Survivor 2023
By Bronagh McHugh
As the Varsity buses rolled through the gates of IHC on Thursday night from Boston, a faint smell of smoke lingered in the air…
It wasn’t until they made their way off the buses that they heard it — the distant sound of drums gradually getting louder. With wide eyes, they looked at each other, immediately knowing what was happening, and raced their way up to Third Hill.
When they finally arrived, the sound of the drums and smell of smoke was sensory overload, as OPT staff emerged from the darkness of Third Hill. The only light was the flickering lanterns that lined the path to the Third Hill campfire. Chants and screams of excitement followed them; the energy was electric! Suddenly our Hill campers and staff became entranced with excitement.
It’s Survivor Breakout!
Everyone was chanting and clapping around the campfire, until silence fell over Third Hill, just in time for the team announcements.
Our Survivor teams this year are as follows:
Brown — Arctic Terns, Green-Grizzly Bears, Blue-Caribou, Orange-Snowshoe Hares, Yellow-Wolverines, Grey-Northern Hawk Owls, Red-Foxes Purple-Marmots, Black-Wood Frogs, Pink- Arctic Ground Squirrels.
On Friday, it was the first official day of Survivor. Each team dressed up in their team colors, covering each other in paint and preparing entrance chants at the Hill Camp logs.
They made their way onto Third Hill, ready for Survivor Day 1 to begin.
The events began with the Rope Untangle and a 1-Mile Race. The Rope Untangle is the perfect event to kickstart the day as its intensity really got everyones blood pumping, and brought the energy for the events to follow. It was a quick competition, as the teams were eager to start the day on a winning foot!
After the judges reconvened and tallied up the first two rounds of points, it was time for the next event: Survive the Woods! Participants from each team would run through the woods, attempting not to be spotted and tagged by the The Bluemen, members of the Hill and OPT leadership teams. When caught, the team color would be reported back to the scorekeeper at Third Hill, to ensure every tag, and every point was accounted for.
After lunch, it was time for the Survivor games to move down to the lake. Each team made their way down, dividing themselves to complete all the activities. Raft building and Wade n’ Go Wet were the main priority for most teams, while the rest of the team would gain extra points by completing additional lake challenges, Log Roll and Joust Jam were voluntary challenges that would help gain extra points for their team. Wade n’ Go wet was a team effort, the opposing teams would begin at separate sides of the course, wading through the water to catch and tag the other team.
Afterwards, it was time to test the rafts, and get ready for the Raft Race. Each team would have to sail their team flag across the lake, around the buoy and back. Points were awarded for the teams who kept themselves and their team flag dry, maintained the structure of their raft and for the number of laps they completed.
We ended the events with a general swim session, to cool off after a super hot day. Followed by an evening of rest and relaxation, allowing out Hill Campers to get ready for Survivor Day 2!
