Welcome to the Kandersteg Blog
- Posted 7/16/2023 3:56:17 AM by Dan Turner Everyone cleared security and we are waiting to board AA flight 71 to DFW. See you soon! Mr. Turner
- Posted 7/15/2023 11:12:58 PM by Dan Turner T17 has arrived at the airport in Frankfurt.
- Posted 7/11/2023 5:06:41 PM by Dan Turner Today took Troop 17 to Jungfraujoch (which I spelled incorrectly yesterday). This structure call the "Top of Europe" included an ice palace and the edge of the of the longest glacier in the Alps! We took 2 trains up to the top - with the trains driving up the mountain at an amazing 14 degree incline. After a hot meal at the top, we toured the facility and took a lot of pictures including shots on actual snow. We then took a train partially back down the mountain and set off on a hike down the rest of the way down the mountain. Rated as a moderate trail, we forged downhill with temperatures in the high 90s as we arrived several hours later to meet our bus. Dinner was well received at camp as everyone had worked up quite an appetite. Late this evening storms rolled through the camp and most everyone called it a night. Rain is forecast overnight with a possibility of extending in to tomorrow. On the agenda tomorrow - canyoning and white water rafting (weather permitting). I will have pictures posted to our Instagram account tonight (it is 11pm here) or possibly in the morning. Be sure to follow @troop17. Mr. Turner
- Posted 7/10/2023 1:47:25 PM by Dan Turner Today was multi-modal day! The younger group took a cable car to do rock climbing on the mountain above Kandersteg, one group took a train to canyoning, and the 3rd group took a bus and a train to go rafting. A fantastic time was had by all. Tomorrows main event is the Joung Frau Joch site seeing event. It may be an early evening as everyone is worn out from the day of fun. Mr. T
- Posted 7/10/2023 12:57:04 AM by Dan Turner We made it! Ok multiple hours ago actually. Morning light splits the troop in 3 groups. We have climbing, rafting, and ultimate canyoning on the agenda. International night was last night and once the scouts completed the build the tent with no instructions challenge (and not all the parts the first or second times), a great night was had by all. Mr. T
- Posted 7/8/2023 10:02:54 PM by Dan Turner At about our half way point in our flight, I thought I would revive this blog and use it to post updates during our trip. Yes, I was the last poster here...almost 13 years ago. As we head across the North Atlantic, leaving land behind...and 39,000 feet below us, Ive talked to several of the flight crew and they have had conversations with the Scouts and relayed their excitement about our upcoming adventures! Thank you to all the families that got everyone to the airport on time and got us through check in and security without any hiccups. I will post updates here when I can and others may post here also. We will also post to Instagram when we can too. Mr. Turner
- Posted 9/20/2010 12:54:13 PM by Dan Turner Thank you again to all the parents that supported us on this trip - without your help this would not have been possible.
- Posted 7/15/2010 10:27:02 AM by James Duke For those who missed it or whose boys did not tell them, Mr. Duke resigned as Scoutmaster once the troop returned to DFW. Mr. Turner is the new Scoutmaster for Troop 17! It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve as Scoutmaster helping your boys become men and the leaders of the future. I look forward to seeing everyone on August 13 at 7:00 PM for our Eagle Scout Court of Honor for 4 Eagles and I hope to see Troop 17 in California for a road trip in the future. Thank you for all of your support. Yours in Scouting, James Duke, former Scoutmaster, Troop 17.
- Posted 7/14/2010 10:54:48 AM by Dan Turner Wow what a great trip! Thanks to all the parents and the warm welcome when we arrived! Im sure all of your boys appreciated it too. Hopefully they are all getting rested and doing their laundry. Regretfully, Im back at work already after a few hours of sleep. Parents, you should be very proud of your boys! They accomplished a lot during the last 12 days! Please encourage them to write down what they did, what they saw, what worked well, and what did not. Hopefully, they all kept a journal during the trip. The ability to look back years later and read about what they did during the trip is a great gift to themselves. Thank you again to all the adults that went on the trip also - hopefully all of you are getting rested also.
