Let’s Go Rock Climbing!

When kids come to Rockbrook for camp, they know there’s going to be outdoor adventure happening, things like backpacking, kayaking and whitewater rafting, but they are sometimes surprised about all the rock climbing available. That’s mostly because there is simply so much rock to climb right here on the camp property, not to mention some of the famous rock climbing areas nearby in the Pisgah National Forest. But it’s also because learning to climb is so popular! No matter how old you are —yes, even the youngest kids— you can climb a real rock just about every day at Rockbrook.

Here’s how it works. Usually at breakfast or at dinner the night before, the rock climbing staff will announce a trip they have planned. Like for all of our adventure trips, the campers can then decide if they want to go. They make their own decision weather to go.  It means giving up their regularly scheduled activities, and that can be a hard choice if you really love horseback riding or archery for example, but it also means enjoying the thrill of getting up on the rock. It helps to have experienced the fun of rock climbing to realize these trips are worth signing up for, but even after just one outing, campers learn how much of a treat they are. Some of these trips are short hikes up to a couple of the routes on Castle Rock, while others will be all-day adventures to one of the climbing areas on Looking Glass Rock.

The Rockbrook Camp rock climbing program is a big part of the adventure activities around here. Hey, let’s go climbing!

Beginning Weaving

What better way to learn weaving than making a woven potholder at summer camp!? You take simple tools– a square weaving frame and crochet hook –and a bag of colorful cotton or wool “loopers.”  After a short time learning the basic idea, you’ll be weaving.

And the technique is easy too! First you select colors of loopers and stretch them across the frame to form the “warp” of the project. In this photo the warp is the different colored vertical strands. Then you weave another looper, alternating over and under each strand of the warp to form the weft.  Adding one (in this example, white) looper at a time, and alternating which strands go over and under, a dense colorful pattern begins to form. As you add more and more loopers, you’ll probably need a long crochet hook or other wire hook to pull the last couple of loopers into place.

This is real weaving.  Sure it’s a simple example, but that’s good when you are just beginning to learn.  The next step is varying the colors and weaving pattern of the strands.  There are even different shaped frames to make things even more interesting.  We also like starting with these potholder weaving projects because they don’t take too long to finish.

With the basic concept of weaving understood and practiced, campers can move on to one of the tabletop looms or even the wide floor-standing looms for their next, larger and more complicated, weaving projects.  Down at Curosty, the fiber arts activity cabin at camp, Rockbrook girls are learning to weave!

New Club President Charlotte

With the start of the new year, our own Associate Director and longtime Rockbrook girl, Charlotte Page, has taken over as the President of the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Club of Transylvania County. The Boys and Girls Club is a remarkable community organization providing after school programs for kids ages 5-18. It serves as a “home away from home,” where children are supported with tutoring, character and leadership training, health and life skills, and of course plenty of fun activities.

This is big news! The Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper just published a story about Charlotte’s new role as president. Here’s a link to read it. Other Board members and staff of the Boys & Girls club are excited about Charlotte’s leadership. “Charlotte brings a commitment to and a knowledge of youth that’s invaluable,” said one, and “Charlotte obviously loves kids and has a keen interest in seeing them progress,” remarked another.

Congratulations Charlotte! There’s a long history, going back to Nancy Carrier, of Rockbrook’s Directors serving the children of our local community. It’s so great to see that tradition just as strong today.

You can learn more about the Boys & Girls Club of Transylvania County on their Web site.

Horseback Riding Resources

Around this time year, with last summer pretty far behind us and next summer’s camp fun still several months away, it’s easy to start missing all the great stuff we love about Rockbrook. Of course, you can bounce all over the RBC Web site and check in with your cabin mates in the Friends Net, enjoy some camp activities at home, or even watch some videos. You can look forward to a holiday surprise coming in the mail (hint: CP). You can pull out your journal or letters you received last summer. There are ways to relive bits and pieces of camp, even now as we head into winter.

But what if you love horses, and you aren’t able to ride much while at home? After riding at camp, what can you do to feed your desire to ride and learn about horseback riding the rest of the year? Fortunately, there are a ton of excellent resources available on the Internet, different Web sites dedicated to all things equestrian. Here are few great examples.

Let’s say you want to just learn some surprising facts about horseback riding. Just head over to Equine Kingdom and dig in! Did you know that the oldest horse on record lived to be 62 years old, or that there are about 75 million horses in the world?! This is a great site with fun photos, videos, articles, quizzes and more. You’ll be able to spend a lot of time enjoying Equine Kingdom.

If you would like to learn about all of the equine resources available in your area, a farrier, boarding farm, or veterinarian for example, you can head over to Newhorse.com or Forequestrians.com. These are two directories, organized collections of other Web sites related to horseback riding, horses and their care, horses for sale, riding games, and more. You can think of these as jumping off points for finding out even more.

So don’t let your interest in horseback riding fade over the winter! We love riding too much for that!

Looking Glass Rock Climbing

One of the best rock climbing areas in the Southeast is Looking Glass Rock. Rising almost 1000 feet from the forest floor, Looking Glass is a dome-shaped mass of granite near Brevard in the Pisgah National Forest. It can easily be seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway nearby. For rock climbers it offers a fantastic variety of sport, friction, face, crack and even aid climbing routes suitable for the beginning, intermediate and advanced climber. Circling the domed rock are well-known climbing areas: the Nose, South Side, Sun Wall and North Wall. On the southeastern side of the rock, there is a popular tourist trail for hiking to the summit.

Rockbrook Camp Girl Joanna on Looking Glass Rock

Here’s a photo of a Rockbrook camper on the Nose (5.8).  Rockbrook is located only about 15 miles from Looking Glass.  After topping out our own climbs on Castle Rock, our camp rock climbing program brings girls to Looking Glass, as well as other climbing areas in this region of North Carolina.  There’s a lot of rock to climb around here, and the girls love it!

Shaving Cream Fight Video

Ever had a shaving cream fight? Armed with a couple of cans, and dressed in your bathing suit, have you chased your friends around trying to smear them with shaving cream? Has anyone ever sneaked up to you and planted a handful of shaving cream on your neck? No? Well take a look at this video and see just how much fun it can be!

100% Rockbrook.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All of us here at Rockbrook, Sarah and Jeff, Charlotte, Carol, Sofie, Frampton, Connie, Richie and Jerry want to wish our campers, counselors and their families a happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Happiness, health, friends and family— these and many more are our wishes for you!

Her Very First Ride

For little girls, taking their first equestrian lesson can be a mix of excitement and nervous jitters. It’s exciting because horseback riding seems so fun when you read about it or see it in movies, but for your first riding lesson, it can easily be a little overwhelming. There is so much to learn— special clothes, important safety rules, riding gear for the horse, how to mount, different riding positions, and communicating with your horse. The horses and ponies can seem so huge! And there is a lot to remember all at once.

That’s why it’s so important that a girl’s first experience learning to horseback ride be a safe, caring, gentle introduction. It’s crucial that her instructor be experienced working with small children, that he or she be kind and patient, and that the pony be calm and gentle in the ring. Taking small steps, gradually gaining confidence and greater understanding, is the best way to maintain a girl’s enthusiasm for riding. The best children’s horseback riding centers know how to pace this kind of progression.

The equestrian program at Rockbrook Camp has a long history of introducing young girls to horseback riding. Camp has just the right combination of skilled instructors and gentle ponies, enthusiasm for riding, and great equestrian facilities to encourage girls on their very first ride. At camp, we’re well prepared to make every girl’s first horseback riding experience a positive one. It’s the perfect recipe for a life-long love of horses and horseback riding!