a sash that will be placed in the national archives. This sash will immortalize the brand new program and the participants that first experienced it.
Though this program is much like the other OA High Adventure programs, this trip is very much a unique adventure. As a participant in the inaugural OASE Crew, I loved my experience at the Summit Bechtel Reserve.
I believe this program beautifully blends some aspects of the other OAHA programs while still maintaining individuality. Additionally, I believe OASE will definitely encourage young Arrowmen to attend more OA High Adventure programs in the future and will instill the ideals of our founder’s principles in the youth of our organization.
With the addition of this new unique trip, Order of the Arrow High Adventure offers five different adventures at four different National High Adventure Bases. To learn more about OASE and the other OAHA programs, visit https://adventure.oa-bsa.org/.