Camp Journal
Goodbyes, Hellos and Hiking
4th August 2012
Another glorious day at in Torgon at Camp Suisse so the campers indulged in some breakfast, but today wasn’t like any other day as campers bid a farewell to fellow campers and 3 members of staff (Aimee, Calum and Sarah) Three new campers did, however, join us yesterday so we extend a big warm welcome to Anabelle, Constantine and Lara.
Campers embarked on their day with a sports session either led by JP (football) or Oli (Tennis) and a one hour language session. After topping up on plenty of sustenance for the great afternoon walk ahead the entire group we were treated to a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain. They then walked down the mountain while enjoying the postcard
like view of the Rhone valley, which became a central part of the conversation! Avery from the blue group kept everyone entertained on the walk with his campfire songs.
Upon the campers’ arrival back to camp, they were greeted with the exciting news of an alfresco dinner with a barbeque on the decking. After dinner, campers played a game of giant scrabble which was lots of fun and they are all looking forward to mission day tomorrow.
Biking – Red
3rd August 2012
With the sun peeking out from behind the clouds the Red group divided between languages and 5 a side football. Gorka was the star of the match with many commenting on his speedy capabilities and he even outran camp mentor Isaac!
Lunch provided the group with the well-deserved and needed energy boost before mountain biking with Tom, Kirsty and Rosie. They tested their skills in both braking, slaloming and gear changing games before the group split into two groups in order to tackle the practice trails. One group played a few more games and practiced on one trail while a group of more confident bikers practiced on the advanced trail. The group stopped to watch some professional bikers breeze down the trails before making the rapid descent themselves. Group leader Kaity was especially impressed with Olan and Eumin who fell on the trail and yet did not hesitate to pick up their bikes and continue riding.
Following dinner the red group took to the stage for the Talent show. All campers did a wonderful job displaying their many talents from acting, singing, dancing and gymnastics.
Treetop Adrenaline – Greens and Yellows
A delicious breakfast comprising lashings of chocolate spread Yellows and Greens headed to their sport and language sessions. Some soaring serves and super smashes on the tennis court bookmarked the morning and before they knew it, it was time for lunch.
Soon after, there were 44 campers, 7 group leaders , 1 camp mentor and photographer Mark jumping on the coach to take them to their afternoon excitement. A high ropes course, rested deep in the forest known locally as Parc Aventure, is incredibly popular with all campers. So harnessed up and ready for action the campers swung and jumped through the trees with many of the Greens and Yellows completing some of the more difficult courses fearlessly. 
After an exhausting day, they returned to centre, however no one was too tired for the eagerly anticipated talent show. Staff and campers from all groups gathered to support their peers as the sun, danced and acted away showing off just how much talent there really is in Camp Suisse. The day was made extra special since campers on the 1 week programme will be departing tomorrow and hopefully it was a perfect end to a fantastic week -bon voyage to all those travelling!
A rocktastic day
2nd August 2012
The day had begun with languages and sport sessions, which gave the Greens and Yellows some practice at football in preparation for the evening game against the staff. Some of the Greens were on top form at the practice with some impressive passes from Tom and diving saves from Sammy and Alex. They put up a sterling fight against two of the staff team stars JP and Harry who also hit the deck attempting to steal the ball from Toby!
After some quick cheesy Camp Suisse photos in colour groups, it was time for the Green group to head down to Columbey to put their climbing skills they learned on the indoor wall to the test on the real life crag. Some made their way up in speedy timing like Vika and Meer others such as Oscar did well to overcome their fears or impressed activity leaders Tom, Toria and Sarah with their belaying skills like Melina and Matteo.
After climbing, the groups made it back up the mountain for some of Camp Suisse’s most popular dishes – lasagne. This gave campers some much needed energy for the evening activity of a staff vs pupils football match. Some good play was on display from Leonardo and Kaan against the larger more experienced (debatable) staff team. Sadly their efforts fell short marginally losing 5-3 but all including staff players, agreed that the kids were the better team with some very impressive play – well done greens!
