Philmont Council Contingents

Philmont's "age" rules:

"Age" at Philmont is confusing at best.  There are no age rules for the Contingent other than Philmont requirements. 

Age needs to be viewed from two different perspectives:  1) Philmont crew makeup rules; 2) Youth Protection rules.

From a Philmont crew makeup standpoint:

    a)  Any participant younger than 21 years old is considered a "youth".
    b)  Any participant older that 20 years old is considered an "adult."
    c)  All crews MUST have a majority of "youth" (this is really only important to crew sizes smaller than the Capitol Area Council contingent permits).
    d)  A crew MUST NOT have more than 4 adults (in our case, this would leave the other 8 slots for "youth").
    e)  This definition of "youth" and "adult" applies to Philmont crews regardless of whether they are Boy Scout Troop or Venturing Crew based or how the participants are registered with BSA.

From a Youth Protection standpoint:

Age will depend on the individual Scout's primary registration.

    a)  A participant with a primary registration as a Boy Scout younger than 18 years old is considered a "youth".
    b)  A participant with a primary registration as a Boy Scout older than 17 years old is considered an "adult" (and must be registered as an Adult Leader).
    c)  A participant with a primary registration as a Venturer younger than 21 years old is considered a "youth".
    d)  A participant with a primary registration as a Venturer older than 20 years old is considered an "adult" (and must be registered as an Adult Leaders).

Each Philmont Expedition must have at least two BSA registered adult advisors for Scout Groups, one advisor must be at least 21 years of age, the second advisor must be at least 18 years of age.

The Contingent recommendation is that crews be sure to have at least three participants who can qualify as an "adult" for Youth Protection purposes.  For example, a crew is made up as follows:

    10 -- 16 year old Boy Scouts or Venturers
      2 -- 45 year old adults

This counts as 10/2 for crew makeup purposes.  If one of the 45-year old's got sick or injured, the other 11 would potentially have to come off the trail because the crew would not have two-deep leadership.

Another example:

      9 -- 16 year old Boy Scouts
      1 -- 19 year old Boy Scout "adult leader"
      2 -- 45 year old adults

This also counts as 10/2 for crew makeup purposes.  If the same 45-year old got sick or injured, the crew could stay on the trail since the 19-year old could provide adult leadership for Youth Protection purposes.  Be aware that, if since the 19-year old has his primary registration as a Boy Scout (adult leader), he cannot share a tent with any of the 16-year olds (even siblings) since he is considered an "adult".  If, on the other hand, this person has his primary registration as a Venturer, he would have to share a tent with one of the 16-year olds (unless one of the 45-year olds was his parent.)

It is always good to have at least three "adults" on a crew.  If the crew has to  go outside of its unit to fill crew slots, it is easier to find a father/son (mother/daughter) or two youth from the same unit that want to go together.  That's a bit less intimidating than being the odd-person in a group of strangers.

A Capitol Area Council contingent crew can be made up of 8/4, 9/3, or 10/2.  Be really careful with the 10/2 to be sure there will always be two Youth Protection "adults". 

For tenting purposes, the ages become very import.  Youth Protection policy states that no "youth" may share a tent with an "adult" other than his/her parent.  If the participant's primary registration is a Boy Scout, a participant is an “adult” if they are 18 or over.  They can’t share a tent with a Scout under 18 -- even a sibling.  They must tent with either their parent or another participant 18 or older.  If the participant's primary registration is a Venturer, the participant is an “adult” if they are 21 or older.  There must be female adult advisors with coed Venturing Crews, the female advisor may only share a tent with her spouse, another female adult, or her child.

Create a tenting tent/sharing chart before leaving for Philmont.  This will be needed for tent counts at Base Camp on arrival and before departing for home and on the trail.  All Base Camp tents are two-person tents.

Stick with the tent sharing plan throughout the trek -- in base camp, on the trail, and back in base camp.  Don't let crew members move from tent to tent -- this not only adds to the difficulty in creating the Duty Roster but also will mean it will take significantly more time to set up and take down camp each day.

If a crew has a person who is not permitted to share a tent because of age or Youth Protection rules, that person should bring a lightweight one-person tent (but not a bivy sack).