Director Jud's Blog

Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp will attend a Summer Camp Fair on Sunday, January 10th from 1 to 4pm.  Director Jud Millar will be on hand to meet with perspective families and explain what makes SMA unique.  

The Summer Camp fair will be hosted by Tips on Trips and Camps which is a free consulting service specializing in overnight summer programs for children ages 8-20.   This is a great a great opportunity to learn about Stone Mountain Adventures as well as summer sleep away camps, sports, music, travel, wilderness, language, academic, community service programs, and more in the United States and abroad. 

Camp Fair Address: 

Rye Country Day School

Cedar Street
Rye, NY 10580

Stone Mountain Adventures is a Teen Rock Climbing Summer Camp located in central PA.  

If you rock climbing is something you have interest in or something you are passionate about, Stone Mountain Adventures is the camp for you!

Highlights of the SMA Rock Climbing Program:

• Top Rope Climbing Area called Donation Rocks located on the premises of camp
• Bouldering Area with world class bouldering called Hunters Rocks
• 5 Climbing Areas near camp offers campers a wide variety of climbing styles and rock types
• Our Climbing Staff are experienced and passionate about rock climbing and sharing that passion with teens.
• We offer a Rock Climbing Camping Overnight at Bigler Rocks every session
• Campers can climb on real rocks 6 days a week at SMA!

Kids and teens have different skills when it comes to climbing.  The staff at SMA Teen Climbing Camp  understands that there are different levels of skill, and we want to make sure we present a challenging and safe rock climbing camp for teens.  Let us know how experienced your teen is and we can find the right difficulty to make sure her rock climbing experience is great!

Here is some more information about Tips on Trips and Camps:

Finding the “best” camp may be something totally different than a traditional camp experience. Tips’ advisors give parents a variety of options outside the traditional sporty vs. nature camp constructs.

“When parents think about camp, they usually think about a sporty type camp, or one that is all about nature and camping,” says Eve Eifler, owner of Tips on Trips and Camps. Eifler says, “The reality is, with over 11,000 camps in the United States, there are so many different types of camps to consider and definitely a camp out there to fit every kid.”

Tips on Trips co-owner Carey Rivers adds, “Since kids tend to compete all year round in sports, I advise parents to look for a camp that can provide a few of the sports or activities that the child wants, plus some new challenges that the parent might want for their child.” These early camping experiences can provide opportunities to develop lifelong passions like camp craft activities, model rocketry or improvisational comedy.

Summer sports are far different than sports during the school year, with less of an emphasis on winning. A child who can’t make the select baseball or soccer team at home may shine in a camp environment. Eifler agrees, “For the child who might not be the best athlete, it is possible - and important - for them to be able to participate in summer sports in a safe emotional space.”

Some parents might be looking for specialized programming for which they cannot find time during the school year. Rivers explains, “To meet this demand, traditional camps now include activities such as culinary arts, fencing, science, foreign language, horseback, tennis or golf within a traditional camp session.”

Camps are offering many different activities to which kids might not otherwise be exposed in their daily lives. Eifler explains, “Circus Arts has become the ‘new gymnastics’ and so popular that camps are spending thousands (if not millions) of dollars erecting trapeze courses and tight ropes and indoor pavilions dedicated to this ‘high-flying’ activity.” Circus Arts gives kids a safe, “extreme” sport, while giving them impressive new abilities and teaching them an original form of creative or performing arts. Where gymnastics usually only appeals to girls, circus arts appeals to boys as well.