"Wow."
"That's pretty high."
"I'm not scared."
"Me, either."
Jack stood with his boys an hour later, looking up into the tall pine trees that held the majority of the ropes course. About forty feet up the smooth trunks were a series of cables strung tightly from tree to tree. One at forty feet, and another set about five feet higher and right above the first. Obviously, one was for walking on, one was for the harness to be attached to. They went in various directions, and at changing heights. Along the route in the trees, he saw a sort of wooden ladder that rose up another thirty feet or so, and ended in a little platform no more than three foot squared. There was a small bar, sort of similar to a trapeze bar, hanging just a little away from the platform, and Jack decided that was the bar the girls from France had mentioned jumping for.
Besides the wires, the ropes course also consisted of a cargo net to climb up on to get to the wires, and a wooden wall that was about fourteen feet tall or so. The wall was standing freely, and there was a small area on the top of it that would hold a few boys and a counselor or two. None of the girls had mentioned a wall. Which either meant they didn't do anything with the wall, or they'd forgotten the wall in favor of the course in the trees.
There were a couple of people running the ropes course. One was a very burly guy about the same height as Teal'c with a similar build named Rick, and the other one was a smaller, wiry guy named James. Both were wearing harnesses and helmets. The first thing they did after introducing themselves was to take the boys and their counselors over to the Wall.
"First thing you all need to do is learn that you can count on each other," Rick told the boys.
"We already know that," Shawn said.
James smiled, and looked over at Jack, who shrugged.
"Well, then we want you to show us." Rick said, smiling as well. He was obviously used to kids. The two looked at Jack and Daniel, obviously measuring up the injuries they were seeing, and shook their heads.
"Daniel, you'll need to sit this out, I'm afraid." Rick said. "You're going to need two hands for this, and that cast will be more of a danger than anything."
Daniel nodded, and went over to stand on the sidelines. He wasn't all that fond of heights, anyways, so he wasn't going to argue. He watched as Rick explained to the boys, Jack and Teal'c that they had to get all the campers over the Wall without using any ropes or tools. Just each other. This was easy enough for Jack and Teal'c. They pulled the boys into a huddle and then explained what they wanted to do. The first step would be to get Teal'c up onto the top of the wall, where Jack could boost them all up to him and Teal'c could pull them up the rest of the way.
The hard part was getting Teal'c up to the top. The boys couldn't just make a stirrup of their hands for the big Jaffa. Not even Jack could have, even if he was in good health, and the way his shoulder was bothering him, he wasn't in good health. What he ended up doing was crouching down, braced against the wall for support, and letting Teal'c use him as a launching pad. The Jaffa got a running start, then jumped up onto Jack's shoulders for only a moment, then launched himself from there at the wall. Once he caught the top edge with his fingers, it was simply a matter of pulling himself up, which he did easily.
Jack grunted, but held steady for his friend, unwilling to allow Teal'c to fail. Which, he supposed, was the whole idea. He watched as Teal'c pulled himself up onto the top of the wall, then motioned for the first of the boys to come over to him. He made a stirrup for them. They didn't weigh all that much, and one by one, O'Neill boosted them up to Teal'c, who simply reached down and grabbed each one by his wrist and pulled him up. Finally, when the last boy had leaped off the other side, Jack looked up to see if Teal'c was ready, and took a running leap at the Wall himself. He didn't have anyone to launch from, but he didn't need to jump as high. Teal'c reached low and caught his up flung hand and wrestled him up to the top of the wall, where Jack lay panting for a few moments, catching his breath and trying to get the aching in his shoulder to stop.
"Are you injured, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.
"Nah, just old."
"As am I."
Jack laughed, and gestured for Teal'c to jump from the Wall first, then followed him, landing smoothly next to him.
"Good job, guys!" Rick said, coming up and clapping his approval. He held up a harness, "Looks like you guys are ready to try the ropes course, now, eh?"
Andrew stepped up, willing to be first. Rick harnessed him up, in a slightly different type of harness than they'd used for rock climbing. This one was around the boy's waist and between his legs, all straps coming together at what would be his belt buckle.
"It's designed to allow you to sit in it," Rick told them all. "In case you get tired on the course, just hold the safety line and relax, and the harness will hold you like a chair, sort of."
The boys nodded their understanding, and Rick led Andrew to the cargo net, then reached up and snapped a safety line from the boy's harness to a wire that was above the net.
"James will reset your harness once you get through with the net," he said, pointing at the man standing on the wire above the cargo net. Andrew nodded again, and started up the net, slipping and getting himself tangled quite frequently, but never giving up and heading in any direction but up. The rest of the boys were cheering him on, shouting out suggestions that most likely wouldn't help, but wanting to try to help their friend in any way they could.
Finally, he made it to the top, and stood there, about forty feet above the rest of them, grinning down as he watched James set his safety line on the wire above him. There were various lines going from tree to tree, and each of them had a different type of support system to help the camper walk the wire. Obviously, unless the kid was a circus performer, he or she wasn't going to be able to simply walk to tight rope. There had to be some help along the way. The help came in the form of thick ropes dangling from the top wire. These were there for Andrew and the boys who would follow, to use to steady themselves as they walked along. Most of their weight was on the ropes, which made it a little easier for them to maneuver, but it was still difficult. A challenge. Which was why the ropes course was sometimes called the Challenge course.
