History of Ropes Challenge Courses
The military have been using "commando" or "assault" courses perhaps ever
since the Ancient Greeks groomed their young soldiers via horse-riding and other
adventure activities. The purpose of assault courses was to provide tough
physical and emotional, multi-element physical training
exercises. Occasionally members of the public encounter may have
participated, e.g., for physical selection and fitness testing for
particular jobs (e.g., army, police, fire fighting, etc.). But they really
were and are designed for people who are very physically fit.
Some of the basic elements of commando courses have been
creatively adapted and extended for use in civilian education and training. And this has been the
real story of the growth of ropes challenge courses during the second half of
the 20th century.
Ropes Challenge Courses have "exploded" in the recent couple of
decades - their birth can be traced to Outward Bound and Project Adventure in
the 1960s in the USA. With school and community playgrounds sadly becoming
overly safe and "stock standard" and with less access to open, natural spaces,
there was a real need to invent more creative and challenging ways in which
adventurous physical and psychological play and learning could take place for
children, youth and adults.
The early development of Ropes Challenge Courses was within the Outward Bound movement.
Outward Bound was developed in the UK during the second world war and spread to
the USA in the 1960's where Ropes Challenge Courses were pioneered in 1968.
Then in the 1970's an Outward Bound offshoot program, Project Adventure
got underway.
Project Adventure was developed to create in-school adventure
learning activities using Outward Bound type principles. As a result,
Ropes Challenge Courses are used as educational elements or tools in and of
themselves, and not just as one components of an Outward Bound program. By
the 1990's Project Adventure had created an attractive series of ropes course
elements and related fun, educational and training activities which could be
delivered in a variety of settings.
Ropes Challenge Courses often operate using a Project Adventure philosophy,
which emphasizes "Challenge-by-Choice" -- it is made clear to all participants
that they are to exercise personal choice about whether or not to attempt or
complete any activity. At other times, Ropes Challenge Course facilitators
use more of an Outward Bound
philosophy, which tends to "push" people a little further.
Today, there are roughly 6000 to 12,000 ropes courses around the
world, with the vast majority being in North America, followed by at least several hundred ropes courses
in each of Australia/New Zealand, Asia, Europe
and the UK.
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