HARVEY COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) - The 48th annual Trappers Rendezvous was held in Harvey County over the weekend. More than 2,700 campers, scouts, and counselors from Missouri and Oklahoma turned out to rough it in brutally cold temperatures to live the experience of a frontier trapper. In this cold, if you're out longer than a few minutes, your fingers and toes start to tingle, but that's what campers are here for. The cold makes it more realistic, according to one organizer. He likened it to an actual survival experience with safety bumpers on. "It certainly does make it a more real experience for what it would it would have been like in the mountains in the mid-1800s," said Jamie Coyne, the Trappers Rendevous event coordinator. "There's something about winter camping and the opportunity to see what you've learned and how well you can deal with the cold that makes this exciting." Every tent was pitched on a thick layer of ice and snow. "It's like one of those old survival experiences, you go, and you try to tough out something, you come out the other end and feel amazing," said James Marshall with Scout Troop 520. Will spring come early? NOAA releases weather predictions for Kansas To the campers, the harshest conditions breed the strongest brotherhoods. Sharing meals, fires, and living spaces. "It's being with people like this that I actually get to connect with … I don't know, it's kind of like a relationship," said Marshall. "You just get a connection, and you get to see those people year after year. I've got family from Oklahoma that comes up here," said David Wilson with Troop 888. As the sun sets, the scouts' handbook lessons become real-life skills. "In scouts, there's this thing like the 'buddy system,' if you're not communicating with whoever you're buddied with, you might lose track of them, and it's just a whole other problem," said Joseph Simms, a scout with Troop 251. "You also learn stuff like leadership skills." "Society basically says, 'Stay inside when it's negative degrees.' It says, 'Don't come out. You're going to get hurt.' But these guys, they plan, they prepare, you know they have everything they need to survive in this type of environment," said Rich Lundstrom, the scout leader of Troop 251. They're looking forward to next year, whether it's sunny skies or icy roads. Organizers do have precautions for the cold. There are indoor areas to warm up, and EMS and medical services are available at all times. Campers packed up and headed home early Sunday morning.