So last night we had a presentation evening, to review our week in KISC, and show off a selection of the 3000 photos that were taken during our trip. This reminded us of what an amazing time we had whilst we were out in Switzerland, and one thing that came out of the meeting was that 1st Formby will return to KISC!

Please see the below reports from two of the leaders that were on the trip.

A big thank you to the team at KISC, and also the team at VA – you made our trip successful and ensured we all had a great time. More »

That’s right, snow has already been falling here at Kisc as the last groups left on Saturday starting their journey back to the UK drawing to a close a fantastic summer!

6^th Barry Sea Scouts, 14^th Lowestoft and 1^st Stourbridge St Thomas Scouts all left at the weekend having had a really great week, their highlights being the trip up to the Jungfrau, the Aare float trip and the overnight climbing workshop not to mention everything else they managed to cram into the space of just 1 week! What I loved was the way the groups got to know each other that well you literally couldn’t tell who was in which group as they became such good friends with everyone. And to cap it all off the international campfire was cancelled on Friday night, not that it stopped us having our own impromptu roaring campfire in the main hall of the old chalet where each of the 3 groups took their own turns to sing songs and perform skits to the awaiting room of scouts and expectant leaders, with my 2 songs definitely being the best!! More »

A lot was achieved on our  final wet morning at KISC – the scouts faced the essential task of packing and cleaning their bedrooms ( no mean feat when 10 scouts share one dorm !), then set off around the KISC site to complete the ECO challenge badge requirements. We all went into Kandersteg village for one last time for souvenir (sweet) shopping and to buy some lunch. It was sad to leave the mountains after our week surrounded by such impressive summits but the ride down the valley was as spectacular as the first time. We then crossed a level part of France with views of the Vosges mountains to our west before entering Luxembourg and then through Belgium in the dark to arrive at Calais at approx. 6am. We crossed the channel during a lovely sunrise (see the picture) and arrived at Cardiff West services to drop off our friends from 6th Barry Sea Scouts. Many new friendships were formed during the week and we hope to meet ‘the Barrys’ again for a spot of sailing and green-field camping next year. More »

All home safe and sound, and ahead of schedule!

Everyone has had a great time and has made some memories that they will treasure forever.

On behalf of all the boys, I would like to say a BIG thank you to all the leaders, dads and ladies that made the trip as amazing as it could be. For the boys that are leaving now, I think you saved the best summer camp until last!

Good luck to all the parents with the heaped piles of washing that has been made over the past 10 days.

This is Matty Grant signing off for the last time on the 14th Lowestoft scout’s blog for Kandersteg.

The bags are packed, boys are fed, coach is loaded and we are ready to go.

Time to say our farewells to KISC and the staff.

Waiting for the cloud to clear so we can take some pictures of the snow capped mountains before we leave.

Amazing how the weather changes over night. temp dropped from 30 c – 4 c over the week away.

Boys looking tired now,  leaders looking worse.

Mixed emotions all around, on leaving the site.

MESSAGE TO ALL MUM’S

Make sure the roast dinner is ready, and a hot bath

ps: make sure the washing machine is empty and ready to go

Thats all for now, see you all soon.

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Matty grant signing off

Another rainy day today. The plan to go up the Almenalp was scalped due to continuous rain :( Above us, the first snow of the winter fell during the night! And yes, it is still August! The locals say it is the earliest ever. We have also acquired a number of waterfalls that weren’t there yesterday.

What followed instead was a day of shopping in Kandersteg (there were some presents bought) and games played in the Chalet.

After dinner, we joined together with a couple of other scout groups for an indoor campfire. Songs were sung, laughs were had and the 14th were the loudest!

One last rainy night and we’ll be on the bus home (the bus is already here!)