Zip Line

Swinging Log

Two-Line Traverse

Trust Fall

Spider Web

Flying Squirrel

The Dog Team for the Flying Squirrel

The Flying Squirrel

Giant's Ladder

Who Can Participate in C.O.P.E?

Project C.O.P.E. is comprised of a series of outdoor challenges, beginning with basic group initiative games and progressing to more complicated low-course and high-course activities. Participants climb, swing, balance, jump, rappel, and think through solutions to a variety of challenges.

Who can participate?

• Youths and adults involved in Scouting
• Adult and youth leadership groups
• Corporate or industrial work teams to build trust and teamwork among their employees
• Companies, churches and civic groups or members

The eight major goals commonly associated with Project C.O.P.E.:

1. Communication. Project C.O.P.E. encourages real learning of critical listening and discussion skills important for any group attempting to accomplish difficult tasks.

2. Planning. Participants are encouraged to develop goals for each activity and options for achieving those goals, using the group's strengths to devise and carry out a course of action. Nontraditional solutions that are out of the box may be appropriate.

3. Teamwork is the key that allows a group to meet a C.O.P.E. challenge successfully. The C.O.P.E. experience makes it clear that each individual can accomplish more as a member of a team than by going it alone.

4. Trust. Participants completing difficult tasks on a C.O.P.E. course develop trust in C.O.P.E. staff members, the safety of the course, each other and themselves.

5. Development of Leadership. Leadership is given and assumed naturally and it can be expressed in many ways. Team members attempting to solve problems on a C.O.P.E. course have many opportunities to develop and exercise leadership skills.

6. Decision making. Project C.O.P.E. requires groups to make decisions by developing one or more solutions to a problem, considering the available resources and alternatives, and evaluating the probable results.

7. Problem Solving. Project C.O.P.E. challenges groups and individuals to develop solutions to interesting problems. Participants can then test their solutions and evaluate the results.

8. Self Esteem. Meeting the challenges of a C.O.P.E. course allows individuals and groups to develop self-esteem and encourages them to adopt challenging, attainable goals.

The Three Phases of C.O.P.E

The first phase is spent getting to know each other. Quite often, participants come to Project C.O.P.E. with some level of anticipation. And why not, it is different from anything most of them have ever done. So we want everyone to feel comfortable — with themselves, their teammates and the instructors. This time is also used as an “ice breaker.” We participate in such activities as the cookie line, toss-a-name or hoops around the circle. These exercises are designed to create a feeling of trust and support among each team and are executed at ground level.

Phase two begins right in the heart of mother nature - the woods. These elements take the challenge one step further and many of the elements are conducted slightly above ground. But this is a time in which participants experience real breakthroughs. They start to realize that other opinions are important and every team member plays a vital role in the group decision. Teams also see leadership roles change as different people take the lead in areas where they feel most confident.

Phase three — where the real fun begins! This is where many people build a great deal of self-confidence by attempting things they never thought they would. It may be climbing the pamper pole, jumping off the confidence pole, or going down the zip line. It could even be belaying on the ground for a climber. This phase is best remembered by participants because it’s so personal. Many have said that after their accomplishments at Project C.O.P.E., meeting challenges at school or work seem not only possible, but probable!

What are C.O.P.E.'s Elements?

A COPE Course consists of a number of elements, or events, which the group encounters. Each event is designed to challenge the group in a different way, but all are designed to improve one or more of the Project COPE objectives. Basically, there are two classifications of elements, low course and high course.

Initiative Games
The initiative games consist of activities to help participants learn each other's names and to learn to work together through communication and trust to achieve their goals.

Trust Events
A series of activities designed to develop trust in the mind of the individual and with the group as a whole, as well as developing spotting skills.

Low Course
The Low Course consists of 13 exciting and challenging elements that require participants to swing on ropes, balance on swaying cables, experience breath-taking "trust falls," and scale 12-foot walls. Other events pose challenging problems that can only be solved with group effort. These elements range in height from ground-level to 12 feet in the air. They typically do not require the use of a safety line, however they do require the assistance of the group to "spot" the individual(s) on the element.

