to climb or not to climb
...that is the challenge!
By Kate O'Connor, Program Associate, Camp Support Services
Terms our campers hear in their day-to-day lives include: diagnosis, treatment, meds, crisis, therapy and relapse. The terms they learn at camp, however, are a bit more freeing: belay, zip line, peg climb, trapeze and spotter. While illnesses do not define them, they do tend to be the wildest ride of their childhood... until they get to camp.
No program area illustrates Paul Newman’s dream for camp better than the ropes course, a place where campers shed all perceived limitations and challenge themselves in the most fun and freeing way. But how?
How do our campers put aside their diagnoses and test a whole new set of immediate fears? They trust in trained and confident staff members who ensure the safety and fun for each and every climber, zip liner and trapeze flyer. But first, every camper is given a choice, something they rarely get during their hospital stays. Every ropes course activity is a challenge by choice. Challenge by choice is the freedom to choose their level of involvement in an activity, without fear of harassment, continuous coaxing, and/or loss of respect or support from the group.
Once they are armed with the confidence and support of their cabin mates, they’re ready to choose their challenge. At many SeriousFun camps, the menu of obstacles includes a combination of low/high rope courses, climbing towers, zip lines, trapezes, peg climbs, catwalks, incline logs and more. Some obstacles are individual elements; others are multi-participant activities. For those campers with mobility restrictions, ropes course elements are adapted to accommodate their needs. Whether the element itself is curtailed to fit the mobility of the camper or the whole cabin joins in for a team lift, every single camper gets to feel the exhilaration of accomplishment.
From this sense of accomplishment comes renewed self-confidence. Occasionally, a camper will arrive uninterested in dancing, in creating arts and crafts or in dressing up for stage night, instead choosing to disengage rather than get involved. But when given the opportunity to climb and fly for the first time, many choose to go for it. Time spent at the rope course becomes not just a thrilling test of courage, but also where campers can reach beyond illness to discover confidence and a sense of possibility.
For more information about empowering programs like the ropes course, please visit any of the camp websites by clicking on their logo.