- Posted 7/13/2010 6:17:50 PM by Dan Turner Chicago was a bit of drama to clear customs and security in time. Luckily there was a former Eagle Scout in charge of the line to get to passport control. He took us past the hour long line and put us in the crew line instead Next time your boys complain about wearing a full class A uniform on a trip, remind them that we would have not made our flight home if we had not been in uniform as a group. Plame ended up leaving late, which is a blessing since our bags had tobe screened again before being loaded on the DFW flight. ETA when we left was a 9:22 arrival. Be sure to check the screens when you arrive or check www.aa.com for the latest gate info.
- Posted 7/13/2010 4:49:02 AM by Dan Turner We are sweating it out at the airport waiting to board our first plane. Everyone made it through security! Now we just hope the plane will be cooler - no air conditioning in the waiting area. We also just recognized and awarded Graham A. his Kandersteg patch since his family is moving and he may not be at the next Scout meeting (reminder no meeting tonight!). Wish us luck and we will see you tonight!
- Posted 7/12/2010 9:34:57 PM by Dan Turner One quick story to share before I head to breakfast. We think Tristan wont forget his hat again soon. The day before we left KISC, one of the kitchen staff found his hat in the dirty dish line. Not sure how it gotthere, but she brought it to me. I told her about our special little lost item dance and she said they just normally have the person help wash dishes...ding!...what a good idea! I called Tristan over and gave him the choice of working for me or helping the VOLUNTEER kitchen staff for finding his hat. He chose the kitchen and spent about 20 minutes on the wash line! I have a great picture of it. He honestly looked like he was having fun and they enjoyed having someone in helping them.
- Posted 7/12/2010 9:29:38 PM by Dan Turner Monday night...we arrived in FRA this afternoon and after another amazing feat of driving skill, got checked into the nicest rooms so far in the trip. We walked down the street as a group and has some authentic German Chinese food. It was very good (hotel recommended it) and we had a nice evening after a blistering hot day on the road. It was around 97 degrees F here today - not bad by our standards, but very hot for here. Now Tuesday morning...hopefully everyone is awake and showered (or at least in line for one). We will have breakfast at 7 and then take a train to the airport. Departing on flight AA83 at 14:25h to Chicago then AA2349 to Dallas arriving at 21:05h. Flight scheduled to arrive in gate A24 but yesterday it arrived in C20 so be sure to call AA or check www.aa.com to confirm gate before heading to the airport.
- Posted 7/12/2010 7:19:36 AM by Ashley Turner Hi all - received a call this morning (9:15a) from Dan. The troop is about 1 hr outside of Frankfurt on the bus with the same driver they had leaving the airport originally going to Switzerland. Their flight from Chicago to DFW will arrive at 9:05pm. Again, the flight number is 2349. Dan says everyone is sleeping on the bus right now after eating lunch at McDonalds. He is sure they will be well rested after the plane ride home!
- Posted 7/11/2010 12:39:59 PM by Dan Turner *** CORRECTION ON FLIGHT NUMBER...NOW 2349 ***
- Posted 7/11/2010 12:21:48 PM by Dan Turner Sunday night. Everyone home safe. Most boys are watching the world cup finals instead of packing. We are heading to Frankfurt early in the morning. *** Parents, please pick us up on Tuesday at 9:00 pm at DFW. We arrive on American flight 2347 ***
- Posted 7/11/2010 2:56:51 AM by Dan Turner Sunday lunch. got word that 2 of 3 groups from staff made it to summit this am. check out the link to the gps tracker earlier in the blog. free day for others here today. weather is hot by standards here. lots of new groups here also. more later tonight. everyone doing fine.
