Challenge Course and Ropes Course Construction
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S.T.E.P.S. delivers safe, innovative challenge courses,
designed to offer the highest degree of value, functionality,
and craftsmanship available. Our experience in design
and rope course construction is rooted in years of experience managing and
operating challenge course programs. Our management
experience ensures that you'll get the most from your course,
from design to installation to program implementation.
Our Commitment to You
Safety: Innovations in design and equipment have
reduced the margin of risk considerably in the past few
years. Our challenge courses use the latest equipment and design
technology to ensure optimum safety and functionality.
Where applicable, courses are designed to meet and exceed ACCT (Association
of Challenge Course Technology) and PRCA (Professional
Ropes Course Association) standards. In cases where
projects require unusual or innovative design, courses may be
stamped by an engineer.
Quality and Craftsmanship: We pride ourselves on a
strong commitment to quality and craftsmanship, from the
selecting the best materials to making certain your course
serves to enhance the setting. We think you'll agree
that our courses are among the most aesthetic and best built
courses in the field.
Value: The best way to value is to build a course
that meets the needs of the population you intend to serve.
We will work with you to design a custom course that meets all
of your needs.
Functionality: Engineering a ropes course to be safe
is easy. Creating a course that operate efficiently,
serves to meet all our programmatic needs, and maximizes the
participant experience takes operating experience. Tap
into our experience.
Affordable: We will work to create a course
that is within your budget and operating constraints.
Ropes Course Construction Services
Design and Installation of:
Group Initiatives and Low Ropes Course Construction and Design
High Ropes
Course Construction and Design
Climbing Towers
and Indoor Wall Construction and Design
Zip Line
Construction and Design
Canopy Tour
Construction and Design
Challenge and Ropes Course Inspection and Renovation
Other Resources for S.T.E.P.S. and Bonsai Design Construction
and Program Development Services:
Ropes Course
Construction - View photos and gain more information about
S.T.E.P.S. and Bonsai Services, including ropes courses, canopy
tours, and climbing structures.
Canopy Tours and Zip Line
Tours - Learn more about zip lines and canopy tours at our new
site.
Challenge
Course Construction Primer - Looking to build a ropes challenge
course. Read this primer that overviews costs.
Bonsai Design - View
samples of work by Bonsai Design and learn more about ropes
course builder John Walker.
AdventureSmith, Inc.
- Challenge Course and Canopy Tour consultation, marketing, and
web design
Initiatives courses can be constructed in
wooded areas, indoors, in open areas off of poles, or as
portable programs. Courses are designed to meet your
specific needs, and are generally a combination of low-risk
warm-up obstacles, problem solving obstacles, and trust
building obstacles. Your initiatives course could be a
combination of any of the following elements:
|
All Aboard |
Rope Swing |
| Ants on a Log |
Spider Web |
| Bag of Tricks |
Toxic Waste Retrieval |
| Carpet Maze |
Treasure Island |
| Croc Pit |
Trolleys |
| Gutter Ball |
Trust Fall |
| King's Finger |
Wall |
| Muse |
Whale Watch |
| Rebirth / Porthole |
and others.. |
View designs and pictures of group inititatives and low
ropes course elements
Download the 2007 S.T.E.P.S. Challenge Course Services guide
and learn more about group initiatives and low ropes course
elements.
Download the S.T.E.P.S. Ropes Challenge Course
Hardware and Equipment Price List.
High ropes courses are constructed in trees
or on telephone poles, 15 to 30 feet above the ground, using
both dynamic and static belay systems. High ropes
courses are an excellent opportunity for participants to
challenge themselves physically and emotionally, while
receiving support from other group members. Your high
ropes course could be a combination of any of the following
challenge course elements:
|
Balance Beam |
Kitten Crawl |
| Burma Bridge |
Log Swings |
| Burma Buckets |
Multi-vine Traverse |
| Cake Walk |
Postman's Walk |
| Cargo Net |
Rope Ladder |
| Disk Swings |
Ship's Crossing |
| Fire Crack Ladder |
Tarzan Swing |
| Flea Jump |
Tension Traverse |
| Giant's Ladder |
Tire Swings |
| Happy Hopper |
Trapeze Dive or Pamper
Pole |
| Heebie Jeebie |
Wild Woozy |
| Hour Glass |
Zip Line |
| and others... |
|
It is possible to design many elements so
that two participants can use them simultaneously.
