Triple Crown award may soon add the Summit as fourth option (UPDATED)

triple-crown-patchUpdated, 2 p.m. Aug. 15: Apparently I jumped the gun with some incorrect information. 

The gist is this: The proposal to add the Summit to the Triple Crown of High Adventure hasn’t yet been approved.

Here are three important clarifications that supersede what I’ve said in the original post:

1. The Sommers Alumni Association has not formally approved the extension of the Triple Crown award to the Summit. The committee will be making a proposal to do just that at its next board meeting and will take a vote. The outcome of the vote isn’t certain.

2. There are four different combinations of bases that would qualify for the Triple Crown if the proposal is approved. The SAA will include a unique version of the patch for each combination in its proposal:

a. Northern Tier, Philmont, Sea Base
b. Northern Tier, Philmont, Summit
c. Northern Tier, Sea Base, Summit
d. Philmont, Sea Base, Summit

3. The SAA has approved funding for the development of an award for Scouts who attend all four high-adventure bases. The details will be presented in a proposal to the SAA Board of Directors for approval in conjunction with the Triple Crown.


Here’s a portion of my original post:

Before the Summit Bechtel Reserve began its high-adventure offerings this year, the requirements for the Triple Crown of High Adventure were pretty simple.

It recognized Scouts and Scouters who participated in at least one high-adventure program at each of the three BSA national high-adventure bases: Philmont, Northern Tier and Sea Base.

The addition of a fourth national high-adventure base may change the playing field for the Triple Crown award.

That left many Scouts and Scouters wondering whether the Summit Bechtel Reserve will count as one of those three or whether a new award is on the way.


I’ll blog again once the committee makes its decision after it meets next week. In the meantime, you can read about the current requirements here.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.