Course challenges teamwork

Camouflaged by telephone poles and wires, the SCSU Challenge Course hosted its second annual open house Wednesday.

Despite the 38-foot tall climbing wall, student manager for the Husky Challenge Course Melissa Hansen said that the course could be more popular among the SCSU students.

“Nobody really comes out here unless you want to park,” said challenge course staff member Winner Marube.

The open house was free to SCSU students, faculty and staff from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The goal of the open house was to give more information about the challenge course as well as other opportunities available through Outdoor Endeavors that students might not know about.

Hansen said that the true purpose of the challenge course is to improve group communication and teamwork.

The course’s zip line and swinging ladders are the tools used to build teamwork and communication within a group.

Youth teams, sports teams and local businesses are some of the most popular groups that visit the challenge course.

The course is usually available any day during the week from April to November based on requests made by groups.

The groups usually hear about the challenge course from word-of-mouth.

Hansen said that this type of word-of-mouth is their best form of advertising given that there are few other advertisements for the course.

Groups usually begin on the ground getting to know each other and building trust. Members also learn about safety and how to use the equipment including the harnesses and ropes.

From there, the groups usually move to low elements that include tasks that are a maximum of three feet off the ground.

Higher elements include a giant swing, walking platforms and vines and are usually saved until the group has gone through the other teamwork activities.

“That’s a huge fear element for some people and if they know they’ve got their peers behind them, it’s a little more encouraging when they’re up there,” graduate assistant for Outdoor Endeavors Sara Steffen said.

Many of the group development activities can hit the road and visit other venues in the community through the course’s mobile program.

The challenge course staff is also able to alter the group activities to make them fit with the specific goals of a group.

“You can so a lot of different things with a lot of these elements that you wouldn’t really think of,” Hansen said.

Many of the low elements of the challenge course were added last summer.

Adding to the course is something that the staff tries to do in order to keep the elements new and interesting to returning groups.

Currently the staff is working to turn a telephone pole into a platform for a free fall activity.

Hansen said she hopes these new additions to the course as well as the open house opportunities will help expand the program to the SCSU community.