Outdoor Pursuits Day 1

This past Thursday was one of the most challenging days of my life. I was pushed more physically and mentally than I have ever been pushed before. The experience overall was also one of the best experiences of my life! I should probably explain a little bit what Outdoor Pursuits (OP) is about. OP is a course that is offered through the Bangor program but is not done at the University. There are 18 of us taking the course so they split us up into 2 groups, one group on Tuesday and one on Thursday. So every Thursday this semester I will be participating in the most challenging things of my life that range from ropes courses to mountain climbing to surfing.

This past week was an introduction to the whole course to help us develop skills we will need to use over the whole semester. The first day was set up to challenge the group and to help bring the group together. All of the activities are leadership and teamwork builders. We started on Thursday with a few trust building activities that were pretty simple and then got more challenging as we went along. Activities included piling the eight of us into the inside of a platform and then all of us getting out and get on top of it without touching the ground on the outside of the platform. (It was way harder than it sounded) We then had to swing from the platform to a smaller one on a giant rope without falling, and then we had 40 seconds for everyone to swing back. After we were done swinging from trees we had to get over a log that was suspended 4ish feet in between two trees and then one that was 6ish feet and then 8ish feet off the ground. The trick was we had to help each other get over but we could only help from the side we were on. And then the hardest part was for the last person to get over but luckily we had three tall guys in our group that had pretty good "ups". After we finished jumping logs, we did an obstacle course. This was no ordinary obstacle course though. One of us had to be blind folded the whole time and we had to carry a platic barrel and a pipe for the whole thing. Very challenging and forced us to work together to get Riley (our blindfolded person) through without losing a life (falling off) or dropping the barrel and pipe.

The second half of the day was dedicated to the high and low ropes course. This required us to get all geared up in full-body harnesses. After we were taught how to properly tie an overhand knot and a figure-eight knot and how to properly work the karibiners we headed off to the courses. The first course was a practice course that was about 15 feet off the ground built into the trees. Each feature of the course required us to attach the 2 karibiners to the cables above our heads. The karibiners were attached to us by the ropes we learned how to properly knots in earlier. While on the course, we were instructed to "fall" to help give us confidence, knowing we would be fine because we were attached to the cables. So after we all "passed" the low ropes course we moved onto the real thing! The high ropes course was, I would guess, 40-60 feet off the ground. Once started you actually climbed higher through a net tunnel which I found to be the scariest part. The course ended on a huge zip line and you then lowered yourself to the ground. It was very challenging, intense and very fun!


Because our group is smaller than the Tuesday group, we had time to do the last activity that Tuesday's group did not have time to do. This activity was by far the most challenging activity for me. It was called the trapeze and involved us climbing to a small platform about 50 feet up into a tree and then jumping out onto a hanging trapeze. We were held up by a rope and by our friends below that were belaying us if we missed. Needless to say, jumping was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I wouldn't say I'm afraid of heights but I am afraid of falling. It took a lot of trust between me and the others to make a leap of death. Granted, there were four people below belaying the rope attached to my back and the lead person was also attached to a cement block that probably weighed a ton. I had nothing to fear, ha! As I climbed higher and higher I got more nervous. Then, as I stood on the small platform, I didn't think I could do it. I thought I was going to have to be rescued. I could feel my heart racing in my chest and my hands were shaking. I could do this! This was just like when we were kids and we would jump on the monkey bars to reach the furthest one you could. So I closed my eyes and forced my legs to leap! I almost had it! I was so close, my left hand got it but only my fingertips reached the bar on my right. And in the same instant I was stopped by the rope attached to my back. They lowered me down, I was pretty much a limp noodle. I couldn't move, but I did jumped and that was all that mattered. I was so proud of myself! After I stopped shaking ten  minutes later, I felt an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. What a great day! Next week, mountain biking, oh dear!

Until next time...

~Amy