Mendocino Adventure Ropes Course

Registration

The first step to your MARC experience is to fill out and submit a course request. Once we receive your request, we can schedule your group and make sure you have all your questions answered.

Download course request

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An Overview

This day very well could be entirely different from anything else that you have ever experienced!  This overview will give you a rough idea of what to expect.

The Process Begins as we prepare mentally and physically for the day’s activities.  At this point, we will be involved in warm-up games and activities, stretching, basic problem solving activities and practice participating safely.  Very important at this time, we will create a set of agreements about how we will interact and treat each other.  We will learn about each other’s goals for the day and discuss some common goals for the benefit of the team.  If the group is large, during this time we will break down into smaller groups.

Group Challenges bring about big changes in our abilities to work as a team.  The morning will be filled with physical and intellectual challenges near or close to the ground that can be both frustrating and rewarding, teaching necessary skills and techniques of communicating, cooperating, and decision-making within a team.  The actual physical elements may include; balancing, walking on a cable, swinging on a rope across a level ground, and being lifted by a group.  This part of the day is an essential component of the Ropes Course as it creates the foundation for the group to work together and support one another throughout the day and back in day-to-day activities.

High Ropes Challenges are a tool in which participants have the opportunity to take on a personal challenge with the support of their group on the ground.  During the afternoon, individuals choose to test their limits in an atmosphere of perceived risk, leading to insights into dealing with fear, making choices and developing coping skills.  The physical elements are constructed 14 to 50 feet above ground and require the participant to wear a harness and be “belayed” (held) by an instructor.  They are designed to increase a student’s perception of fear while maintaining strict control of his/her safety.  Participants often discover their self-imposed limits and work to build new confidence.

Ultimately the End Value of this program is not in the physical accomplishment, so much as it is in in reflecting, sharing, and transferring new awareness and knowledge back to her/his day-to-day life.  Therefore, you can expect us to pause after most activities to discuss our insights, feelings and reactions to enable us to make the best use of this new information.

Our Philosophy of Choosing Your Challenge means that we ask participants to consider their own comfort levels with both difficult physical challenges and emotional challenges and to find the comfortable levels of participation, the Comfort Zone, and take one step more into the Challenge Zone.  While we expect participation throughout the day, we will not “force” or “pressure” participants and ask teachers and chaperones to comply with this as well.  We have found that participants go further toward their goals, and gain more personal achievement, when pushed only by their own challenges.