The ropes course is an important part of the camp experience, and provides many memorable defining moments, for both campers and staff. Although not my favorite element to complete, the Leap of Faith is definitely my preferred element to facilitate. With a relatively straight forward 65’ vertical climb, followed by a 10’ leap for a trapeze, it is the epitome of what a ropes course element should be: achievable, and more of a mental obstacle than a physical one. Facilitating ropes course events requires a combination of psychological motivation, encouragement, physical bearing and trust. The whole objective is to help people expand their comfort zone, both physically and mentally, which requires that we push limits pretty far, and it is sometimes difficult to find the line since it changes on an individual basis. The first week of sportsman camp at Wild Oak, a few counselors had not found the correct combination of motivating factors, and very few campers were willing to even attempt the higher elements. Only three of my nine cabin members even attempted the Leap, and I usually consider 100% to be a reasonable goal. Week Two I was determined to improve things. I was assigned to run the Leap for my cabin on Friday morning, and had a good talk with them ahead of time about the importance of trying new things, pushing one self farther, etc. and I was feeling pretty good about everything this time around.
Of my seven campers, I expected a little bit of resistance from two of them who had been exhibiting a rebellious streak. The first four went up with no problems, and we were looking good, and on time. As number five, Chris was getting clipped in, I started to encourage my two rebellious campers, Dylan and Sergio, to begin to prepare. I sent them over to the harness box as Chris began to climb, while I belayed him. At about 6 foot and 120lbs, any obstacle Chris faced was not likely to be physical. Within the first few steps he began to complain about being scared. Brooklyn was my partner in running the ropes course that day, and she had been very supportive in strongly encouraging kids to push themselves on this element, and began to talk him through it. While this was going on, I became aware that both Dylan and Sergio had refused to cooperate, thrown their harnesses on the ground, and were ignoring their cabin mate’s encouragement to give it a shot. After about ten minutes, Chris had only made it a couple more steps. While he had not stopped entirely, it had become clear to me that he was unlikely to make it to the top, and that we were not going to have time to send Dylan and Sergio up, even if they had agreed to give it a shot. Lunch time was rapidly approaching, and it was usually a 20 minute walk back to camp.
Fortunately for us, the director Rocky had decided to come pick up the group with a Magic Carpet, to save us the walk. By the time he arrived, Chris had made it a few steps farther, and was about halfway up. After a quick discussion, it was agreed that he would take the group back while Brooklyn and I would stay with Chris, to give him time to attempt to finish the element. The rest of the group off drove off while we continued to talk Chris through every step of the way. He was almost to the top by the time Rocky returned, and we continued to talk him all the way up to the platform. Once he had reached it, he took a few minutes to catch his breath, and then scooted out to the edge and jumped off without too much trouble. Once he was down on solid ground he was fine, and we hurried of to catch the tail end of lunch.
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