Out West Camp Aims to Thrill

“For my part, I can honestly say it was the best two weeks of my life, with the greatest experiences and greatest friends,” says Zack Zimmerman, a teen from Mequon, Wisconsin, summing up his experience at “Extreme Teens Out West” last summer.

For the past few years, “Extreme Teens Out West” – spearheaded by – Schneur Zalman Notik – geared towards Jewish boys primarily from the Midwest, has embarked on an exhilarating adventure across six states in the southwestern United States.

With its growing popularity, the camp has been welcomed under the umbrella of the CTeen network, opening its doors to teens from Chabad houses across the US and Canada.

The two week travel camp begins in Denver and concludes in Los Angeles with stops at the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Zion National Park and kosher restaurants in L.A. The dozens of extreme activities which include white water rafting, zip lining, surfing, horseback riding, and speed boating stimulated the new name of the camp, “CTeen X-treme”.

Rabbi Moshe Rapaport, Zimmerman’s local Shliach, tells us, “The impact on our boys who went last summer was incredible; better than I could have ever expected. They came back excited and motivated and could not stop talking about the experience.”

Rabbi Rapaport isn’t only sending his teens back this summer; he will be joining the camp himself.

“Following the CTeen Shabbaton, teens were begging us to make the Shabbaton experience longer,” Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Chairman of CTeen, relates. “We therefore created an opportunity for teens to experience a two week ‘Shabbaton’!”

Rabbi Shneur Silberstein of Montreal clearly saw how the teen he sent gained so much from this experience. “There’s nothing like spending 24 hours with a group of staff that Anthony really was able to connect with.”

Eight months later, the effect of the camp still lingers.

Liran Friedman from Northbrook, IL says he still thinks about the trip every day. Liron and his friend, Eric Aminov, a Brooklyn boy, have been donning Tefilin every morning since the trip.

Still pumped with Jewish pride, David Goldshmidt, a 16-year-old from Skokie, IL, became CTeen president of his local chapter this past year.

Sol Lowenstein, a teen from Riverdale, NY sheds light upon the catalyst for the amazing Hashpa’ah the camp continues to have. “When you see everyone around you acting in a positive Jewish way, you want to do so as well!”

CTeen X-treme is for boys in grades 9-12. It runs from June 21st – August 2nd. Visit cteen.com/summer or contact Zalman@cteen.com for more info.