Spring at Camp Pinnacle brings a lot of excitement to our camp family. Inflatables and boats are making their way back into Wolfe Lake, mountain biking trails are getting a fresh trim, and flowers are peaking out to welcome our pre-summer weddings. Everywhere you look there is progress being made and noticeable evidence of the fun summer that is fast approaching.
A quick walk around camp is sure to have veteran campers recognizing some new additions for the coming summer. As always, Tom and the rest of our maintenance team have been working tirelessly on facilities upgrades this off-season. Our Hillside of camp is sporting a new cabin (any guesses on its name?), a new bathhouse, and a new bunkhouse for our Trip Leaders and out of cabin staff. Our Lakeside assembly area got a facelift and a little expansion, with the addition of some new seating and stone steps. Chefs Richard and Joseph also have a newly built kitchen storage building to help support our famous CP culinary efforts.
Of course, we couldn’t let winter go by without coming up with some new upgrades and additions to our programs and activities at camp.
Our climbing program is getting the biggest boost for 2022. A new bouldering wall now sits adjacent to our climbing wall; offering campers a lower elevation, but a more technical challenge. Our tree-climb element introduced in 2021 was a big hit with our campers who loved heights, so we decided to add two more! We now have three tree climbs, a “Climbing Grove” if you will, providing campers with a bird’s eye view of the canopy of mature pines around the Sky Park. These trees outfitted with climbing holds allow campers to climb almost 60 feet up before descending with the aid of an auto-belay device. Lastly, climbers will be able to work on their balance and coordination at ground level with our new slacklines. These modern-day tight ropes will provide a great challenge for campers while they move between the various other activities that make up our climbing/ropes department.
Our off-camp paddling adventures have a new custom trailer from our friends at Ogre Outdoors. After creating the perfect mountain bike trailer for us a few years back, we knew they were the perfect resource for creating a paddling trailer that would cater to some awesome adventures on the Lower Green, Lake Jocassee, and other classic paddling destinations.
Mountain biking at CP is always one of our most popular programs and for good reason. We take a lot of pride in providing campers with the best trails, bikes, and instruction we can find while maintaining our focus on safety. With this in mind, every year we rotate out the oldest steeds in the bike barn and bring in some fresh wheels! Our friends at Specialized bikes have 16 new rides heading our way to compliment the remainder of our fleet. The mountain bike staff at camp can’t wait to break them in this summer!
2022 is shaping up to be a fantastic summer! We are thrilled for another great summer in the outdoors and look forward to seeing all of you here at CP in two short months!