On a surface level approach, I think that this place is what you'd expect from a summer camp. Bad-- but usable-- toilets and sinks and showers, creaky bunk beds, bugs and mice in your cabin. There are outdoor bathrooms which offer more privacy, and they lock. Be prepared for some weird mountain weather, and pack a sweater. If you're looking for a luxury style of living, this is not the place for you, and I can't imagine that any summer camp really is. Try glamping.
The food can be surprisingly good, and there are options for everyone, including a vegetarian hot food line, a salad bar, a gluten free line (not that you'll get much out of it, there's not much offered). You can get fruit, veggies with dip, yogurt, cereal, toast-- make a pb&j for picky kids. There's usually an alternative hot food if any kids don't like what's being offered (coffee cake or oatmeal at breakfast, hotdogs at lunch, pasta or baked potato at dinner). You'll find an array of juices, lemonade, tea, cold water, and the famous hot chocolate at breakfast. No one should have trouble finding something to eat.
There's a range of activities, from flying on the trapeze to tubing on the lake to playing guitar on the floating dock to knitting on the art room couches. After their chosen everyday activities, kids can sign up for dailies, which could be as traditional as waterskiing or as unexpected as sitting on the hill to share your feelings on Hamilton. It's easy to find something you'll be interested in.
There are some weird camp-wide activities that kids are forced to participate in-- musical chairs where the girls sit on boys laps and the boys must hold them down as they struggle to get up. A circus show that gets tedious after two hours. A talent show with the counselors that, also, gets tedious even more quickly. I usually end up with two friends sleeping on my shoulders by the end of those. Woodstock is always fun, as well as Fourthfest, and movie night, but EVAC is usually not the greatest part of the day. Olympics can be fun, but usually I end up holding the hand of a crying seven year old who was insulted and forced to run past their limits by a screaming counselor, or walking a mildly injured child to the infirmary because their counselors were too excited about their activity to leave. Which brings me to my next point--
I have a big problem with some of the counselors. Aspects of this camp can feel like a walking advertisement (more on that later), and often counselors are chosen JUST based on the fact that they are from a foreign country, or that they were popular among their friends as a camper, and not at all based on how good they are with children or how well they can run the activities they are in charge of. Children have come to me, an older camper, many, many times with a problem that their counselor chose to ignore (they feel that a friend is ignoring them, they are feeling homesick, they are having a fight with someone in their bunk). I'll ask if they told their counselor, and every time they'll say something along the lines of "yes, but she said she was busy," or "yes, but she told me to ignore it." I once saw with my own eyes an eight year old child begin to cry because she was worried that her father wouldn't respond to her email, and the counselor yelled at her for crying, telling her that "crying will make it worse, get a grip" before walking off to do something else. ILC needs to consider the people they hire based off more than just their reputation as a camp and ability to say "we have many counselors from all over the world."
This place has definitely gone downhill over the years. It feels like decisions are made in order to please the prospective parents and campers above the actual campers. It's gotten less and less fun and more rule oriented. It's like when a movie puts a ton of work into making a trailer look great, only for the actual movie to, bluntly, suck. Once this place has gotten ahold of your money (no refunds, of course), they don't really care about impressing you anymore. I had three panic attacks the last time I was here over how I was treated by staff.
Some of my best memories are of this place, but I feel like because of changes made (stricter rules and schedules, changes made to the camp itself), I'm not able to have the same experiences I once had. I've been trying so hard to hold onto this place, but it gets worse with every passing year, and I'm not going to come back as a CIT next year.
For what used to be the happiest place ever, thinking about ILC just makes me feel sort of sad now, and not in a nostalgic way. It's not a horror show or anything (unless you're a homesick young child) but if you're going to spend a ton of money on summer camp, I'd recommend spending it somewhere else. read more
