10-year-old cub scout earns all 63 badges in three years
Among his many badges, Ethan Hippel earned his badge for carpentry by building his own wooden soap box car
The Canadian Cub Scout motto is "Do your best," and a 10-year-old West Vancouver boy certainly has.
Ethan Hippel of the First West Vancouver Cub Scout Troop has earned every one of his 63 badges in only three years.
Hippel, who has earned badges for everything from snowboarding to participating in a shoreline cleanup under the Lion's Gate Bridge, was honoured at a special merit ceremony on April 19 by Scouts Canada and West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith.
"I feel really accomplished, and I think later on in life I'm going to look back and smile at what I've done," Hippel told On the Coast host Stephen Quinn.
Badges for snowboarding, space exploration
Hippel said that when he began cub scouts three years ago, he knew there were badges for survival skills, but was happy to learn there were also badges for a variety of other activities — including snowboarding and space exploration.
"I found out the different criteria and they were really fun," he said.
"Near the beginning of my second year I just decided I want to get all of them because it's so fun to get all of the badges and to feel so accomplished when you do them."
He said that he wasn't trying to earn all the badges just to have them. He said he's gained skills that he believes will help him through life.
"They want to focus on survival skills and outdoorsy activities, but they also want you to be an all-around person," he said.
The most challenging feat, Hippel said, was the "climate change challenge crest." He said the crest included five different badges for a variety of activities including recycling and using an online calculator to figure out his family's carbon footprint.
Built a soap box car
He said the space exploration badge was the most fun, because he got to design his own space suit and rocket ship.
"It had to be realistic," he said. "You can't say it makes a tree grow out of your ear or something."
Hippel also built a wooden soap box car to earn his badge for carpentry.
"It's about four-feet long, and I made that with my grandpa," he said, adding that he hasn't raced it yet but he has ridden it down a big hill near his house with his brother.
"It took a few weekends [to build], and it's red, green, blue — a bunch of different colours. And it doesn't have any brakes," he laughed.
When not earning badges, Hippel also swims competitively, plays on a local soccer team and attends Swedish school.
With files from CBC's On the Coast
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