The men · the production team
Every yearsince 1990.
Fathers, tradesmen, teachers, men who came through the weekend as young men. They build a camp on Thursday and Friday, run it for three days, strike it on Sunday, and go to work Monday.
Brad Leslie, cofounder
The founders
Two men started itfor every young man.
Brad Leslie and Andy Vine founded the Young Men's Adventure Weekend in 1990, not for their own sons but for every young man who needed it, and for the betterment of mankind. Brad's son Dorian has been at more than thirty of them, and today helps carry it forward.
Brad's reason hasn't changed: to make a difference in the world by supporting men and young men to be their best, to live lives of integrity and service, and to hold high standards for themselves and their communities.
The weekend is produced by the Young Men's Adventure Weekend Society of BC, a volunteer non-profit with a board, a Production Team Manager for each weekend, and departments led by men who've held the role for years.
The departments
Where a mancan serve.
Program & Quests
Design and run the Quest stations and the arc of the weekend.
Shadows
Walk beside a team of young men all weekend. Watch. Say little. On Sunday, say everything.
Kitchen
Eight meals for fifty, cooked over fire. The calmest place in camp.
Site & Supplies
Tarps, tools, water, wood. Leave it better than we found it.
Safety
First aid, the buddy system, the emergency plan. Everyone's job; your watch.
Transport
The bus, the trucks, the 4x4s, the stops on time.
Load & Strike
Thursday load. Sunday strike. Strong backs, early mornings.
Enrolment
The calls, the emails, the families, the seats filled.
First weekend? You'll most likely be a shadow: alongside a team of young men all weekend, in an observational role. The men call it the best seat in the house, and it's how every one of them started. Do not panic. You will be well supported.
The 2026 team
Men you cancall by name.
The leadership of this September's weekend, and about forty more men on the departments. Ask any of them anything at the bus stop.
Jeffery Woods
Production Team Manager
Cameron Tsoi-A-Sue
S1 · second in command
Bryan Wadsworth
Enrolment manager
Jason Macloed
Enrolment 2nd
Dan Beck
Finance & registration
Raymond Wong
Safety manager
Tim Bolan
Transport manager
Dorian Leslie
Kitchen · Food Boss
Brad Leslie
Cofounder
The five values · T.E.A.M.S.
Five words every mancoaches by. Out loud.
Truthful, Excellence, Accountable, Mindful, Service. The men don't lecture them; they ask them. When a young man cuts a corner, blames a teammate, or drifts off, a man asks one question and lets him answer it. When he gets it right, a man says so, by name. By Sunday the young men are asking each other.
T
Truthful
The commitment to honesty and integrity in all aspects of life.
“Are you being truthful?”
E
Excellence
The pursuit of giving your best in everything you do, at all times, by taking intentional actions to achieve your desired outcomes.
“Are you striving for excellence?”
A
Accountable
Taking full responsibility for yourself, your actions and even your thoughts.
“Are you being accountable?”
M
Mindful
Paying attention to your thoughts, feelings, sensations and surroundings with curiosity and acceptance.
“Are you being mindful?”
S
Service
Prioritizing the needs of others above your own wants and desires, without seeking attention or praise.
“Are you serving others, or just yourself right now?”
And the word itself
Team.
Every man on a team is not equal. The largest man cannot do what the smallest can, and vice versa. Each one brings a strength the others don't have, and the team wins by putting them together.
The men ask: “Are you being a team player?”
A young man is a chunk of carbon. A man is a diamond. Only pressure, heat and time form the diamond, and only when its rough edges are ground down does it show its glow in the sun.
As steel sharpens steel, so does one man sharpen another. That is the value of a team.
The Man Code
“Commitment before ego. Keep your word. Be prepared. Defend humanity. Champion diversity and recognize differences. Always be faithful to others. Fight only honourable battles. Earn and honour rank. Be an example to children.”
Their own standards
On Friday night, before anything else happens, the young men write the standards they'll hold each other to for the weekend. Nobody hands them a list. The men hold themselves to the Code and the fourteen standards; the young men hold themselves to what they wrote.
As men, we already hold ourselves to high standards. The weekend is a chance to raise them.
The fourteen standards
What every mansigns and keeps.
Read them before you register. You'll initial the ones that matter most to a parent, and you'll hear all of them at the Thursday meetings.
- 01Safety. We are all responsible for our own safety and the safety of others.
- 02Buddy system. Never be alone. Every man is visible to at least one other man at all times, and never alone with a young man.
- 03No drugs, alcohol, or tobacco at YMAW or in the 24 hours before any YMAW event.
- 04Honour the site. Leave things better than you found them.
- 05Confidentiality. Everything you see or hear is confidential. Speak to your own experience only.
- 06Be on time. Be at the designated place at the designated time, ready.
- 07No foul language. We are modelling behaviour for the young men.
- 08We refer to the youth as young men. Not boys, not kids.
- 09Don't make anything up. Get clear direction and set your ego aside.
- 10Supportability. Trust the team.
- 11Your well-being is your responsibility. Hydrate, rest, look out for one another.
- 12Clean it up. If you find yourself out of integrity, call yourself back in with a simple act of service.
- 13Fathers of young men: trust the process. This is his time.
- 14By modelling accountability to the young men and to each other, we cultivate trust and mutual respect.
Straight talk for men
We need men like you.
You'll be challenged mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The team meets every other Thursday at Central Park in Burnaby, and on the off weeks by Zoom with men from Alberta to Washington State. Training is Friday morning, September 11, in Squamish. Load is Thursday, September 10. Strike offload is Sunday evening in Abbotsford. You'll pay $320 like everyone else, get a criminal record check, and keep the standards.
In return: young men are watching, and they learn more from what we do than what we say. Most men who staff once describe it as one of the most meaningful things they've done. Many come back for twenty years.