"That's pretty high."
"I'm not scared."
"Me, either."
Jack stood with his boys an hour later, looking up into the tall pine trees that held the majority of the ropes course. About forty feet up the smooth trunks were a series of cables strung tightly from tree to tree. One at forty feet, and another set about five feet higher and right above the first. Obviously, one was for walking on, one was for the harness to be attached to. They went in various directions, and at changing heights. Along the route in the trees, he saw a sort of wooden ladder that rose up another thirty feet or so, and ended in a little platform no more than three foot squared. There was a small bar, sort of similar to a trapeze bar, hanging just a little away from the platform, and Jack decided that was the bar the girls from France had mentioned jumping for.
Besides the wires, the ropes course also consisted of a cargo net to climb up on to get to the wires, and a wooden wall that was about fourteen feet tall or so. The wall was standing freely, and there was a small area on the top of it that would hold a few boys and a counselor or two. None of the girls had mentioned a wall. Which either meant they didn't do anything with the wall, or they'd forgotten the wall in favor of the course in the trees.
There were a couple of people running the ropes course. One was a very burly guy about the same height as Teal'c with a similar build named Rick, and the other one was a smaller, wiry guy named James. Both were wearing harnesses and helmets. The first thing they did after introducing themselves was to take the boys and their counselors over to the Wall.
"First thing you all need to do is learn that you can count on each other," Rick told the boys.
"We already know that," Shawn said.
James smiled, and looked over at Jack, who shrugged.
"Well, then we want you to show us." Rick said, smiling as well. He was obviously used to kids. The two looked at Jack and Daniel, obviously measuring up the injuries they were seeing, and shook their heads.
"Daniel, you'll need to sit this out, I'm afraid." Rick said. "You're going to need two hands for this, and that cast will be more of a danger than anything."
Daniel nodded, and went over to stand on the sidelines. He wasn't all that fond of heights, anyways, so he wasn't going to argue. He watched as Rick explained to the boys, Jack and Teal'c that they had to get all the campers over the Wall without using any ropes or tools. Just each other. This was easy enough for Jack and Teal'c. They pulled the boys into a huddle and then explained what they wanted to do. The first step would be to get Teal'c up onto the top of the wall, where Jack could boost them all up to him and Teal'c could pull them up the rest of the way.
The hard part was getting Teal'c up to the top. The boys couldn't just make a stirrup of their hands for the big Jaffa. Not even Jack could have, even if he was in good health, and the way his shoulder was bothering him, he wasn't in good health. What he ended up doing was crouching down, braced against the wall for support, and letting Teal'c use him as a launching pad. The Jaffa got a running start, then jumped up onto Jack's shoulders for only a moment, then launched himself from there at the wall. Once he caught the top edge with his fingers, it was simply a matter of pulling himself up, which he did easily.
Jack grunted, but held steady for his friend, unwilling to allow Teal'c to fail. Which, he supposed, was the whole idea. He watched as Teal'c pulled himself up onto the top of the wall, then motioned for the first of the boys to come over to him. He made a stirrup for them. They didn't weigh all that much, and one by one, O'Neill boosted them up to Teal'c, who simply reached down and grabbed each one by his wrist and pulled him up. Finally, when the last boy had leaped off the other side, Jack looked up to see if Teal'c was ready, and took a running leap at the Wall himself. He didn't have anyone to launch from, but he didn't need to jump as high. Teal'c reached low and caught his up flung hand and wrestled him up to the top of the wall, where Jack lay panting for a few moments, catching his breath and trying to get the aching in his shoulder to stop.
"Are you injured, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.
"Nah, just old."
"As am I."
Jack laughed, and gestured for Teal'c to jump from the Wall first, then followed him, landing smoothly next to him.
"Good job, guys!" Rick said, coming up and clapping his approval. He held up a harness, "Looks like you guys are ready to try the ropes course, now, eh?"
Andrew stepped up, willing to be first. Rick harnessed him up, in a slightly different type of harness than they'd used for rock climbing. This one was around the boy's waist and between his legs, all straps coming together at what would be his belt buckle.
"It's designed to allow you to sit in it," Rick told them all. "In case you get tired on the course, just hold the safety line and relax, and the harness will hold you like a chair, sort of."
The boys nodded their understanding, and Rick led Andrew to the cargo net, then reached up and snapped a safety line from the boy's harness to a wire that was above the net.
"James will reset your harness once you get through with the net," he said, pointing at the man standing on the wire above the cargo net. Andrew nodded again, and started up the net, slipping and getting himself tangled quite frequently, but never giving up and heading in any direction but up. The rest of the boys were cheering him on, shouting out suggestions that most likely wouldn't help, but wanting to try to help their friend in any way they could.
Finally, he made it to the top, and stood there, about forty feet above the rest of them, grinning down as he watched James set his safety line on the wire above him. There were various lines going from tree to tree, and each of them had a different type of support system to help the camper walk the wire. Obviously, unless the kid was a circus performer, he or she wasn't going to be able to simply walk to tight rope. There had to be some help along the way. The help came in the form of thick ropes dangling from the top wire. These were there for Andrew and the boys who would follow, to use to steady themselves as they walked along. Most of their weight was on the ropes, which made it a little easier for them to maneuver, but it was still difficult. A challenge. Which was why the ropes course was sometimes called the Challenge course.