What started as a normal camp weekend at West Point the weekend of April 11th turned into an unforgettable snow-covered adventure for thousands of scouts after a surprise spring snowstorm swept through the area, collapsing tents, drenching gear, and sending over a dozen campers to the hospital.
Hosted by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in upstate New York, the annual Scoutmasters’ Camporee, which brought together around 3,000 Scouts (mostly Boy Scout troops, with a few Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts mixed in) from across the region, was expected to see just light snow and chilly temperatures. Instead, the weekend delivered over three inches of heavy & wet snow on top of rain and deep mud, creating hazardous conditions throughout the camp site.
“It was just like a normal day,” said Natalie Slegal, one North Allegheny freshman scout out of ten in her troop. “They were calling for light snow on Saturday, so we weren’t really worried.”
But by 3 or 4 a.m., the weather took a sharp turn.
“I woke up with the tent half on me. The snow was so heavy, it was pushing everything in.”
Many campers found themselves scrambling out of collapsing tents and dealing with frozen gear. Natalie’s own troop had a canopy collapse during the night, trapping two scouts beneath it.
“The other scouts and myself got out and dragged off the heavy canopy and got the girls out,” said Mrs. Slegal, Natalie’s mom and one of the troop leaders. “They were safe, but everything was soaked.”
Despite the dangerous conditions, Natalie described the scene with a sense of humor.
“It was just a canopy graveyard. Everywhere you looked, tents and canopies were collapsed,” she said. “People started using broken pieces to build snowmen, using the broken tent poles for arms. I got two snowballs whipped at me, but it’s okay. People were making the best of it.”
The thick mud added more to the mess.
“It was like a boot graveyard,” said Mrs. Slegal. “Kids were just walking away from their boots because they couldn’t pull them out of the mud.”
By Saturday morning, emergency services were constantly arriving. “There was an ambulance coming in like every 15 minutes,” Natalie recalled. “The Cadets were yelling at people to get out of the road so ambulances could get through. It was bad.”
West Point organizers eventually canceled the event and began evacuating troops by bus. Natalie’s smaller group was able to leave earlier than most. “We lucked out because we only had nine people. Smaller troops could fit on the buses faster,” she said.
Though some scouts outside of Natalie’s troop were treated for hypothermia and frostbite, as reports estimate at least 18 were hospitalized, Natalie and a few friends found silver linings. “It was my birthday, and I didn’t want to do physical training that morning. So I guess my wish came true,” she said.
Despite all the chaos, both Natalie and her mother were proud of how their troop handled the situation.
“Even if you have the best gear on, you’re still cold. It’s hard to take poles down when you’ve got gloves on and your hands are freezing,” Mrs. Slegal said. “But our girls did a great job packing up in very bad conditions, and trudging through with a good attitude.”
Natalie added, “It definitely taught people in our troop to pack better.”
And despite everything, she would do it again.
“I was very 50-50 on wanting to go,” she said, “but I’m happy I went because it was just so funny watching the other troops reacting to it. We were fine, so we had a good time.”
From collapsing canopies to birthday snowball fights, the West Point campout will no doubt be remembered as one of the messiest, yet most memorable scouting events yet.