And I Hope It Don’t Peel…Like A Bananaaaaa – Blue and Red
After an amazing thunderstorm last night, the campers awoke to beautiful sunshine, ready for the day. They handed in any clothes to be washed, marking the middle of session 3; they headed up for a filling breakfast. Yellow watermelon was the thirst quenching fruity choice of the day plus the daily cereals, jams and toast with muesli being added to the breakfast bar – a fantastic way to start the day.
Tennis and language lessons followed with a scrummy lunch of cheesy tuna pasta and salad. A short bus trip down the mountain landed the campers at Lake Geneva’s side for Banana boating fun. After a thoroughly exhilarating afternoon, the campers returned to Camp Suisse HQ for dinner and to begin preparations for the eagerly anticipated Friday night talent show.
Match of the Day
Last night’s evening activity for the Yellow and Green group was on a par with a small footballing event that took place a few weeks ago. Whilst the European football championships of 2012 may have been forgotten in place of the Olympic Games in London, Torgon played host to a game of ultra-competitive football between an elite bunch of athletes (the staff) and their equally gifted camper contemporaries.
Captained by Sam and organised amongst themselves, the campers set out to dominate from the very first minute. The temperature and conditions were perfect for a high-tempo game, with free-flowing football and samba skills on display from the off. Whilst there was clearly a large difference in size between some of the bigger staff members and the green groupers, our staff were often found wanting in the middle of the park, when the high energy levels and skill of the campers’ team meant that huge gaps appeared in the centre of the field. With William pulling the strings in the centre of the field, through balls just managed to escape the grasps of the staff team, so much so that after having taken the lead, one of these through balls managed to find its way past the last line of defence, causing a terrible mix up between goalkeeper and defence and our left back (Coach driver, Mike) was left with egg on his face as the ball trickled past goalkeeper Ian Seaman and into his own net.
The next 10 minutes of the match saw the start of the rolling substitutions from both teams (especially the staff!) as the high-intensity took its toll on both sides. Whilst the staff team were able to draw upon impact players, such as “Slim” Jim and Tom “Rooney” from activities, they were unable to create an advantage over their opposition, who were expertly marshalled in defence by the indefatigable Harry.
As half time beckoned, much to the annoyance of the crowd, the staff took a slender advantage, winning 2-1 before the superb referee (Taff) signalled an end to the first half. Yet in the blink of an eye, the game restarted in the same fashion as the previous half ended, with tackles flying in from JD and Rich and the youthful campers starting to get an extra bit of energy from those tired legs in Torgon. What happened next wouldn’t have been amiss on a goal of the season shortlist for the Barclays Premier League. As JD received a yellow card for a poorly-timed challenge on the edge of the area, the free kick was lined up to be smashed by Harry, only for him to roll it off for Will, whose sweetly struck shot sailed past Ian and into the top corner of the net.Whilst the match may have finished 6-3 in favour of the staff, the staff team were fortunate to escape with a victory, which in truth was deserved by the campers’ team. All that remains to be said is that whether they won or lost, the valiant effort of the campers’ earned the respect and admiration both of their opposition and of the throngs of people watching on. What a game!
Ghyll adventure – Yellow
Another sunny day at Camp Suisse and the Yellow group had an exciting day laid out before them. They embarked upon their day with language classes, which was then followed by football. Before lunch, the entire camp had a photo shoot (keep a check on our Facebook page – International Camp Suisse to see how these photos turned out).
So after lunch the Yellow group set off for some more orienteering in the woods where campers learned how to use techniques such as placings and compass skills. They put their knowledge to practical use in a game which involved finding various symbols around the forest. After having mastered orienteering it was time for a spot of Ghyll scrambling which involved clambering up and down a river, whilst overcoming some tricky obstacles en route.
Push ups in the icy water meant a hot shower was most definitely in order! And with extra helpings of lasagne for supper, the Yellows concluded the day with an exciting football match between staff and campers. A gallant effort from all-round, but unfortunately for the campers, staff clinched the victory in a toughly fought battle.
