Meet the first recipient of the Grand Slam of High Adventure Award

When he clicked send on an email in 2014, Owen Buzan couldn’t have predicted what would happen next.

The year was 2014. He was contacting the folks at the Charles L. Sommers Alumni Association about their Triple Crown of High Adventure Award.

Buzan had attended Sea Base and Philmont with his Boy Scout troop and was registered to attend Northern Tier with his Venturing crew. That three-peat would make him eligible for the Triple Crown.

But Buzan was thinking bigger.

“I will also be attending the Summit this summer,” he wrote. “Are there plans for a Quad Crown Award?”

With those two sentences, Buzan became the first youth member in Scouting to ask about an award that would recognize participation at all four national high-adventure bases.

So it’s fitting that last month Buzan became the first recipient of such an award: The Grand Slam of High Adventure.

Scouting is for the youth, and Buzan attended all four high-adventure bases as a youth. Also fitting for the first Grand Slam honoree.

That said, the Triple Crown and Grand Slam of High Adventure awards are for youth and adults. You can find requirements for both at this site.

About Owen Buzan

Buzan is an Eagle Scout with five palms and was a member of Troop 1550 of Leesburg, Va., in the National Capital Area Council.

Buzan’s Grand Slam was sealed with his 2014 participation in The River, the thrilling whitewater rafting program at the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base at the Summit Bechtel Reserve.

The Grand Slam of High Adventure Award is the last award Buzan, who turned 18 in June, received for his accomplishments as a youth. I’m guessing he’ll be back to Scouting as a volunteer some day, but for now he’s off to serve his country.

He joined the U.S. Navy and started boot camp on Sept. 21.

Photos by Craig Dubishar, NCAC High Adventure committee member