For teenagers, life is about gaining independence as they prepare to take on the world. For teenagers who also happen to live with an autoimmune disease called type 1 diabetes (T1D), independence also means navigating blood glucose management, insulin dosing, and diabetes technology to keep themselves alive and well. T1D or not, we all encounter “game changing moments” on our journey that help crystalize what we’re truly capable of. BASECAMP is one such pivotal experience for teens with T1D; it’s the adventure of a lifetime.
BASECAMP is Riding On Insulin’s annual wilderness adventure retreat for teens with T1D ages 15-18, and it takes place in late July, 63 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s Brooks Mountain Range.
Teens travel from all over the country to northern Alaska where they spend a week at an off-grid wilderness lodge and retreat center called Arctic Hive. There, 7 hours from the nearest civilization, they explore the unique ecology and wildlife of the arctic tundra, hike in and around one of the least visited national parks in the country: Gates of the Arctic National Park, and experience life off-grid.
SLAMT1D is proud to partner with Riding On Insulin to fund a unique Essay Contest for BASECAMP in 2025. SLAMT1D is a nonprofit organization founded with the mission to improve the lives of people with T1D and to help keep them in the games, sports and activities they love. Riding On Insulin empowers, activates and connects the T1D community through shared experience and action sports.
SLAMT1D will award up to $3,000 to one or more New England-based teenagers with T1D who are seeking their own game-changing experience at BASECAMP 2025.
Applications are accepted from September 15 - November 15, 2025. Teens are encouraged to answer the following essay questions to help explain why this experience would “change the game” for them, affording them both independence as a young adult, and as someone living with T1D. Applicants are encouraged to describe how they might use their BASECAMP experience to “pay it forward”, that is to help others with T1D.
