September Update: Summer Camp is the Cure for Loneliness

It appears that we are “sliding” into the fall. We are starting to see small clusters of yellow leaves on aspen trees this week and nightly temperatures are beginning to flirt with the 40s. It is always surprising how the seasons really do match our 10-11 week summer up at 8,900 feet.

Most of the Sanborn team has been out of the office for the last couple of weeks visiting family in the Midwest and on the East Coast, road tripping to California, getting our own kids back into the school and sports groove, attending Zumba and yoga classes again, helping get our High Trails Outdoor Education Center season up and running (and even facilitating some high ropes course trainings) and soaking in some of the late summer magic of sunsets, sunrises and night skies at camp.

But it is REALLY quiet up here.

Interestingly enough, the leadership team group chat has picked up this week. Assistant Director/In-Camp Program Director, Will Coleman asked if we thought we should buy Eldora Ski Mountain as a group so we could have camp in the winter (so any/all investment capital will be considered…) and we think that is because we miss each other and the energy, excitement, conversations, banter and shared community of the summer months. And there is a reason for it.

In the article, Why is the Loneliness Epidemic So Hard to Cure?, Matt Schaer examines a variety of current and historic reasons there appears to be a “loneliness crisis” in the US. Some of the “culprits” are obvious: the pandemic, the move to remote work, the rise in smartphone use by teens and children, a drop off in hobbies and a disconnection from the “institutions and traditions that once held us together.” In some cases, those “institutions and traditions” are no longer available or feel like they have become less relevant. Schaer feels that, “to address those problems, you can’t just turn back the clock. You have to rethink the problem entirely — and the potential solutions too.”

Summer camp, as an “institution” is a bit of an anomaly in some ways: it is a throw-back, tech-free, wholesome experience–and it can, and should, also provide children with healthy opportunities to use their “struggle muscles” and deepen social skills, resilience and build relationships through practice and a shared experience. And it must continue to be responsive, progressive and expansive to continue to meet the needs of kids, families and staff from across the country and the world.

Sometimes people ask what we do in the off season…and, beyond hiring 150 amazing staff members, THAT is it. We try and get better at what we do: from staff training to trips to communication to health care to food to mental health needs to content generation to buying horses to new games to better maps to new marketing techniques to recruiting to scholarship fundraising to solving the world’s problems (okay, that is a bit of hyperbole)–all while recognizing our campers, staff, camp families and ourselves live in a complicated world where people–our people–may or may not feel lonely and disconnected.

And, regardless of what the world is doing, at 8900 feet for 11 weeks of the year we want to create a space where people do feel connected to themselves, a community, the natural world and to a mindset where wonder and possibility abound. Based on what we have seen with our campers and alums (and what the research has shown), the Sanborn experience tends to lead people to seek out other places, spaces and opportunities in school, college, family life and work where they can be themselves, find community, play in the outdoors and be hopeful about the future.

This is the final weekend for priority enrollment for our 2024 campers–we will enroll everyone from 2024 who has applied on Monday or Tuesday next week–and then will enroll our alum prospect and campers from previous summers later in the week. Thank you to everyone who has already submitted your 2025 camper applications–we miss them already and cannot wait for another summer of friendship, adventure, personal growth and fun.

Enjoy the holiday weekend and–even though it is the “last weekend” of Summer 2024–we are already stoked for Summer 2025!