During the summer, True North students are making their way through the beautiful green mountains in a nomadic wilderness therapy model. As the seasons change, however, True North students find themselves at Windridge, our winter base camp. The use of the camp’s buildings and infrastructure is crucial to the operations of our winter program.
Upon arriving to Windridge, the first building students and guests come across is an old yellow farmhouse commonly known as “The Inn.” This space is well equipped for several different aspects of daily life at True North. Once a week students visit the Inn for use of hot showers and the re-rationing of supplies. Our Young Adults enjoy weekly cooking classes there and have use of a full kitchen and dining area. The Inn provides additional room for neuropsych testing, meeting spaces for students in the Summit phase, workshops, and even therapeutic sessions.
Another building that plays a critical role in the winter program is our parent workshop cabin. This is a place where families gather for the optional mid-treatment workshop. In addition to workshops, this heated and furnished space provides a comfortable and quiet space for therapeutic sessions and student testing.
True North students are equipped with top-of-the-line clothing and gear so that they can participate in and enjoy the outdoors as they hike, snowshoe, and practice outdoor skills. When the winter conditions make it difficult to get outside and be active, we have the great advantage of being able to utilize various other indoor spaces across the campus to provide alternative activities. The field house is a large sheltered gym space stocked with various sports equipment to play tennis, lacrosse, basketball, and soccer. This lighted indoor arena provides a great space to run and play.
Students also enjoy a weekly movie night at the Catamount Club, a beautiful log building equipped with a large screen, projector, and a toasty wood stove. Of course no movie would be complete without popcorn, and our students enjoy fresh popped popcorn with each movie! The Catamount Club also serves as a comfortable space for the Young Adults’ yoga classes.
While groups share and rotate use of these indoor spaces, each group spends the majority of their time in a rotation of outdoor group sites accompanied by heated overnight shelters. Located around the Windridge campus, these shelters include two insulated, propane heated cabins, three large canvas platform tents with wood stoves, and a Yome: a unique yurt style shelter with geodesic dome influences. The various camp sites are located specifically to provide adequate access to the Windridge basecamp while still allowing for the hiking model to be maintained through the winter and for the students to remain nestled in the wooded mountains.
For more information about our seasonal locations, click here.
Blog Contributors:
Gayle Ebben, Operations Manager
Brooke Hallock, Operations Manager
