Spotlight: Ropes Course

Evan Dreifuss (Rosh Ropes): This is my second year working on the ropes course after two years as a counselor at camp. When I decided I wanted to come back to camp, I had no idea that the ropes courses were being built, but Rabbi Soloff asked if I would be interested in working with them and I was definitely open-minded about it. After last summer and having a really good experience working on it, I decided I wanted to come back this year and have a leadership role. We have the opportunity to make a real impact on the campers on the ropes courses, and I wanted to be involved in that. This is another way for me to give back to camp and to help current campers in ways different from how I was helped when I was a camper.

The model that we have been using on the ropes courses is that it is a cabin-based activity, and each cabin gets two trips out to the courses. Each trip is about two and a half hours. The first trip starts with warm up games on the soccer field. The games help us to wake the campers up and get them in the mood and it gives the staff an opportunity to observe the cabin dynamics. After the warm up games, we head over to the low ropes course. There are a number of different elements on the low ropes course, but there are four major elements that we use most often. The first is the low log. All the campers get up on the log and then we give them different tasks to do while staying on the log. The idea is to get the campers to communicate and work together. Then there is the teeter-totter, on which the whole cabin tries to balance. The third element is the spider web, which is a little more physically demanding. There are a number of holes within the web and the campers have to work together to get their whole cabin through the holes. The last element on the low ropes course, and the one I think is the most challenging, is the low wall. It's a fifteen-foot wooden wall and everyone has to get over it. So, the campers have to work together, support each other, and communicate.

The other trip is the high ropes course, which everyone is excited about. On the high ropes course, there are a number of elements, but unlike the low ropes elements, these elements are more individual. It gives people an opportunity to challenge themselves. The biggest thing out there is the fear of heights. Many people have that fear and that's the main thing that we work on with people. More so than getting over that fear, however, we want to show people that they can challenge themselves-that they can do things that they're nervous about and feel good about doing them.

We try to set the tone that successfully completing an element does not mean that you have to go up and literally finish it. Successfully completing an element is going in with what you think is a challenge to yourself-to some people that is just climbing a few rungs on the ladder, to others it's climbing up to the element and climbing down. We try to keep the campers thinking what would be a challenge to themselves. And we stress that they need to be honest with themselves, because at the end of the day it's their experience and we want them to be satisfied with it. If you don't do it, that's fine. Success is defined by the individual.

The elements on the high ropes course are mainly traversing elements. We use a belay system with a highly trained staff. We make sure that the campers understand that and that usually helps people who are hesitant.

Though the high ropes course is more of an individual experience, it happens within the whole cabin. We ask that the cabinmates on the ground are cheering them on and supporting them. We also ask for volunteers to help our staff by spotting someone on a ladder or holding a rope. So, we try to get the cabin to work together.

We have a special program for Bogrim that we run in conjunction with the camping staff. While the other cabins come out in two separate trips, Bogrim will do both courses as a full day event. It starts after breakfast with warm up activities and the low ropes course. They eat lunch out on the course, and do the high ropes course in the afternoon. Then they go directly to their overnight camping trip. It's a long day, but they enjoy it. It's nice to see everything come together at the same time. The unity that they build on the ropes courses comes through in the experience they then have on their camping trip.

Project Adventure is the company that built the high ropes course last summer. They're a premier challenge course building company. Part of building the course for camp is that they provide training for it. So, we had a trainer come out last summer during staff week and we had an intensive training session. We learned the warm up activities, the low ropes activities, and then all the safety that goes in to the high ropes course. We had the same training this year.

My favorite thing about the courses is having the opportunity to see people who are really scared and hesitant and then to see the look on their faces after they have challenged themselves. Seeing the transformation and the growth that can happen in such a short period of time and seeing people challenge themselves and feel good about it, it's really great. I love being part of it and seeing the impact we have on people. It's inspirational.