At Stonybrook, one of our favorite camp facilities lies deep in the woods….in addition to climbing, rappelling and zipping across our lake, so much happens at our challenge course. A unique opportunity for team and personal growth, the challenge course is where campers are given a chance to push themselves to try something new and to overcome possible fear in a safe and secure place. It is a thrilling activity that contributes to confidence building and the development of a healthy decision-making process.
The challenge course industry grew out of a desire to implement a wilderness type experience in a fixed setting, as opposed to an expedition experience. A challenge course is defined as a series of activities, sometimes on or close to the ground (a low course) and sometimes built on utility poles or trees (a high course). At Stonybrook we are proud to offer three challenge experiences: a low course, a high course (20 feet off the ground) and a super high course (forty feet off the ground).
Our challenge course opportunities are age appropriate for three years and up (not to worry- three year olds are on the low course) and safety is always our number one priority. We do everything possible to eliminate risk by adhering to strict and thorough safety measures. On high elements, for example, participants wear a safety harness system. If they fall, they are suspended in the air by a safety (belay) line. While participants may understand they are safe, their knees may still shake when they are 20 or 40 feet up. In other words, the perceived risk is much greater than the actual risk. This is what makes the course a mental challenge as well as a physical one.
Every year, we bring in engineers from Universal Ropes, the company that designed and built our course, to check it for saftey. The engineers thoroughly inspect each and every screw, nut, harness and rope. They also come to train our staff in the latest and greatest in safety and climbing techniques. This last weekend, Universal inspected our course and tested everything including the zip line and the giant swing. We are happy to report that we passed with flying colors.
During training, Universal Ropes taught our staff new knots and belaying procedures (bus method versus slip slap slide). We learned new techniques on how to dismount from the zip line using a gri gri (yes it is spelled correctly). Steve Sussman (Challenge Course Confidence Builder) and Matt Buczek (Assistant Director) got an opportunity to hone their skills on the zip platform. Katie Ruppell (our Aquatics director) learned how to belay and also zipped for the very first time. Chris Maddaloni, Jen Mambelli and Caryn Karger (Challenge Course Confidence Builders) also got to test their skills and learn a bit more, while Jeff Dickinson (Challenge Course Confidence Builder) helped set up the course and really did all of the difficult climbing. Roger Black (Owner/Director), enjoyed the training, but in full disclosure, he personally found the giant swing a bit much…..well, he has all summer to challenge himself and work on it.
We look forward to your child using our course and challenging him/herself!
Don't forget to check out http://www.stonybrookdaycamp.smugmug.com to see all of the pictures from camp!
