There are many things that make Camp Pinnacle the best summer camp in the US. Our values shine through in everything we do. The community we build is supportive, inclusive, and fun. We make excellent use of the space that we have and the location we are in. One of the things that makes us really top-notch is that we spend every year making major improvements to camp so we have new and fun things for campers to look forward to. 2025 is no different! Our facilities team has been working hard to make sure that this summer brings new and exciting elements to returning campers while also supporting all of our new campers coming in.
First up, we have our brand new outdoor dining pavilion. Connected to the dining hall, this new space provides more open-air dining for free seating during lunch and centers around a large stone fireplace for cozy evenings and s’more creation. It also opens up the landscape of the camp a little bit, providing better views of Wolfe Lake.
Another project that our maintenance team has been working on is the creation of a new cabin on Hillside. We have christened it “Fontana”, keeping with the theme of rivers and lakes among the Hillside cabins, and it will primarily house our 7th and 8th grade girls.
Speaking of Hillside, we are doing some other small things on that side of camp to make living nicer. Bathhouses have seen renovations with new stalls, providing more privacy, and more tankless hot water heaters helping our young ladies who tend to enjoy longer showers.
In our programming areas, we have a lot of fun improvements, beginning with some newly renovated bike trails, a fresh overhaul and reshaping on the flow trail, and 7 dump truck loads of dirt to form a brand new pump track. Also at mountain biking, we have done our biannual refreshing of our bike fleet thanks to our partners at Specialized bikes. This year we specifically added several new smaller bikes to help with the growing number of campers we have seen who learn to ride a bike at CP.
We also had the opportunity to update a camp favorite this year, our sky park. We wanted to make sure that as many campers as possible get to enjoy it, and these updates will make that so! Down at the waterfront, we are adding some new whitewater kayaks, hoping it leads to even more campers learning their rolls and earning their patches. For our younger campers who enjoy in-camp overnights rather than backpacking trips, we have two new shelters to sleep out under the stars. “Fletcher’s Landing” and “Woodhaven” will be great new venues to host those legendary camp outs and make some new memories on property.
Now for new in-camp personnel! First up, we have Alice’s new baby, Sully! Sully will be 8 months old by the time camp starts. He loves music and dancing, a trait Alice credits to how much time she spent last summer dancing to clean-up music in the dining hall. He is very excited to get to meet all of the campers. We are also lucky to welcome longtime seasonal staff member, Rylie Young, who is joining us for her first summer as a member of the full time team. Rylie has been on the team since November, working hard as our Program Director to create some top-tier activities and opportunities for our campers. She is excited to step into this new role and we know the campers will be excited to see her return.
Next, we have our new camp dog, Holly! Holly is a chocolate lab and has been training hard with Fayssoux and JG in the off-season so she will be ready to hang out with campers and get all of the pets and love from them. She will be 7 months old when camp starts, and is excited to bring all of the puppy energy with her to Camp Pinnacle.
Last but not least, we have a new team member joining the year-round CP ranks. Few things are as crucial at camp as good food and carrying that torch this year will be our new friend, Chef Jennifer Cole. Look for more info on her and her exciting culinary background in next month’s blog as we talk more on CP culinary operations and our new chef.
Camp Pinnacle is excited for summer 2025 and to see all of you coming through the gates in a few short months!