A Banner is Unfurled

As one approaches the entrance to Heber Valley Camp, they will notice flags in the Young Women value colors displayed on the right-hand side of the road.  Last Friday those flags were raised and a special ceremony was held with all the missionaries and camp leadership in attendance.  We all watched as the last flag containing the Young Women motto was raised into place.  As this was happening, we all sang High On a Mountaintop.  It was overwhelming, to say the least.  I cried through the entire ceremony I was so overcome with emotion.

We began with the raising of the American Flag and

singing of the Star Spangled Banner (Note:  the

people you see in the yellow vests are members of

the camp security team)

Workers being lifted into place to hang the final flag

And there it is - the flag with the YW torch

Far away view of the flags as one approaches camp

Closer view of the flags as one approaches the entrance

We Made It To Graduation!

Last week we received training from CLAS Ropes personnel.  We were taught such things as how much weight the belay ropes will hold (7,000 to 9,000 pounds), how much weight the cables will hold (15,000 pounds) and how much weight the harnesses at camp will hold (5,000 pounds).  We were also taught how to tie knots, how to belay, how to facilitate and process the lower challenge courses, how deep a pole must be in the ground, and how to perform a rescue on the high challenge.  We were required to take a three page test and demonstrate the various skills we had learned during the week.  We had a "graduation" of sorts on Monday where we all received our own carabiner on a rope.  We are now Level 1 Certified.  After 200 hours working on the courses (which will occur about mid-June) we will be Level 2 Certified.

Members of our challenge course team practicing their knot tying

Charlie showing off his "double figure eight on a bight".  This is the

knot that the belayer ties in the belay rope.  A carabiner is then

connected into the "bight" (loop) at the end of the rope which is

then connected to the climber.

Here is Charlie practicing his belaying skills

If something should happen to the "nester" - the person sitting in the eagle's nest to help the climbers off belay and onto the zip line - someone needs to "rescue" her.  This is done by climbing the pole carrying a backpack filled with scissors, a figure eight hook and an emergency belay rope.  Note:  A nester climbs to the nest using a belay rope.  Once she reaches the nest, she connects herself with "rabbit ears" and takes herself off the belay rope, this is why the rescurer needs to bring a belay rope with him in the backpack.

Here he is again, belaying for a "rescue on the high course".

Here is the rescuer as he reaches the nester who is in distress.

(note the backpack he is carrying on his chest)

Here the rescued nester is being lowered to the ground.  This sister

even pretended she had passed out - good huh?

As she nears the ground, others rush in to help.

Here is Charlie receiving his "graduation medal".  The woman in

the picture is Sister Jones our Team Leader.

Look at the smile on his face as he shows off his new carabiner.

Here are two of the newest Level 1 Certified Challenge Course

Missionaries.  Note:  Patti was wearing a headband because

we were headed outside to work on the challenge courses and

it was FREEZING.

Swing Swong

Charlie plays a game with all the younger grandkids called Swing Swong.  He grabs them under their arms and swings them out saying "swing swong, swing swong, swingy swingy swing swong - over the top".  He then swings them over his shoulders and then "down to the bottom".  All the grandkids love to play this game with grandpa.  Well, Charlie and I had our chance at swing swong last week on Challenge Course #5.  It is a giant swing.  You are harnessed in and then pulled up and let go.  It was a little scary, but oh so exhilarating.

Here is Charlie getting hooked onto the line that will pull him up

Ready, set . . .

Up he goes

And he's off

He enjoyed his ride immensely

It's almost over

Here he is getting back on the ladder to be unhooked

Now it's Patti's turn

Here she is coming down - its a little scary

Oh wait - it's not so bad - here Patti is waving to the crowd

Slowing down - ride's almost over

Finished - that was AWESOME!

Ride to Far West

Last Saturday our challenge course team took an ATV ride to one of the outback camps.  All young women who are attending camp for their fourth year are required to hike to one of the outback camps carrying their own tents, food, water, etc. and camp for one night.  The camp that we rode to is called Far West.  It was an awesome ride.  The weather was perfect, the trails were perfect - we did hit some snow at the top and had to turn around, but for the most part perfection was the order for the day.  We left at 10 a.m., rode to Far West where we ate lunch, and then rode back to camp.

Here is Charlie gassing up the ATV before the big ride.

Note that this gas is for Missionary ATV's Only . . .

Look at all those ATV's and UTV's all lined up and ready to roll

After a prayer we were all set to go

Everyone stay together now

We made it to Far West Camp

This is the campfire ring.  Note the blue barrel in the background -

this contains water for putting out the fire when the girls leave camp.

You can't see it, but off to the right is a honey bucket (porta potty) for

the girls to use - we would have like to used it too, but it was locked :(

Here we are - rabbit ears and all

This is a panorama taken from Far West

We all sat around the campfire pit and ate our lunches.  Charlie

went to school with the Sister you see in the picture - they both

graduated from Wasatch High School in 1969 and have now

come back to Heber to serve as missionaries - kinda cool huh?

