Accessible Ropes Courses and Giant Swing

Some of the best and most innovative outdoor recreation structures for wheelchair users anywhere in the country have just been built at Easter Seal’s Camp Horizon, according to its staff in Bragg Creek, Alberta.

The structures include accessible ropes courses, a giant swing that takes people 40 feet into the air, and group initiative tasks. (Group initiatives are structures designed to encourage people to work together towards success, such as Porthole, a tire mounted several feet above the ground that group members all have to go through without touching. It is easy to feed the smaller members of the group through, but it takes real communication and teamwork for everyone to succeed).

The design of the structures is state-of-the-art, wheelchair accessible and challenging to all. Campers demonstrated their skills at the grand opening on June 30.

These types of structures are integral to many outdoor programs and corporate team building seminars. Similar to an oversized playground, they provide people with physical challenges such as stretching and balancing, and with mental and emotional challenges such as facing perceived limitations, trusting self and others, and teamwork. It is rare for these structures to be wheelchair accessible.

Camp Horizon provides outdoor recreation for children and adults with disabilities as well as conditions such as cancer and diabetes. For more information, call (403) 949-3818 or check out www.eastersealscamphorizon.org.