Hard-Charging Gentlemen
Below is one of the feature articles from the latest issue of our annual Grow and Behold magazine, about the uniqueness of the outdoor adventure program at Falling Creek.
You can read the full magazine online here
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Here at camp, we pride ourselves on great adventures. We’re able to mountain bike, paddle, backpack, and rock climb in some of the most beautiful places in the Southeast United States. If the boys are interested and willing to put in the work, we’ll help them build their skills to tackle class V rapids, send 5.11 climbs, backpack for days through the wilderness, or shred down black diamond trails.
However, Falling Creek is more than just an outdoor adventure or sports camp. Our goal isn’t just to have boys try these activities once or twice as something fun to do. We want to equip boys with an ability and enthusiasm to pursue these sports and adventures throughout their lives. The easy and fun part of our job is taking boys out on rivers, rocks, and trails. What sets us apart is that, in addition to teaching the skills, we teach the boys how to behave and how to live. We aim to prepare boys to be their best selves, before their outdoor adventure even begins, and long after it is over.
While we’re out on our adventures, counselors are talking with boys about how they engage with people, how to be helpful, how to be friendly to people at the put-ins and the trailheads, and how to clean up—not because we have to, but because we want to. We encourage boys to try new things, expand their comfort zones, live life to the fullest, and give it their all in everything they do. We want them to have the same passion for being a better person as they do for engaging in specific sports and adventures.
We’ve recently started referring to this concept as being “Hard-Charging Gentlemen,” encouraging both staff and campers to live out this new theme. What does it mean, exactly?
A “Hard-Charging Gentleman” is someone who is passionate about their sport or activity, and dedicated to advancing their skills. They’re enthusiastic about charging toward the next challenge or adventure. At the same time, they’re committed to pursuing the qualities of a gentleman. We emphasize practicing the life skills of being thoughtful, kind, helpful, humble, responsible, receptive to others, and putting others first. We’re developing more than just our outdoor skills, we’re developing character.
For example, when we get to a trailhead, we practice saying hello to the other trail users. When we leave a campsite, we clean up after ourselves. When we run a big rapid, we cheer on our friends instead of bragging about our accomplishments. We get dirty and play hard, but we also embrace the tradition of sitting quietly around the campfire and reflecting with friends. We want to push campers to do incredible things on the river, on the trail, and on the rock, but we also want to push campers to do incredible things in all aspects of their lives.
Being a “Hard-Charging Gentleman” is about more than just activity skills and personal progress. The progression systems at camp are great for advancing individual goals, but they’re single sided. They’re not always about giving back to the community or interactions outside the camp world. So, emphasizing the idea of a “Hard-Charging Gentleman” puts some focus back on social awareness. When things like humility and cooperation are emphasized, the program becomes about more than just ourselves, it becomes about being others-focused.
In the same way that staff members are going to help campers with activity skills like setting up their tarps, knowing their climbing commands, and mastering their kayak rolls, they’re also going to help boys perfect the life skills of treating others with respect, helping out a friend, and being willing to clean up.
A “Hard-Charging Gentleman” sets the bar high in all aspects of life.
Looking to read past Grow & Behold Issues? You can read all the previous ones here!
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