Did you know Bearcats could be airborne?
The Outdoor Pursuits department of Binghamton University’s Campus Recreation has opened a new ropes course for students and staff to participate in various team-building activities, culminating in a zip line ride through the trees.
The course, which is located along the wooded path between the East Gym and the Old Dickinson Community, features “high” and “low” elements for groups to participate in. The course was built last March, and is now open for students and faculty to come in and participate as a way to build trust and cooperation within social or working groups.
The low elements include a tightrope, a large teeter-totter as well as other challenges, all focusing on team-building exercises. On the other side of the path, the high elements feature cargo nets up in the trees, more tightropes and the zip line.
Teresa High, the director of Outdoor Pursuits, came to Binghamton University 18 years ago, after a background of working with team-building exercises at Penn State. Originally she had plans for an indoor rock-climbing wall, but those plans fell through when the University remodeled the Rec Center. She said the team-building challenge course was a natural fit for the Outdoor Pursuits department but took years to build because of planning, safety precautions and getting permission from the University.
“It’s been in the works,” High said. “We’ve had business plans for it since 2003, so after the indoor climbing wall fell through, we looked to enhancing what Outdoor Pursuits was, and then this was the next logical growth step.”
The $20,000 ropes course was paid for entirely by the Campus Rec department, which raised money through gym memberships and fees for other classes. Although the program is financially solvent, High said she hoped to see donors expand it further.
“We thought it would be a good investment for the campus and the campus culture,” High said. “I would really like to get some alumni donors behind it, I think it would generate a good buzz.”
For Jon Banko, a member of Outdoor Pursuits staff and a graduate student studying computer engineering, the ropes course is a way to get students more involved in outdoor activities.
“I think its great because it is a unique experience compared to other opportunities on campus,” Banko said. “It expands the outdoors element to campus and it gets people more involved with group activities.”
The ropes course is designed to promote bonding and trust within groups; it features games like a large multi-person teeter-totter, which involves players supporting each other on tightropes, as well as an activity where participants climb a cargo net into the trees and help each other reach the top, where a bell can be rung.
“I think the ropes course is a thrilling adventure right here on campus. I rode along the zip lining course as a result of winning the raffle offered at the Rec fest,” said Andrew Muscarella, a freshman majoring in engineering. “I think that the zip lining course is a great way for student organizations to develop team building and performance, especially if the entire course is used.”