By Tom Rohrer
Tucked away in the woods north of the main soccer field at The Evergreen State College is an opportunity for teams, co-workers, family and friends to join together towards a series of common goals.
The Evergreen State College Challenge Course, run by the school’s recreation department, provides an ideal setting for team building exercises. Participating groups will be challenged both mentally and physically, all while being under close supervision in a safe, serene environment.
The secluded setting is comforting and familiar for those participating. Within the wooded area of the course, lies a large collection of mental and physical challenges that require groups to think together to solve complex problems posed by the challenge course leaders.
ThurstonTalk.com staffers jumped on the course recently. Unanimously, we agreed that it was a rewarding experience that built trust and camaraderie amongst the team.
“The Evergreen Challenge Course was an amazing time, and it was fun connecting with my colleagues in a whole new way,” said Dennis Murphy of ThurstonTalk.com
As described on the course official website, teams face both low and high element challenges while on the Challenge Course. Low element challenges require teams to work together through clear communication, while high element challenges will test individuals both physically and mentally.
Before tackling a challenge, the certified college recreation department staff provide a brief introduction and overview. Some name games are played and a few ‘easy’ challenges are tackled on the field.
Many of the ropes course supervisors helped construct and maintain the challenges and courses in the woods, giving them an expert understanding of what the group will face. The instructors were funny, friendly and provided a calming presence to the group they were supervising. With a focus on safety and personal choice, each instructor is positive and encouraging throughout the entire day.
“The instructors on the course did a great job keeping our entire team engaged,” said ThurstonTalk.com owner Dan Jones. “They were awesome to work with.”
After mastering a challenge, the course supervisors would often “change the rules,” such as requiring our team to work together in silence using only hand signals and facial expressions to accomplish a task.
“What stands out most to me is having to communicate with my teammates to get through each challenge,” said Tim Shaw of ThurstonTalk.com.
After completing some “warm up” challenges in the field, such as passing hula hoops around our bodies while holding hands, or untying ourselves from a human knot without speaking, the group headed into the woods to take on the course, one challenge at a time.
Our first challenge was to stand in a variety of formations on an unbalanced wooden platform that had an effect similar to a teeter-totter. Working together, we had to maneuver the platform without letting any corner touch the ground.
A wooden log hanging in the air by cables in between two trees was the next obstacle. It took a few attempts, but the ThurstonTalk team was able to stand together on the shaky log, and a few team members even walked across in balance-beam type effort.
The remaining challenges included elements of climbing, balancing, strength and courage. To give away the surprise would be an injustice to the course.
The course supervisors refer to participation as “challenge by choice.” At any time, participants can chose not to take on a particular challenge on the course, for whatever reason, without judgment.
With a wide range of available challenges, the recreation supervisors tailor the course to each group. A high school sports team may tackle more physical challenges while a workplace team will focus on challenges that require communication skills and cooperation.
“We laughed a lot and just had so much fun,” noted Shaw.
“Our ThurstonTalk.com team is already planning our next team building date on the ropes course,” added Jones.
“I personally want to say thank you to the TESC team for helping the ThurstonTalk.com team grow by continuing to ask open-ended questions all throughout our fantastic day,” Murphy said. “You guys rock!”
The Evergreen State Challenge Course is reasonably priced and open for workplace communication skills and team building, sports team celebrations, family reunions, and basically any other reason that you want to pull a group together for a bonding experience.
For more information on the Evergreen State College Challenge Course, click here. More photos from the challenge course can be found here.
