This year’s A-Camp is already shaping up to be ridiculously epic. Like I’m not even sure how we’re gonna fit it all in? Get this: Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher are headlining our comedy night. We’ve got talent like Tomboyish’s Ari Fitz, Radimo LA’s Dannielle Owens-Reid, worldwide comedy superstar / certified heartthrob Brittani Nichols and Michael Bolton cover band founder Elicia Sanchez. Musically, we’ve got some pretty kickass things going on, like Julia Nunes, Jenny Owen Youngs, Bell’s Roar and Mal Blum — and you can expect to see Djuan Trent performing with the legendary A-Camp Family Band. We’ve got special guests and special campers like Gaby Dunn, Kate Leth and the cast of Her Story popping up on some really awesome panels and workshops.

Here’s the thing: we’ve got 315 campers still on the waitlist (all in all, 400 names have spent time on this waitlist) and 315 more cool things we want to be able to offer A-Campers this session. Anybody with business acumen would suggest this means we should’ve made camp more expensive, but we know charging more would have a negative impact on the diversity of our campers. [Other Adult Camps charge between $795-$1,400 for 3-4 nights, with lodging ranging from “bring your own tent” to cabins similar to A-Camp’s, but usually without private bathrooms.] Still, we know Alpine isn’t exactly the Ritz, which’s why we bring in so much talent and so many supplies to make the camp experience as special as possible.

We’ve been sitting here for weeks trying to figure out how to make the most of this session, afford all the things we want to do and get as many of you on the mountain as we possibly can. Which brings us to 3 Ways To Get Yourself Off the Waitlist.

1. Be Under 21

There’s a strict camp policy that everybody under 21 has to be in the same cabin to ensure that nobody underage drinks alcoholic beverages on the mountain. This year it looks like we have three empty beds in that cabin — so, if you’re under 21 and already on the waitlist, email riese@autostraddle.com and abby@autostraddle.com, let us know the email you signed up for the waitlist with, and we’ll invite you in. (All under-21 campers also get a free A-Camp water bottle in their swag bags. FOR ALL THE NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS YOU’RE GONNA DRINK.) First come, first served! And yes, we can tell if you just signed yourself onto the waitlist today.

2. You Can Buy An A-Camp VIP Package

Over the years, we’ve gotten heaps of requests from campers who aren’t into the living-with-16-weirdos experience and would be willing to pay more for more private arrangements. Different lodging types for different prices are a standard offering for most adult camps, but that concept has always felt a little weird to us — not that it mattered, ’cause there was no way to do that at Alpine.

Until now! We literally found out yesterday that there’s a new lodge they’re opening up for us this year, and we’re going to do a little experiment and offer A-Camp VIP Packages! It’s possible that we’ll be switching sites eventually to a camp that does have different lodging types available, so this is us seeing how that feels on a smaller scale.

As aforementioned, having over 400 names on a waiting list for a 260-camper capacity camp would make most people raise prices, which we don’t want to do — but demand is REALLY high this camp and so we wanted to find a way to translate that into having a bigger budget for programming in a way that felt fair. We’re hoping a few people out there with higher incomes might be interested in paying a lot more for a little more, and that extra money will help make camp better for everybody!

The A-Camp Fancy Black Bear Lodge includes four bedrooms and — the best bonus of all! — a common room with a fridge and microwave. It has a capacity for 12 campers total.

All the A-Camp VIP Package rooms include everything regular A-Camp includes with the addition of:

• A bedroom that sleeps only 1-4 people
• A-Camp VIP gift bag to show our gratitude (in addition to the regular swag bag): A-Camp hoodie, water bottle, flask, fluffy towel and other surprises!
• Common room with seating, table, a fridge and microwave (which means you can store food and drinks in your cabin!)

The only catch is that the lodge only has two bathrooms, and only one of the two has a shower in it. So the showering situation won’t be any better than it is in the regular cabins BUT it also will not be any worse!

Room A or B: One queen-sized bed, a dresser, desk, chair and closet — $75 registration fee (per person) + $850 single or $1,550 couple

Room C or D: Two sets of bunk beds (4 people per room) – $75 reg fee + $725/person 

If you’re interested in these options, please email riese@autostraddle.com and cc abby@autostraddle.com by this Sunday night, April 17. We’ll be prioritizing new campers and campers who are already on the waitlist so for those people it’s basically first come, first served. So when you email please let us know what room you want and the email you used to register. If you were on the waitlist, got invited in, but decided against it because you weren’t up for Group Living, that counts as being on the waitlist.

If you are not a couple but are really good friends who’d love to share a queen bed anyhow, that’s also okay! We wish you luck with any potential sexual tension that may arise.

If you’re already registered and would like to switch into one of these options, e-mail me; it’s possible we could work something out (and then we could let someone else in off the waitlist!)

3. You are a person of color with experience in hairstyling including with Black / African-American hair

Our Alternative Lifestyle Haircut Barbershop is one of our most popular activities at camp, but our barber Kip could really use another hair-cutter who has experience with cutting/styling Black hair. If you’re able to help out and do a few haircuts while you’re at camp, we’ll get you in off the waitlist and give you a 38% discount on your tuition. Email riese@autostradlde.com and cc abby@autostraddle.com and tell me all about your experience and abilities!

Another Pro-Tip: CHECK YOUR E-MAIL. We’ve already had three campers ask us about whether or not they should give up hope about getting in, only to discover that indeed they HAD been invited in, but let the email invitation expire or didn’t open it at all. The email will be coming from events@regonline.com.

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