 Our summer camp instructors truly make our program unique, as there is no comparable summer camp program available in the USA with this level of instruction. Our head guide for our Rock Camp Programs is Fox Mountain Guides' Head Guide, Ron Funderburke, an AMGA Certified Rock Instructor who has worked extensively with teenagers for many years as Summer Camp Counselor and as Instructor for Outward Bound and Stone Mountain School here in NC.
Ron will be leading every camp in 2008. All of our supporting instructors and guides are a minimum of 21 years old and are Wilderness First Responder Certified with years of experience and additional training from FMG. No other Guide Service or Summer Camp offer programs with staff of this level.
Ron Funderburkes's 2008 welcome letter to prospective parents.
To prospective summer campers and families,
If you are perusing Fox Mountain Guides Summer Climbing Camp, I’d like to personally welcome you. My name is Ron Funderburke; I am the senior guide at Fox Mountain Guides and the Climbing Camp Coordinator for the 2008 summer season. I am thrilled by the chance to work with the camps this summer and I’d like to tell you why you should be thrilled as well:
First, a variety of professional and personal experiences have led me to the 2008 season. I have worked with young climbers for the last eight years, and I know all about your enthusiasm for outdoor activities, your courage, and your excitement about learning new things. I remember when I first started designing curriculum for young climbers at Stone Mountain School, I was never disappointed by the energy and charisma that new climbers exhibit. As a climbing instructor at the North Carolina Outward Bound School, I have been continually impressed with people who are willing to challenge themselves. Before I began my climbing career, summer camps were a big part of my life, as a camper and a counselor. Many of the relationships I began at summer camp are still thriving today; they remind me that camp is as much about fun and community as it is about activity.
Second, the camper who joins us at Fox Mountain Guides experiences the cutting edge in climbing instruction. I am an AMGA Rock Instructor, representing a level of certification and quality among summer camps that is not currently matched in the Southeast. As a climbing camp, our focus is on technical rock climbing. We will standardize our knowledge of climbing movement, belaying, anchoring, rappelling, climbing equipment, rope management, hazard/risk management, self-rescue. If you are camper who wants to know more about climbing and less about weaving lanyards, you will not find a comparable summer program in the Southeast.
Third, although climbing is our focus, Fox Mountain Guides Summer Climbing Camps are also about building a sense of community. As a team, we will learn to trust one another through what Gaston Rebuffat called “the fellowship of the rope.” The camaraderie that evolves within that sense of trust will carry us to afternoon dips in the Pigeon River, evening campfires, bouldering sessions, and lifelong friendships. What’s more, we will be participating in the climbing community at large, rich with harrowing stories, great characters, and majestic locales.
As you make your selection of a summer camp, I hope you will seriously consider the great opportunities here in North Carolina with Fox Mountain Guides. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me personally at ron@foxmountainguides.com .
Hoping to see you soon,
Ron Funderburke
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