Plains Boy Scouts reach for sky

A group of Plains and Paradise boys were reaching for new heights last week.

Five boys from Plains Boy Scouts Troops 46 and one from Troop 57 scaled an 85-90-degree rock face at Camp Bighorn Christian Camp Friday afternoon in an effort to obtain their Rock Climbing Merit Badge, said Don Damschen, one of the troop leaders. Though Damschen wasn’t trying to get a merit badge, he took his turn at the climb. With his safety helmet, harness and ropes, he managed to gain a height of about 20 feet, but Damschen completed a climb near the same place two weeks earlier when members of his troop hit the side of the rocky mountain their first time there.

Damschen said the boys started on their Rock Climbing Merit Badge just over a year ago. They’ve already gone to The Summit Center, a man-made rock climbing place in Kalispell, twice. To get the merit badge, the boys must have three climbs and three repels under their safety belts, said Damschen, who has two boys — David and Daniel — as part of the troop.

The boys, from age 11 to 15, spent almost three hours at Camp Bighorn Friday. Zach Vanderwall, the camp’s training and support director, was the Scouts’ instructor. He went over their gear and stressed safety with the group before taking them up to the climbing site. The boys took turns trying to scale a 55-60-foot rock face. Some of the boys scampered up the rock wall fairly quickly, while other were very cautious. They finished their project about 5:30 p.m. Damschen believes nine of them completed their badge requirements. “Some did not like the heights,” he added.

Part of their requirements was to demonstrate their knot-tying abilities. This may have been the first time the Scouts of Troop 46/57 had gone for the Rock Climbing Merit Badge, said Damschen.