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Local Scout is counselor at Swiss camp
By Justin Goble
A local Boy Scout spent his summer leading Scouts from across the globe around the Swiss mountains.
Bryon Houghton, a 2005 Smoky Mountain High School graduate who is entering his sophomore year at Elon University, served as a counselor at the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. Founded in 1923 by Lord Baden-Powell, the camp is the only international center in the world that serves Scouts of all ages and sexes. During the summer, Kandersteg offers activities such as hiking, mountain biking, paragliding and river rafting to Scouts and other campers.
A Boy Scout since he was 7 years old, Houghton said he had wanted to visit Kandersteg for years. When his application to be a counselor was accepted, he jumped at the chance.
Local Boy Scout Bryon Houghton pauses while on a hike outside of Kandersteg, Switzeralnd. Houghton spent the summer as a counselor at the Kandersteg International Scout Centre, the world’s only international Scout camp. While at the camp, Houghton oversaw activities such as crafts and rock climbing. During most of his stay, though, he served as a hike leader, guiding campers through the nearby forests and mountains.
“It’s a pretty incredible place,” Houghton said. “It’s the World Organization of the Scout Movement’s permanent meeting and jamboree site. Campers have to sign up for visits two years ahead of time, and they usually go with their local organizations and troops.”
While at Kandersteg, Houghton was a “jack of all trades,” handling everything from crafts to rock climbing and rappelling. Camp officials often appointed him to lead one- to two-day hikes, a job he is well trained for.
“We did quite a bit of hiking locally in (Cullowhee’s) Troop 914,” he said. “And hiking has always been something my family has done as well. So it fit perfectly for me. I loved it.”
While the topography of Western North Carolina gave some idea of what he would be facing, Houghton said hiking in Switzerland did offer some surprises.
“Some of the trails are similar to the ones around here, but a lot of the terrain is different,” he said. “They have these glacial valleys that are unlike anything I have seen in my life.
“Another difference is that the trails are very well marked, but they are measured in time,” Houghton said. “Instead of something being two miles ahead, the sign would say something like four hours ahead. That was a little weird.”
During his stay at the camp, Houghton said there would be anywhere from 200 to 1,200 Scouts visiting at a time. Though that many children could be overwhelming, he said, leading hikes offered him and the campers a small escape.
“The hikes were the one time we got to sit down and talk to the kids,” he said. “The biggest groups I would take out had 10 or 15 people. It was good to break off from the rest of the campers.”
Though he enjoyed spending time with the younger Scouts, Houghton said looking after kids from different countries often created a communication problem.
“Sometimes they would have a group leader who spoke English,” he said. “But many times I was taking out a group where no one spoke any English. Even if they could, it was very limited. It was hard to show them how to do things, and I think that was the biggest challenge.”
Another concern was dealing with accidents, which Houghton said was always an issue when hiking.
“It was a bit overwhelming,” Houghton said. “Since you’re dealing with kids, accidents happen all the time. At first, that’s always on your mind, and you really just want to do the right thing. After a while, I got into the groove of it and went along with whatever happened.”
Making accidents more prevalent were the altitudes at which most of the hikes took place. Though many campers would simply complain of being tired, Houghton said some of them had a hard time dealing with the thinner air in the Swiss mountains.
“The places we were hiking were up really high, so the kids would get altitude sickness frequently,” Houghton said. “That was just one of the things the counselors had to deal with. All the first aid training I got during my time in Scouts really helped prepare me for it. The center also gave us some guide training as well.”
Despite these fears, Houghton said he and the other counselors were prepared to handle almost every situation they faced. Though staff members came from 16 different countries, all of them spoke English, which made communication much easier than with the campers.
Spending time with the other counselors also gave Houghton a glimpse at different cultures and viewpoints.
“I was amazed to meet all of these people,” Houghton said. “The whole experience helped me to realize that people are pretty similar, no matter where they are from or what language they speak.”
Now that Houghton has returned to Elon, he said he has fond memories of his time in Switzerland, and is hoping to return at some point.
“I definitely want to go back during the winter to be a ski guide,” Houghton said. “I would go back anytime, really. Unfortunately, I have to go to school.”
For more information about the center at Kandersteg, visit kisc.ch.
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