Ropes at Crane Lake

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By Katy Copplestone, Ropes Director 

Ropes staff with their medals

Ropes staff with their medals

To prepare for the arrival of the children, the Crane Lake ropes staff spent three full days with John who works for Alpine Towers and traveled all the way from North Carolina to teach the group the ins and outs of the ropes course.

One of the first days, the group put their team skills to the test and attempted to complete the low ropes elements. Gary was able to use his previous experience in teaching to help guide the group. Eshed used techniques he learned from the army and applied them to the ropes course. Joe and Ashley, both being drama students, were not afraid to put their ideas forward and take on different challenges.

On the second day, the high ropes training started with Howard being the only returner from the team. He assisted John and I in encouraging everyone who was using the correct techniques and supported them through the learning process. All of the team worked extremely hard and put 100% into learning all the new skills.

Passed their training!

Passed their training!

On the final day the staff were able to belay each other through the entire course. Doing this the team created strong bonds and put their trust in one another. Tamara, who was a Teva specialist last year, transformed perfectly into her new role at the ropes course. Adam and Noam displayed fantastic leadership skills and after the final day John announced to the staff that they had all passed the training with flying colors. To thank John for all his hard work and wise words, the ropes staff gave him a CLC staff shirt and a printed picture of the group with John during the training.

To praise the staff for all their hard work and dedication, I arranged for a small celebratory ceremony where they were presented with certificates and official ropes staff 2014 bandanas. Now they are officially ready for the campers to arrive.