Youth Backcountry Camp Partner Program

YBCC Instructors

by Julia Kaseta Youth Programs Manager W hat once consisted of a few days taking youth out on the Tahoe Rim Trail more than 13-years ago, has now grown into a robust, summer-long Youth Backcountry Camp (YBCC) program, built on community relationships and the drive to inspire stewardship in the next generation.

The YBCC program weaves Leave No Trace ethics throughout a curriculum that utilizes hands-on activities to teach wilderness skills, natural history, and practical life skills. Youth participants practice self-sufficiency in a wilderness context while overcoming challenges and experiencing the joy in backcountry living with their peers. Participants complete the program feeling more self-confident, empowered to share stewardship practices, and eager to spend more time unplugged and outdoors.

Each year, the TRTA forms partnerships with social-service organizations in the Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities to implement the Youth Backcountry Camp Partner Program. The Partner Program is a free program aimed to provide YBCC adventures to underserved youth. The YBCC Partner Program is designed as a true collaboration. Passionate TRTA staff work alongside staff and volunteers from social-service organizations to provide the physical and mental health benefits of time spent outdoors to youth that often do not have access to outdoor opportunities due to financial, social, cultural, and/or other barriers to entry. The TRTA provides all required food, gear, curriculum, transportation, and lead instructors at no cost to partner groups or participants thanks to support from generous donors and grantors. Our partners recruit 8-12 teens to attend their YBCC trip and two chaperones to serve as YBCC instructors and support the

Send a Kid to Camp!

If you would like to support youth underserved in outdoor education, donate to our youth programs. Help TRTA raise funds for kids to attend a YBCC camp in 2021 at no cost! Email JuliaK@tahoerimtrail.org or call 775.298.4485 for more information.

No two partnerships are the same. The program’s success comes from its flexibility which results in individualized trips that suit each

“The TRTA provides all necessary equipment and has fantastic instructors that can make an impact on our kids. Without this program I do not feel the club would have the means to get these future stewards out on the trails.”

partner’s needs. With a common goal to positively impact young lives, the TRTA and partner organizations implement progressive curriculum to serve the skill level of both new and returning participants. Past programs have highlighted the program’s impact with 74% of 2019 participants feeling more self-confident, 80% feeling better equipped to overcome challenges, and 88% feeling more connected to nature. Mission accomplished!

With our 2020 program already in the works, the TRTA is looking forward to 2021 and increasing the capacity of this program to ensure all youth have the opportunity to get outside and experience a YBCC trip!

Apply this fall to join the YBCC Partner program. Details on the program timeline

Boys and Girls Club of Lake Tahoe are included below. See the TRTA’s YBCC Partner Program website for more details and to apply for 2021! Questions regarding the TRTA’s Youth Backcountry Camp Partner Program can be sent to Julia Kaseta, Youth Pograms Manager at JuliaK@tahoerimtrail.org or call 775.298.4493.

“This trip was incredibly valuable and important to our kids as it pushed them outside of their comfort zone and exposed them to skills and opportunities that they would not have gotten otherwise.”

YBCC Partner Program Responsibilities Timeline

YBCC’ers on Freel Peak

Thanks to the TRTA’s YBCC Supporters:

- TRTA Members & Donors - Andrew Family Foundation - Eccles Hayward Family Foundation - El Dorado Community Foundation - John Ben Snow Memorial Foundation - Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority - Lana Vento Charitable Trust - NV Recreational Trails Program - Parks Project - Reno Rodeo Foundation - Soroptimist International of Lake Tahoe - Tahoe League for Charities - Vail Resorts EpicPromise Foundation - William H. Moffat Jr. Foundation Consider becoming a YBCC Partner! Recruit youth, join the YBCC experience, and provide the teens in your network the opportunity to experience the wild!

Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada