A summer of adventure, challenge, and fun!

 

Youth Backcountry Camp Partner Program

The Youth Backcountry Camp (YBCC) Partner Program serves four-day wilderness experiences to local and regional youth underrepresented in the outdoors. The TRTA looks to collaborate with other non-profit, social-service, and youth-oriented organizations to bring the program to youth who face financial, family, home-life, cultural, language, social, and/or other barriers to the outdoors. These partnerships help make outdoor education and recreation accessible and welcoming to all youth no matter their background. Serve the opportunity to build confidence and connect with nature to youth in your network by partnering with the TRTA’s YBCC Program.

Adventure Details

Help the Tahoe Rim Trail Association recruit 12-13 youth to participate in an exciting and challenging four-day adventure to discover and experience firsthand the beauty of the Lake Tahoe region with the trail experts themselves. Participants will  learn new backcountry skills and support fellow adventurers in the wild, while backpacking between three and six miles per day. Youth will discover and explore the exciting flora, fauna and natural history of the Tahoe Basin and sleep under the stars after cooking their own dinner over a backpacking stove. Each day is jam-packed with new experiences, character-building challenges, and outdoor fun.

Topics include:

  • Backcountry living skills
  • Leave No Trace wilderness ethics
  • Local ecology and geology
  • Outdoor leadership
  • Team building

Participants can expect to practice working together and leading their peers, be involved in making group decisions, and learn to care for themselves and others in the backcountry. Meaningful experiences like this encourage teens to make new friends, build confidence and skills, disconnect from technology, and discover their place in the natural world.

Backpacking trips for kids in Lake Tahoe

Backpacking trips for kids in Lake Tahoe

Partner Expectations

Partner organizations are required to help the TRTA in the coordination and execution of the YBCC Program for one four-day backpacking trip.

The TRTA provides at no cost:
  • One to two trained TRTA instructors with Wilderness First Aid, CPR, Lifeguard, and Youth Mental Health First Aid certifications, and training in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and trauma-informed care
  • Trip handbooks for youth participants and chaperones
  • Transportation from the TRTA office to the program sites and back
  • Backpacking gear for youth participants and chaperones
  • All meals and snacks for participants and chaperones
  • Radio and emergency communication devices
  • Trip itineraries and permits
Partners are expected to:
  • Recruit 12-13 youth participants ages 12-17
  • Provide two CPR certified chaperones to attend the TRTA’s two-day Instructor Training hosted in June and the four-day YBCC trip in the summer
  • Organize an information night for TRTA staff to promote the program to the partner’s prospective YBCC youth participants and their guardians
  • Submit participant registration paperwork one month before the trip
  • Arrange transportation for participants between the TRTA office in Stateline, NV and the partner meeting location
  • Submit a short story to the TRTA about the experience

 

Click the example YBCC Milestones Document here to view a timeline of partner responsibilities.

Fill out the partnership form here

Participant Quotes

 

“I am stronger than I think. I can do anything with the right attitude.”

“Participating in the program allowed me to not feel so dependent on my phone and allowed me to make friendships without social media.”

“My favorite moment was talking to the instructor because she really made me feel like I could be more social and taught me to not be afraid to be me.”

“The thing that stood out to me was climbing the mountain which to me felt like life because you need to keep climbing to reach your goals.”

“Something I learned about this is that nature is really beautiful and its really important to take care of it.”

“I learned that I can be myself to make new friends.”

“My favorite memories were talking at night with everyone telling stories, hiking/climbing up the big hill, and swimming with everyone.”

“I learned from this trip that there’s so many things, plants, animals, and places to learn/explore and there’s so much more out there.”

“YBCC made me feel super free from a lot of things especially my devices. It felt blissful to fall asleep to the stars and the trees above my head.”

“It made me excited to learn, make new friends, and be more independent. I think it’s a pretty cool program that allows many teenagers to experience things they wouldn’t have been able to experience without it.”

“I learned I could do way more than I thought my body was capable of doing. YBCC made me feel so strong and I feel like I grew a lot mentally and physically.”

“My favorite memory was when we reached the top of Dick’s Pass, and the view and sense of accomplishment were enormous.”

Partner Testimonials

“It was incredibly valuable. These boys had never done anything of this magnitude. As they are all high school students, there was a bit of comfort in the leadership being there, but they had to do it. They now know they can accomplish anything (even if it is hard).”

“YBCC impacts our members in a number of ways. I for one have been participating in the program for the past 5 years and I have seen how children who have grown up in Tahoe their entire lives can get stuck in the every day Tahoe rut. This program allows our kids to get out and explore their backyard. It is so helpful that the TRTA provides all necessary equipment and has fantastic instructors that can make an impact on our kids. Without this program I do not feel the club would have the means to get these future stewards out on the trails.”

“The best parts of the trips are always seeing the improvements in the participants throughout the week. In the beginning some are tired of hiking, grossed out by things, not understanding how they are going to survive off of just what is on our backs… and by the end of the week they are loving all of it. I’ve seen the participants leave the trip with a heightened sense of a “can-do” attitude and that is great to see.”