- Posted 7/11/2010 2:54:54 AM by Dan Turner Saturday dinner...two out of three hikes back - Ill leave the explaination on the hikes to the boys. Some personal messages from the Scouts to you: JP "one small step for man, one giant leap for man kind"; Adam "hi mom and Aaron"; Jacob "hi mom having a great time and it isnt as cold as expected"; Jordan "having fun did an awsome hike looking forward to Sunday as a chill day"; Jay "hi Im having a good time except for the hike that nearly destroyed me, be home soon, love you all"; Chris "its great to be back in Switzerland. Having a great time. Hike was hard, miss you all, bye, love you"; JackT. "hi, its fine, its been a long week and Im looking forward to getting home to give Sam his gift"; Nathan "hike was something Ill never forget. It was really hard brut at the end it was something really rewarding."; Tristan "I am still alive."; Ben "Love you very much, ready to come home, bought you some souvenirs, it is very pretty out here"; Alex "Switzerland is very nice and Im glad get to stay for another two weeks"; Levi "today I hike 12 or 13 miles. It was long and excruciating but I wanted a challenge. It took around 4 hours."; Earl "he stayed up with the horses and never complained. Had a great time with the other boys".
- Posted 7/9/2010 9:00:17 AM by David Taylor On the Kandersteg website is a photo gallery that has a picture of some of the boys. www.kisc.ch On the left side of the webpage is a listing for This Week at KISC-Photo Gallery. The first listing is Gallery 04.07.10. Select this one. It is a slide show and has one of Troop 17.
- Posted 7/8/2010 12:25:13 PM by Dan Turner Thursday night...yet another fabulous day! We took a bus to the Trummelbach Falls and Interlaken. The falls were an awe-inspiring display of the power of water. From a glacier far above the falls work through the mountain down into the valley...and I literally mean THROUGH the mountain. For me I fpund it most interesting that someone had the forethought to actually cut the paths along side the falls so that they could be enjoyed. They had to tunnel through hundreds of feet of rock to build the observation areas. From there we went to Interlaken to be tourists. The boys spent the afternoon shopping and sightseeing. We came back for dinner and watched a presentation on "Glaciers, Alps, and Avalanches". The boys all had some packing or re-packing to do to prepare for the overnight hikes tomorrow. Because of the overnight hikes, there wont be any postings for the next two days. Assume no news is good news. Moms and dads, your kids are doing fine. Its a bittersweet day because we passed the half way point in our trip
- Posted 7/7/2010 11:34:52 PM by Dan Turner Wednesday night...another fabulous day. Mr. Bogle finally found fire hydrant number 17 (and light pole number 17)! Today we had the tightest schedule for the week. We had to be at the train station at 8:10a with breakfast complete and sandwhiches made for lunch. Several trains later, we arrived at Stockhorn. The two tram rides to the top revealed an amazing view for miles in every direction. We had plenty of time to explore the mountain top and eat lunch before we had to head back to the trams. The hike from the trams turned into a sprint to the train station to catch the arriving train (not to worry, there was another train that we could have caught and still been on schedule). That train to us to a small farming town named Oberwill. Since we were early, we had a bit of time to explore the town, but found that it was closed for lunch (think siesta, but Swiss instead of Spanish). We met the guides, got squeezed into wet suits (some of us were more squeezed than others), got helmets and life coats then headed to the river. Imagine 46 people walking through farm roads with paddles and full wet suits onin the middle of the day - Im sure the picture on that one will be funny. After some instructions, we launched the craft. The water was cold and fast - about class 2 or 2+ rating. We only had one swimmer (Nathan) and he was quickly pulled back in the raft. Everyone had a great time on the river! We got out of the river in Darstettenand (this is where Mr. Bogle found hydrant number 17) and had some time to look around before we caught the train back to Kandersteg. We had a quick green bar meeting and the boys agreed that it was a success - even with the tight schedule. Money was handed out and the patrols had dinner as groups in town. Several groups even got to catch some of the World Cup soccer. The evening had more free time for the boys to meet and interact with Scouts from all over the world. Eventually everyone headed to bed, including me. Good night. Moms and dads, your boys are fine and having fun. Thursday morning (at least we think its Thursday!). Boys had stayed up late last night after a long day so everyone is dragging this morning. Breakfast is calling soon and then we are off to Interloken and Trimblebach
- Posted 7/7/2010 2:57:42 PM by Ashley Turner Be sure to plant dafodil1s close by if you find the fire hydrant #17!