You can't tell, but the front right wheel is really sitting on a rock.

Many of the missionaries took the opportunity of having their

picture taken looking as if they had been run over by this UTV.

It doesn't take much to amuse us old folks (lol)

Beautiful view of Heber Valley

Challenge Course Challenge

This past week we started our challenge course training.  Quite a bit of what we did at first was book work.  It is important to understand all the rules and policies concerning the challenge courses -safety is the number one concern.  On Thursday; however, we took to the outdoors on our ATV's and visited each of the challenge courses here at HVC.  There are five challenge courses (cc).   Each cc consists of six low activities and one high activity.  The high course activity allows the individual to build confidence in a challenging but safe environment.  Each cc is manned by four missionary couples who have been certified by CLAS ropes to conduct these challenges.  When the YW are in camp, the low activities are conducted by the YW leaders who have been trained by the missionaries.  When families or other groups are in camp, the low activity courses are conducted by the missionaries.  Each group has the use of one 3 hour challenge course session while they are in camp.  The challenge course assignments are made by the Young Women's Camp Committee.

Challenge Course #1 - The high challenge for this course consists of climbing a swinging pole, traversing a 2-line cable and then zipping down.  I don't have a picture of this course because it was still under too much snow and we weren't able to reach it yet.

Challenge Course #2 - In this high challenge, participants climb a pole, walk across a log and then zip down.

This is the high challenge on course #2.  The participant is put into a

harness and hooked onto a belay line held by an Elder.  They then climb a pole on the right

 (not in the picture), walk across the pole towards the eagles nest (pictured on the left) where a

Sister missionary is waiting to unhook them from the belay line and onto the zip line.  The

participant then zips down off the eagles nest where two more missionaries (an

Elder and a Sister) are waiting to unhook them from the zip line and help them get down.

This was the trail down to Challenge Course #2.  As you can see,

the first ATV in line got stuck in the snow.  It took several Elders, but they

finally got them unstuck so that the rest of us could follow.  Once

the trail was blazed through the snow, it was no problem for the

rest of us to get through.

Challenge Course #3 - In this high challenge participants climb a cargo net and then traverse a swinging foot bridge to the eagles nest where they zip down.

This is Challenge Course #3.  The cargo net will be hooked into anchors on
the ground in front of the pole on the right and then anchored again on top. The
zip line from this eagles nest is the longest of any on the challenge courses.

Challenge Course #4 - Participants on this challenge climb a pole and traverse a cable using dangling ropes.  Once they reach the eagles nest, they zip down.

Here is a picture of the high challenge on course #4.  One
climbs the pole on the right, walks across the cable to the eagles nest,
then zips down.

This is one of the lower challenges in course #4.  It is called "The Wall".

The object of this challenge is for everyone in a particular group or family to start

 on this side of the wall and get everyone safely over the top and down the other side.

Challenge Course #5 - the high challenge for this course is a giant swing.

This is Challenge Course #5.  

The participant is put into a harness and hooked to a belay rope with a munter knot.

The belayer (an Elder) then pulls the participant up to the black square

shown in the picture below.  The participant lets go of the munter knot and swings

through the two poles shown above towards the aspen tree at the end.  Estimated

speed is about 35-40 miles per hour.  Children under 8 are only pulled

up half way, and there is a full harness for toddlers so they can

experience the swing as well (they are not even pulled up half way).

  I guess it is quite a rush, but the favorite of many.

Can you see that black square near the top of the tree?

That is how far the belayer pulls the participant for a full swing.

As I stated before, the missionaries facilitate the high challenge courses.  The Elders are the belayers and also work the ladder at the bottom of the zip lines.  The Sisters have many more duties that the Elders because the Elders are not allowed to touch the YW.  Sisters help the YW into their harness, hook them to the belay rope, sit in the eagles nest so they can encourage them across (which means the Sisters are hooked to a belay line, climb the pole and walk across the challenge to get to the eagles nest where they stay for 3 hours at a time  - can you hear my heart pounding?)  The Sisters then unhook the YW from the belay rope and onto the zip line.  There is also a Sister working with the Elder at the end of the zip line to unhook the YW and help them down the ladder.

The Challenge Course is going to be challenging to say the least, but it provides the most interaction with the Young Women and families who visit Heber Valley Camp.  We are excited for this new "challenge".

I Love to See the Temple!

Wednesday all of the missionaries from camp attended a session in the Salt Lake Temple.  It was so wonderful  being there with everyone.

Winter Returns to the Mountain

Last Monday, we woke up to 6 inches of snow outside our door.  Besides the snow, we also had frozen water - the temperature had dipped to 18 during the night.  Despite the snow and cold, it was beautiful!

Tuesday morning was even colder - 11 degrees.  It was so cold that our hot water heater froze.  We had cold water because of the heat tape, but no hot water until we thawed it with a small electric heater we brought with us.  

In spite of the cold, the sunrise was beautiful!

There were icicles hanging off our trailer - brrrrr.