View designs and pictures of high ropes courses
Download the 2007 S.T.E.P.S. Challenge Course Services guide
and learn more about high ropes courses.
Climbing
walls can be built out of doors off of telephone poles or in
a gymnasium. They are an excellent way for programs to
get started building an adventure challenge course with far
less maintenance required than high ropes courses.
Climbing wall are an excellent opportunity for participants
to challenge themselves physically and emotionally, while
receiving support from other group members. Climbing
walls also present the option of teaching participants to
belay and manage the safety of others.
View designs and pictures of climbing walls and towers
Download the 2007 S.T.E.P.S. Challenge Course Services guide
and learn more about climbing walls, bouldering and traverse
walls, and climbing towers.
Download the S.T.E.P.S. Ropes Challenge Course
Hardware and Equipment Price List.
 Whether
added as an exit to an existing challenge course or designed
as a stand alone event, zip lines can add an element of
flare to your challenge course. Zip lines can be
easily designed to take advantage of existing geographic
features at your site--bodies of water, ravines, hillsides,
cliffs, or buttes--or can be built off of trees or utility
poles.
The zip line shown on the right is one of the longest in the
United States. With a ride length of more than 1400
feet and maximum speed of near 30 mph, the zip line crosses
scenic Phipps Lake in Southeastern Michigan.
View designs and pictures of zip lines and canopy tours.
Download the 2007 S.T.E.P.S. Challenge Course Services guide
and learn more about zip lines and canopy tours.
Download the S.T.E.P.S. Ropes Challenge Course
Hardware and Equipment Price List.
Generally consisting of a series of zip lines and sky
bridges running from tree to tree or tree to ground, canopy
tours have long been a popular way to experience the rain
forests of Central America. Now, zip canopy tours are
headed to the United States. S.T.E.P.S. Bonsai Design
has experience
building canopy tours in Alaska and
canopy tours in Texas with more planned through out the
United States and abroad.
View designs and pictures of
canopy tours
Download the 2007 S.T.E.P.S. Challenge Course Services guide
and learn more about zip canopy tours.
Download the S.T.E.P.S. Ropes Challenge Course
Hardware and Equipment Price List.
|
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| Does your
course look like this? |
When it could
look like this! |
Ropes Course standards have evolved significantly over the
past 10 years. As a result, many courses have become
obsolete. S.T.E.P.S. has considerable experience
redesigning and renovating old courses.
Outdated cabling techniques can threaten tree health and
overall course longevity. Frequently, investing in
renovation means investing in the life of your course.
Ropes Course Inspection Services:
ACCT standards require that challenge courses be inspected
annually by a qualified challenge course professional. Our
professional builders will help ensure the integrity of your
course and keep you abreast of changes in the industry and
standards.
All of our inspections are conducted "hands-on".
Everything on the course and local environment is inspected,
including:
nearby surroundings
included structures
tree health
pole integrity
platforms
bolts |
cables
clamp tension
ground anchors
ropes and lines
course hardware
element structure |
Small repairs can often be made on site during the
inspection. Tightening clamps, replacing worn out clamps,
backing out bolts, and removing dead branches and limbs and
other hazards. Inspectors will also check the course for
functionality, and on request, may review and assess program
operations.
A verbal report on the course will be provided at the time of
the inspection. A written report that reviews safety and
operating procedures, course policy, covers inspection findings,
details larger repairs and upcoming needs, and suggests
improvements will be issued shortly after.
For more information
For more information, please call (248) 481-2568
or e-mail info@stepscorp.com.
You can also find more information at our other sites:
www.ropescourseconstruction.com,
www.challenge-course-construction.com,
www.canopy-tours.com.
and www.zip-lines.com.
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