Seasonal Snow in August – Yellow and Blue Group
1st August 2012
The first day of the month of August brought with it a special visit to the glacier for the Yellow and Blue groups in glorious summer sunshine. Whilst the temperatures soared to around the 30 degree mark, the campers wrapped up warm in order to avoid the chill at the top of the glacier before having the opportunity to experience a sled ride driven by husky dogs. A superb opportunity to demonstrate posing skills with a panoramic photo shoot at the very top of the glacier, along with an educational and enjoyable lesson from Rosie and Sarah regarding glacial formation and patterns, meant that campers put on their cheesiest of grins before descending onto the glacier to frolic in the snow.
After an exhilarating lap of the circuit with the husky dogs, the group then made their way up the chairlift to the picnic area for a spot of lunch before heading off to the beach to soak up the rays.At the beach, some superb diving skills were put on display, with flips, dives and bombs a plenty. Some sore stomachs from over-rotating (Sam!) and some wet staff members from being dragged off the raft by some cheeky campers (Bilal!) were commonplace. After a well spent and well sunned afternoon, the group made their way back to the Torgon base for a Swiss themed dinner in honour of the National Swiss Day. Evening entertainments of Music Quiz and 3 Minute Movies provided many laughs for both staff and campers before the sun set on another spectacular day in Torgon.
Biking – Green
The morning started with the sun shining in Torgon. The Green group went off to language classes and football in the morning and after a yummy lunch of chips and sausages the green group headed to the top of the mountain for a mountain biking session. As soon as all the kids were kitted up with helmets and gloves, the session started with a brake check and funny games. The slow riding competition and the trails riding saw Oscar shining like a champion. 
The cat and mouse competition was more than enjoyable for the beginners group, while the more expert campers gave a go on the more difficult tracks. Soon everyone rode back to camp and even the more inexperience got the chance to ride off road and they made it!
The campers came back on time for shower hour ready for the evening entertainment 3 minute movies undiscovered Spielbergs and Angelina Jolies came out of the woodwork. Keep your eyes peeled on our Camp Suisse Youtube channel and International Camp Suisse Facebook page for the final production of the movies.
Green group
30th July 2012
Following the first day’s excitement of banana boating the green group had some in house activities to turn their hands to. Following Sunday’s language assessment the campers were divided into teaching groups for the classes in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Each morning the campers have an hour and a half of sport – which today was Tennis for the greens. Some impressive forehand skills were shown especially by Meer, Toby and Alex setting the bar very high for the coaching staff led by Oli, to keep up with!
After lunch the green split in half with Tina and Nat’s group starting the afternoon with archery, whilst Mairi and Fran’s groups began with the climbing wall. Helped by the Activities team, the campers soon began to pick up the techniques required for a successful target shot in Archery, and many hit the centre target with ease. Rosie from the activities team created an interesting game for the Archers with their accuracy in the target ring corresponding to cutlery items they could then use at evening dinner time many managed to gain one useful item – such as a spoon – yet the outer ring corresponded to chopsticks are less practical for many campers – especially when the evening meal was fajitas!
Each group did one hour and a half of each activity, with the Archers then becoming climbers and vice versa. At the climbing wall, Sarah and Tom led the campers un some warm up games before the campers would try their hand at the 7 challenging routes up the wall in the CS centre. The campers soon began to get the hang of climbing and many were soon speeding up the wall. Tom and Sarah then introduced some small games to the climbs, timing some children on a particular route, and attracting some paper to the top of another for campers to write their names at the top, marking their achievements to be kept in the climbing wall.
Following the routine daily shower hour, the campers had fajitas before splitting in to teams for the evening activity of Torgona Hunt. This entails a series of questions and answers to be found all over the centre in a Treasure hunt style, with the winning team to be revealed in due course.
Hopefully the campers rest well as a 5.30am start awaits them for the Glacier trip in the morning.
