Order of the Arrow High Adventure offers an experience like no other in the OA. Three of Scouting’s premier national high adventure bases, Philmont, the Summit, and Northern Tier, are all available to you for a significantly reduced price. Your adventure will be a two-week long trek through your favorite base.
At Philmont, you will spend the first week building trail and the second week hiking a trek that you design yourself. To give you a deeper look at what it’s like to be in Philmont’s back country, we sat down with OAHA foreman Benjamin Fabian to discuss his role as an OA Trail Crew foreman.
Benjamin Fabian is from western Pennsylvania. This year will be his fourth year at Philmont. He first attended Philmont as a participant for a 12-day trek. He loved it so much he went back for two more trips and eventually challenged himself by working on staff in 2022. Benjamin had the time of his life being able to make impactful changes on himself and the participants. Benjamin recently finished up another year of staff this year.
This summer, Benjamin and his crews worked to restore a trail that was caught in a recent wildfire. Though the hot summer hours were grueling, helping to restore this area devastated by wildfire was some of the most rewarding work he has done at Philmont.
For a foreman, the day starts early. They get up early to prepare the food and equipment for the day. At the site, a foreman’s job is to keep everyone safe and lead their crews as they build and restore trail. Dinner is always a much-needed warm, comradery-filled meal.
Being on the Order of the Arrow Trail Crew Staff is a challenging job, yet Arrowmen come from around the country to participate every year. . The thing that drives people to come back, again and again, is the memorable experience they have with new participants and the chance to make a difference for future Scouts every time they go out on the trail. Benjamin said, “Once you come to Philmont your heart never leaves,” and that is certainly true here. You can sign up to leave your impact on OAHA at https://oa-bsa.org/high-adventure, and if you are interested in becoming a foreman, reach out to @email.