IDAHO BASECAMP TURNS 25
By Sabina Dana Plasse
A promise for Idaho education In 1998, twenty-five years ago, Mathew Gershater launched Mountain Adventure Tours (MAT) to provide Wood River Valley youth with the opportunity to dive into nature and enjoy the outdoors while learning about their connection to the natural world and themselves. Today, the organization is known as Idaho BaseCamp (IBC), and Gershater’s vision for youth to have a stronger connection to the natural world and community has been more than realized. The growth of IBC from its early days as a small summer camp to become a year-round offering with multiple programs for youth and adults is astonishing. “We wanted to serve the community beyond the two and a half months in the summer,” says IBC’s Founder and 136
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Executive Director Gershater. “In 2012, IBC became a nonprofit organization, and we decided to raise funds to develop property on the Big Lost River to create a facility for schools to come and use. So, breaking ground in 2014, we started building out the property and began to serve the local school population.” In its 25 years, Idaho BaseCamp has provided outdoor adventure education in the Big Wood and Lost River Valleys for over 10,000 students. Due to the increased screen time and smartphones, today’s youth lack basic skills for being outdoors. However, the skills learned and acquired from an IBC experience are lifelong, and the self-confidence that comes from this nature-based education can impact a child for the rest of their life.