1. "Don't look down." Because the minute you say it, you will.
2. No comments/jokes about falling. You can slip on the rock wall, but you can't fall. The safety equipment and human precautions ensure that. Keep people mentally safe by keeping all talk positive.
3. "That was easy." Everyone's easy if different. The only requirement of the rock wall is to try YOUR hardest and to challenge YOURSELF. If your challenge is to put on the gear, stand at the bottom of the wall, and look up the face to the top of the wall? Do that. If your challenge is to climb up three levels, do that. If pushing yourself for a new, fastest time to the top is your challenge? Do that.
We filled up with a good lunch, and then returned to the climbing wall for our afternoon challenge: the high ropes course.
The high ropes course is a mental and emotional challenge, more than a physical challenge. As everyone was able to successfully complete the low ropes course and most of the climbing wall, they had the physical skills to move through the high ropes course. The challenge was to manage fear in order to do what our bodies are capable of doing.
We prepared extensively for being on the line. Part of overcoming the fear is understanding exactly how safe the system is. Everyone was required to pass clip training, which involved learning the commands for moving the two-clip system that keeps everyone safe on the course. By practicing on the ground, we feel more prepared and less afraid in the air. Each clip holds 5,000 pounds.
After Ground School, we re-scaled the rock wall and put our bravery to the test by stepping out onto the ropes course.
We closed out our night with a very fun game, called the adaptation auction. As of now, I blog from the silent lodge where all have fallen into a well-earned sleep. Tomorrow, we're off for a morning of wilderness survival and time to explore the wetlands here at camp.
Until tomorrow,
Rachel