Get Ready

Crew Fit

The importance of being crew fit

ATC Trail Crews, S.W.E.A.T. and Rocky Top Trail Crews specifically, require physical and mental fitness which allows you to successfully and safely do the work required as an integral part of the Trail Crew team.
‘Crew Fit’ means coming to basecamp ready to:

  • hike long distances in steep, rugged terrain with heavy packs and carrying sharp, awkward-sized tools;
  • work with these tools for many hours in all and often adverse weather conditions and on uneven terrain littered with rocks and roots; and,
  • camp outdoors and live congenially with others in a primitive setting without the conveniences you’re used to at home.

Trail Crews are demanding. Arriving ‘Crew Fit’ does not imply that you won’t be tired or even sore after a hard day’s work. You will be! But, you will undoubtedly go home at the end of your session(s) feeling even stronger then when you arrived. You should also have the capacity to recover quickly the next day so you can move on to the next task efficiently and without personal reservation or great physical discomfort. Plus, you will be happier at the end of the day – and session – if you are ‘Crew Fit.’

It’s important to note that you should not use your arrival on trail crew as your personal fitness program. This is not the time start a weight loss program, or “test out” the status of chronic injuries to joints or back. Coming to Trail Crew for these reasons could undermine your personal safety, the safety of your fellow crew members, and jeopardize the objectives of the crew’s work.

They key is that you come to basecamp ‘Crew Fit’. Perhaps you have your own plan to get fit. However you get there, arriving ‘Crew Fit’ will go a long way in ensuring you are both physically and mentally fit for the length of your session(s).

Ready to get crew fit? Here’s how:

ATC’s ‘Crew Fit’ training plan is an optional, but encouraged, 8-week program intended to help you successfully and safely do the work required of a Trail Crew member. Please consult your doctor and receive you doctor’s approval before starting this or any fitness program.

By clicking agree below, you do hereby release, remise, waive and forever discharge the Appalachian Trail Conservancy together with all of its officers, directors, staff and volunteers, from any and all liability, claims, demands, actions, or cause of actions, whatsoever arising out of or related to any injury, illness, loss or damage, including death, relating to participation in the said activity.