Outdoor Odyssey was truly an exciting, positive, and a memory building experience. Although our numbers were small, only consisting of
ProRanger Layla Schade, Program Manager Don Sweet, and three additional guests, it was an amazing experience.We started our weekend long adventure by rendezvousing at Outdoor Odyssey, located in Boswell PA, at around 1700. The drive took about four to five hours but was easily passed just by enjoying the scenic ride. Following our orientation with the Outdoor Odyssey staff we went to our cabin to get situated.
Don was ready to hit the ground running, quite literally. Layla and I prepared ourselves
mentally and physically and were ready to accompany our athletically motivated instructor. We ran, ran, ran, and ran some more. Amid running down a hill we realized that, in this case, what goes down must come up; and up did we go. Although the terrain was rough and we were all nearly kissing the gravel running up the hill, the pain soon came to an end. Two of our wonderful guests were kind enough to have prepared a meal for us Olympiads; it was indeed a meal that we all enjoyed.
The night was good, to some of us, but for others, well let’s just bring cats next time. It was refreshing to wake up the next morning to the fresh mountain air, and what else to do but run with this fresh mountain air in our lungs. Instead of attacking our dreadful hill from the other day, we decided to take a different route. We started the run up hill first, the run this time felt much better. After our morning run we headed to the chow hall to grab some grub. We had a full day of challenges ahead of us and we couldn't’t wait to get started.We had a brief AM leadership seminar provided by Outdoor Odyssey, the days itinerary
consisted of that, Low Ropes Obstacle Course (LROC), Leadership Reaction Course (LRC), and finally the high ropes course.After completing the LRC courses we were all ready to hit the high ropes.
Hidden within a large building was a network of high ropes courses that rose 30 feet off the 
ground. No Swiss seats here, we got the deluxe rigs. We were all broken up into pairs and completed the courses as a team and at times individually. The high ropes course definitely did a great job at keeping us warm in the mountain environment.
We ended the high ropes course by taking a leap of faith. In order to get to the jump we had to climb a rope ladder that extended the entire 30 feet. Once we got to the top our next challenge was to steady ourselves on a plank that was no wider than our two feet being side-by-side. After shimmying about five feet
to the ledge we looked into the distance and saw a swaying bar, a bar that we needed to jump and grab. While the distance from the bar to the ledge was only about five to six feet away, the thing that comes to mind is, am I going to freeze and how bad is it going to hurt if I fall? There’s nothing left to do but close your eyes and, No guts, no glory. “ProRanger Woo!!!”
ground. No Swiss seats here, we got the deluxe rigs. We were all broken up into pairs and completed the courses as a team and at times individually. The high ropes course definitely did a great job at keeping us warm in the mountain environment.We ended the high ropes course by taking a leap of faith. In order to get to the jump we had to climb a rope ladder that extended the entire 30 feet. Once we got to the top our next challenge was to steady ourselves on a plank that was no wider than our two feet being side-by-side. After shimmying about five feet
to the ledge we looked into the distance and saw a swaying bar, a bar that we needed to jump and grab. While the distance from the bar to the ledge was only about five to six feet away, the thing that comes to mind is, am I going to freeze and how bad is it going to hurt if I fall? There’s nothing left to do but close your eyes and, No guts, no glory. “ProRanger Woo!!!”Tim Oh, ProRanger Philadelphia