High Course
The High Course offers even more exciting challenges, with events ranging in height from ground level to 40 feet in the air. Participants will ascend a caving ladder, climb a cargo net, traverse a two-wire crossing, defy a leap into space, become a "flying squirrel," and ride a 700 foot long zipline. These elements require not only "spotting," but also safety (belay) lines.

Tower
The Storz Tower at Camp Cedars boasts 20-foot, 35 foot and 50 foot climbing walls, as well as rapelling opportunities. The climbing walls have hand/foot holds that feel just like the face of a real climb. The holds can be configured in hundreds of locations on the walls in order to customize the wall to a particular group. The tower is also lighted to provide evening and night use for even more flexibility.

COPE Instructor Training

This training is for Unit Leaders who want to use the COPE Course at Camp Cedars in their Scouting program. The specialized training extends over 21 hours and is physically demanding. A three-hour weeknight classroom session covers the concepts of COPE, knots, harnesses and other equipment. The weekend training consists of two full days on both Low and High Course elements. The training method is to: Do it as a participant - Watch it being taught - Be watched running it, all the while having constant interaction with the trainer. And if you're not careful, you will also have FUN!

Be sure to click the COPE & Climbing Program link in the sidebar, to see what COPE can do for you.

NEXT CLASS:

COPE Facilitator Training
When: April 9, 12 & 13, 2008, (register by Apr 4, 2008)
Where: Wednesday evening is at the Durham Scout Center
Weekend sessions are at Camp Cedars COPE course

For more information, click the Climb/Rappel Instructor Signup link in the sidebar.

Climb/Rappel Instructor Training
When: April 23 & 26, 2008 (register by Apr 18, 2008)
Sessions run Wed 6-9 PM, then 8 AM to 6 PM the following Saturday.
Where: Camp Cedars

For more information, click the COPE Instructor Signup link in the sidebar.

Artesian Beams

Climbing Wall to the Pirate's Walk

What Is C.O.P.E.?

Project C.O.P.E. stands for "Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience." It is a program provided by the Boy Scouts of America and the Mid-America Council and was created for Boy Scouts, and others, with a desire for high adventure. It offers a set of stimulating activities designed to meet the needs of today's young adults, as well as adults who are seeking greater challenges to their physical and mental abilities. Group initiative games, as well as low- and high-course activities, offer a chance to solve problems and challenges designed to test both group and individual skills. Some events test individual skills and agility; but only a few require athletic strength. Participants climb, swing, balance, jump, rappel and problem-solve through a variety of activities. COPE provides an opportunity for each participant to achieve success by helping them recognize their strengths and weaknesses and learn how to use them to help the team and themselves. Most participants accept the challenge, stretching their abilities and comfot levels to accomplish more than they ever dreamed possible.

The objectives of COPE are to provide an exciting outdoor learning experience and to develop seven key skills:

• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Decision-making
• Problem-solving
• Communications
• Trust
• Self-esteem

Your team should select a few of these goals for your COPE experience. A successful COPE experience builds a strong bond among the team members. COPE initiatives are based on non-competitive games where everyone is a winner. Setting and achieving goals is the preferred measure of success, rather than times or scores. As much emphasis is placed upon the mental experience in COPE, as the physical one. The outcome of most initiatives is discussed by the team to learn from the experience, to affirm positive interactions and to evaluate the progress toward goals. The COPE program provides an opportunity for every participant to achieve success as an individual and as a member of a team.

All participants are expected to respect the experiences of others and to have a positive mental attitude throughout the activities. No one is asked to do more than he or she is willing to undertake, but each is challenged to do as much as they can, setting and striving toward their own goals and contributing to the team objectives.

COPE is not just games. Processing, via guided discussion, of the experience of each element, what was learned, what could be done better and what goals were achieved are perhaps more important than the actual activity. Games and low-course elements are usually more constructive than high-course elements, and are not to be discounted. COPE is not an obstacle course nor a physical skill eliminator. There are parts of COPE for almost everyone!