- Posted 7/6/2010 10:02:43 AM by Dan Turner Tuesday night...day was great. Everyone went to town and the boys all shopped for lunch and other things. We then took the tram up to Lake Oechinensee, hiked around and ate lunch. I cant speak for the boys but our fresh, local, cheese and meats on fresh baked bread was delicious (Tommy mustard was a great addition). Some brave boys took a swim in the frigid lake. Others boated around in it. The fun came to an end and we hiked down the mountain. Mr. Bogle has made it his mission to find fire hydrant number 17 - no luck yet. Several folks were pretty wiped out by the hike, but everyone survived. Some personal messages... Earl: Levi had a great time with others in the row boats; Charles and Ben say happy birthday to Sheila; Mr. Duke: *** REMINDER NO SCOUT MEETING TONIGHT ***
- Posted 7/5/2010 12:52:56 PM by Dan Turner Tonights dinner was an "international BBQ" - basically a burger and a brat then everyone in camp hung out afterwards to trade. There were demonstrations of Scottish bagpipes and dancing. Many boys ended up with neckerchiefs from around the world. The event wrapped up before dark and everyone turned in for a hopefully full nights rest. We have a trip into town planned for the morning and then lunch on the side of a mountain lake. Hike back shouldnt be too bad. Everyone is still doing fine.
- Posted 7/5/2010 7:06:34 AM by Dan Turner [These are my notes from the road - please excuse any typos, shorthand, or other errors]Arrived Chicago and found we had a gate change there also. Only problem was that no new gate was assigned. Repeated calls and discussions with American yielded no results eventually a plane was driven over by two maintenance engineers to a new gate. One toilet out of comission. Flight left almost an hour late, but we made it up in the air. Bringing 44 into the country is no easy task. Finally the passport control officers pulled us aside and processed us sperately. Bags were retrieved with nothing to declare and we met up with the bus driver.Because we already set the standard that we cant take our first mode of transport (gate changed, planed changed) we decided to change buses to give us a bit more room for our 6 hour drive to Bern. Somewhere along the way we stopped at a very popular (crowded) burger king/combo restaurant and had lunch. By the time we finally all get something that resembled what we ordered ,we had done the drivers required 30 minute break. Bathrooms, only 1/2 euro. Back on the road...trying to keep everyone awake so that the sleep tonight and dont keep us awake. (July 7 4:40 pm)another short uneventful stop for fuel and we were back on the road.Arrived at border of Switzerland to a minor fire drill of the driver attempting to find the registration papers for the bus. Papers were found and we were allowed to continue on.Arrived in Bern around 8 pm. After an amazing parking job by the bus driver (threading the needle between a fence and parked cars with about 6 inches max to spare going BACKWARDS up a hill), we unloaded checked in and were off to explore and dinner. Many patrols found the local pizzerias open late and welcoming. Rooms were 6 or more to a room. (Its been a long time since I slept in a bunk bed). Lights out for most was around 11pm.Daylight was early. Muster was at 6:45a and everyone was on time. Bus was loaded with only one squirrel dance performed for a lost jacket. The girls from Norway enjoyed the show while they were eating breakfast.We arrived in Kandersteg first thing this morning. The drive in was spectacular. Weather is perfect. Much cooler than in Bern. Camp was built after we thanked our driver and whished him a safe trip home - we got the feeling that he would have preferred to stay. Lunch was in the hall and the patrols were off to take self guided tours of the camp. Being that they were "self guided", they didnt last long and the boys were back to the soccer fields to attempt to regain the glory (they were quite schooled bu some folks from Ireland before lunch). This time they were smarter and mixed up the teams so they were somewhat bslanced. The trading has definately begun with a lot of groups leaving today and wanting to get things from the new group in camp. Everyone is enjoying themselves! Moms and dads, your kids are fine. We tried to post pics but cant due to restrictions on the PCs here.
