The new year is the time of year that naturally leads to reflecting on the accomplishments and pitfalls of the past year and goals and hope s for the new year. There is something very exciting about the idea of a new year. The new year brings opportunity for new beginning, new growth, and new experiences. One of my favorite things to think about going into a new year is the ways that I hope to stretch myself whether it be through learning a new skill, leaving my comfort zone, serving more, or trying something new. But, if you are anything like me, two weeks into the new year, those reflections are probably already beginning to fade in the background due to the everyday routine and busyness.  When the opportunity “Froze” to try something new on Sunday, I climbed all over it. North Carolina is not typically known for its ice climbing, but the deep freeze across much of the nation has brought the typical winter wonderland of the North to our backyard! Kent McClure (Timberlake Trip Staff alumni) and I went to the Blue Ridge Parkway and tried our  hands (or should I say “Picks”) at something new… Ice Climbing! Ice climbing requires two Ice axes with picks that you swing into the ice and boots equipped with crampons (10- 12  points that that will grip the ice) a rope and a spirit of adventure. Climbing in this fashion up a 60′ Rock cliff covered in very large icicles is one of the more un-natural things that one could do and I loved every minute of it! Right now while many folks are wishing the winter away, I am hoping it will stick around just a little while longer to provide opportunities for some more winter wonderland adventures!

I wish you well in your adventures this new year!

Ryan

For the past decade, experiential educator, author and speaker Sam Van Eman has taught in barns and board rooms, forests and canyons , classrooms and auditoriums. ” Sam works as a Staff Resource Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach and enjoys partnering with his wife to raise two daughters.

Why after 10 years of professional trip leading, do I continue packing my sleeping bag and lacing up my boots to lead students I have never met into places they may have never gone before?

Because in the Backcountry, a student is likely to…

Exhale to squeeze through tiny tight spaces, or gasp at the wonder of wide open places. Consider the past and the good way to healing, or lie on the bottom and wish he had feeling. Think about dinner in 12 cold degrees or ward off the bugs but dream of Febreze. Frolic with friends in marvelous roots, or wade through the muck with only half-decent boots. Experiment with make shifted Indian cuisine, or cause you to wonder, was this an accident scene? Search for Spiritual signposts of reference, or delight in uncanny places of reverence.

Leading Trips in every condition with every kind of student has not only been deeply wonderful, but it has also made me acutely aware of one thing:
Suspending the normal reality for students by transporting them away from their daily comforts opens the doors for transformative learning to occur.

Suspending normal is as simple as replacing self-serving cafeteria lines and big tables in a clean environment with a bag of ingredients, a four inch stove and the forest floor. Add in a cold layer of snowflakes and a pinch of darkness, and voila! Mealtime is brand new, requiring interdependence. Suspending the normal means replacing the i-pod with silence, homework with play, and wrist watches with listening to the natural cycles of hunger and sleep. Furthermore, it means removing the distractions that keep many of them from dealing with the essential questions about life and faith.
This is the heart of it for me. Students frequently say that God is more easily found in nature than other places (even if they aren’t sure there IS a GOD), as through being outdoors were his living room where they feel comfortable sitting. For so many, their internal questions converge with the activities and experience and conversations on a trip and they begin to respond to Christ’s invitation, “Come, all who are thirsty….” What a privilege it is to watch them grapple with this first-hand.

Over the next several weeks, Black Mountain Expeditions is highlighting insights and perspectives about the wilderness experience and how it serves as a place for growth and transformative learning from several outdoor education professionals, participants from a course, and parents that have sent their children on courses. We invite your comments to these blog entry’s sharing why and how a wilderness experience has been transformative for you or your child’s growth and development.