Planning a Group Camping Trip
Nothing beats the feeling of slipping into a cosy sleeping bag at the end of a pleasantly tiring hike. Except waking up the next morning, unzipping your tent, feeling the fresh, bracing air and experiencing the first stirrings of a new day. Camping is beautiful, rewarding and exciting. Particularly when you are part of a group and have the privilege of sharing your natural surroundings.
Learning camping skills and techniques can greatly enhance the experience. If you are leading a group, they are essential. In this article, we explore the process of planning a group camping trip and explain how best to go about it. We will also discuss the Mountain Training Camping Leader qualification – the perfect way to solidify these skills and acquire a formal certification.
Understanding your group
When planning your group camping trip, consider the group you will be camping with. Camping should be an enjoyable experience. And enjoyment will mean different things to different people. First-time campers may prefer a campsite with plenty of amenities, while more practised campers may want a more wild, bare-bones experience.
With this in mind, we recommend considering the following factors:
- • Group number
- • Group experience
- • Group ability level
- • Access requirements
- • Group dynamics – are you a group of friends? Relative strangers? Are you leading a DofE camp?
Selecting an appropriate campsite
Having developed a deeper understanding of your group’s dynamics, it is time to select a campsite. In most cases, location and campsite facilities are the two principal considerations. Determining a good location means assessing various factors. If you require assistance, how close does help need to be? What terrain do you want to camp on?
Your means of travel may also dictate the campsite location. Arriving by car? You can probably choose any campsite with the required amenities. Walking from a predetermined location? Think carefully about how far and long your group will want to walk.
With amenities, consider the level of comfort your group expects. Will the experience be more enjoyable with a village shop just down the road? Are warm showers essential? What about a camp kitchen? If you are midway through a multi-day hike, the group may appreciate washing facilities for their clothes.
As you can see, the best campsite is the one that reflects your group’s needs, expectations and skill levels.
Preparing the right equipment
Camping can quickly go from amazing outdoor adventure to absolute ordeal if you do not prepare the right equipment. A summer-rated sleeping bag is not a fun place to be in the depths of winter. As a result, you need to think carefully about the equipment your group needs to bring. Broadly speaking, we can split camp equipment into three categories.
Clothing
While newer campers often focus primarily on their sleep set-up, clothing is equally important. Usually, campers spend a significant amount of time establishing their camp, preparing food and unwinding before they head to bed. Your group needs to be warm, dry and comfortable while they do so. This means ensuring everyone has suitable waterproofs and insulating layers. Depending on the expected weather, gloves, extra socks and hats may also be necessary.
Sleeping equipment
Camping leaders also need to ensure their group has adequate sleeping equipment. This includes sleeping bags, shelter, ground mats and perhaps pillows. You should clearly communicate the minimum requirements for this equipment, too. For instance, is a two-season or three-season sleeping bag required? Are you camping in bivvies or tents? Do ground mats need to achieve a certain R-value?
Cooking equipment
You do not want to go to bed hungry. So cooking equipment and food are essential. To some degree, what you bring will depend on how you arrive, what you can carry and what amenities there are. Hiking through and travelling light? Rehydratable camping meals might be on the menu. Is there a shop nearby and a kitchen on-site? You can get more creative. Whatever equipment you choose, make sure you consider the food itself. It must meet the nutritional needs of the group and be safe to carry and store. The same goes for camping fuel and stove choice. From lightweight trangia set-ups to ultra-reliable multifuel stoves, there are a huge number of stoves and fuels to choose between, each of which has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Ensuring you can manage the camp
Staying safe while camping means preempting hazards and mitigating them. It also requires you to implement camp maintenance and management processes. Some hazards are far more obvious than others. For instance, campfires, gas stoves and potentially dangerous terrain, such as cliff edges or water, are relatively easy to identify. Others, such as ground prone to waterlogging, are not as immediately obvious.
Camp management and hygiene are things even experienced campers sometimes get wrong. If there are no managed facilities, camp leaders must ensure there is no water contamination above the collection point. Similarly, you may need to explain and coordinate the implementation of pack-in, pack-out or leave no trace principles and ensure no food is left out overnight. While we don’t have to worry about life-threateningly dangerous animals in the UK, food scraps can attract unwelcome attention and result in a lot of mess or damage to equipment.
Understanding the conditions
The weather conditions are one element of the camping experience that is completely out of your hands. Fortunately, how you respond to and prepare for those conditions is what matters. When planning your camping trip, use trusted weather forecasting services, like the MWIS, and keep checking back for regular updates.
As already mentioned, the weather conditions will influence several decisions, like the equipment you bring. They will also impact where and how you set up camp. Wind direction and speed, as well as expected rainfall, should impact where and how you set up camp and the direction you pitch your tent. With forethought, you can establish your camp in a way that mitigates the worst of the weather, protects your equipment and results in a more comfortable night’s sleep.
Mountain Training Camping Leader with RAW Adventures
Introduced in 2022, the Camping Leader qualification is a relatively recent addition to the Mountain Training portfolio. It is aimed at people who want to supervise a camping group and develop participants’ camping proficiency by teaching camp craft activities. It is also the perfect way to refine the skills discussed in this article.
The scheme is an excellent option for those involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, President’s Award, Ten Tors training, and other similar initiatives. It enables qualified individuals to lead camping groups in campsites with vehicular access and with or without managed facilities. Combining the Camping Leader qualification with a Mountain Training walking qualification broadens the range of campsites you can operate in.
RAW Adventures is an accredited Mountain Training provider. Our experienced team can deliver the one-day course in various locations, including our beautiful Eryri (Snowdonia) home, and guarantees a supportive, encouraging and enjoyable learning environment. For more information on the course requirements, syllabus, dates and locations, check out our Camping Leader page. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch.
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