Creating our own assault course
For the “Serious Trials” component, could we create our own obstacle course using the natural environment instead of hiring an assault course? Wouldn’t this be more “realistic”?
Responses
We strongly recommend you use professionally supervised venues, with trained staff. The goal is not realism at the expense of safey. Obviously we would not ask participants to trek across real minefields or cross the actual sea!
Managing risk is paramount in this part of the challenge. A professional venue will have equipment that is designed, tested, and maintained for safety. While it can be tempting to create your own obstacle course, it is honestly not worth the risk. Stick with a managed environment for this part of the challenge.
Leave the natural environment for your trek in the “Take Flight” part, but avoid natural obstacles that could become dangerous in the wrong conditions.
If you mean things like shallow streams, hills and fallen trees, those can work quite well. However, if you mean river crossings, steep inclines and home-made obstacles, we would advise against. These can present serious dangers to participants, including risk to life.
A river may look easy to cross from the bank, for example, but it can have unseen depths, unexpected currents and hidden elements that could cause people to get into difficulty very quickly. Similarly, people could seriously injure themselves falling from a height.
On a proper assault course, these risks are mitigated by having first aid qualified instructors to supervise and guide particpants. They would also ensure there are no hidden dangers. Safety first, always!