- Posted 7/4/2010 2:55:38 PM by Roger Smith This is Melissa Smith. I noticed that Roger must have turned on the GPS tracker. The link for it is in Dan Turners entry posted 7/1/10 1:26. It shows that they are in Bern. Also received a text from Roger that they arrived at the youth hostel in Bern and all is great.
- Posted 7/4/2010 5:06:56 AM by Ashley Turner Wanted everyone to know that Dan sent me a text message this morning just before 5am. They were just heading out from the airport in Frankfurt and all was ok!
- Posted 7/3/2010 2:43:21 PM by Dan Turner Hit our first blip.....gate changed...staff handled it without a hitch. With a little extra help and guidance from the flight crew, we are now in transit to Chicago. Internet access is good here and batteries are fully charged - anyone reading along shouldnt expect that we keep this level of updates going once we leave the country. One other note, there will not be troop meetings while we are out of town. Mr. Duke was having some trouble getting that email out. Please share that info with anyone not on the trip.
- Posted 7/3/2010 12:56:42 PM by James Duke Everybody is checked in and made it through security. many hamburgers have been consumed (and some enchiladas). We now wait for our flight to Chicago.
- Posted 7/2/2010 5:24:24 PM by Dan Turner Parents - in case of an urgent emergency, you can contact the Kandersteg International Scout Center (KISC) at
- Posted 7/2/2010 5:04:00 PM by Dan Turner Less than 19 hours to go before we meet! Everyone should be OUTSIDE security near the American ticketing counter closest to gate A23 at noon tomorrow. Everyone should be in FULL CLASS A UNIFORM with the standard grey Troop shirt underneath. Pack an extra grey shirt if you have one. Remember, no pocket knives on the plane.
- Posted 7/1/2010 1:26:04 PM by Dan Turner We will also have GPS messenger with us. The device can send back "we are ok" messages and will have the coordinates we sent from. Click here to see the latest message.
- Posted 7/1/2010 9:41:19 AM by James Duke We meet in 48 hours for our European adventure! We will met Saturday at noon in the ticketing hall near Gate A23. Please have all of your gear and please make sure your checked bag does exceed 50 lbs and 62 combined inches and your carry on will fit in the overhead and weighs less than 40 lbs. Our departure flight number is American 2360. All items on the gear list are required. Your knives must be in your checked bag. All water containers must be empty. We have a blog we will be updating at http://www.troop17.net/kanderblog.asp. A link to the blog may be found at www.troop17.net. We recommend that scouts carry their spending money on pre-paid credit/gift cards.
- Posted 6/30/2010 11:01:29 AM by Roger Smith We are scheduled to depart on Saturday from Gate A23. Please make sure you have your passports. You can go here to view restricted items and here to view bag allowances. Please make sure all sharps ( knives ) are in you r checked bags and all water containers are EMPTY when you arrive at the airport.
- Posted 6/28/2010 12:55:23 PM by Dan Turner More information on the trip is also listed in the news section of the site. This includes the Kandersteg presentation and gear list.
- Posted 6/28/2010 11:52:50 AM by Dan Turner If you did not have all your paperwork or passport at the Saturday shake down, please be sure to bring it Tuesday night. We need all paperwork completed then!
- Posted 6/28/2010 8:24:07 AM by Dan Turner Roger Smith found this weather site that might provide more information on weather in Kandersteg... http://www.myweather2.com/Hill-and-Mountain/Switzerland/Kandersteg.aspx
- Posted 6/26/2010 10:00:00 PM by Dan Turner Welcome to the Kander-Blog! Updates will be posted prior to the trip and then we'll do everything possible to keep updates coming while we are on the trip
+41-33-675-8282.