When the KCJO became the YKC they started sending some of the senior members on an Outward Bound course in Eskdale in the Lake District. This is a dog-less week were activities are designed to improve team work and leadership skills. 

I was lucky enough to be able to go on this course in 2004 and below is a report on the week. 

Outward Bound 2004

On the 22nd of August I set off for Eskdale with two friends some excitement and also wondering what to expect. The center is set is a lovely part of the Lake District - even if it was up some rather steep and narrow lanes. The center itself was in a fantastic old estate. 

Once we had arrived, settled into our rooms and met the other members of the course we were shown to our meeting room for the week where we received a briefing on what to expect in the following week, how it was going to be structured and  who the course leaders were. We also discussed what we had wanted to get out of the week, what we were looking forward to and also what our fears were. The course was aimed at improving our personal growth and leadership skills, and during the week were were all given a chance to lead the group and explaining/organising the days tasks, it was at this stage we decided who was going to be leading which days.  We progressed to collecting our kit for the week from the store room and then to dinner. 

Our first activity of the week followed dinner which involved us being dressed in boiler suits and blindfolded. We then had to follow a rope taking directions from those in front of us and also passing them back to the people behind. We followed the rope round trees, up/down slopes, over rocks and even through tight spaces - it wasn't until we followed the rope back at the end that we realised where we have been.

Monday was the first full day which started with a few more ice breakers which included passing all 13 people through a small circular piece of elastic rope in 13 seconds - we succeeded doing it in 8. We were then faced with a spiders web where we had to get the team from one side to the other without touching the rope, this involved getting people through a range of sized holes as well as some ones high up. Moving on we had a grid with islands in and we had to get everyone to the opposite side without touching the ground using only 4 planks of wood and the islands, although we were too slow. Our final task was to divert a waterfall over a bridge and fill a bucket on the other side, using plastic sheeting, guttering and ropes, we were successful after a bad start where we dropped most of the equipment into the deep pool. 

In the afternoon we had a short walk to do some rock climbing and abseiling. We had a quick lesson on how to tie knots, and be-lay (holding the ropes for those climbing) and then we were away, harnessing ourselves up and controlling the ropes for those climbing.   

Tuesday was expedition day. The morning was spent preparing our rucksacks with everything we would need during the day and night, including sleeping bags, roll mats and camping stoves.  We then set off on a 6km walk over some steep hills, which felt even steeper due to carrying the rucksacks towards Wastwater. When we arrived we had a bit of lunch and the prepared for the next part of the day which was rafting, involving securing 2 Canadian canoes together with 4 people to a raft. The 2 instructors each went in a raft with 3 members and then there was one with just 4 of us members. We attempted a bit of orienteering on the lake before setting of towards the other end 3km away! The aim was to keep the rafts relatively close together - but those off us with no instructor had other ideas and were regularly told to stop for getting too far ahead, we were also quite successful in soaking each other. At the far end we met up with a mini bus which took us to the campsite and also delivered our tents, gazebos, tables and chairs - we were camping in style! Dinner that night consisted of ration packs which some people tried, others played it safe with pot noodles bought that morning from the local shop. 

Wednesday morning we packed up our stuff and went back to the center courtesy of mini busses - it was certainly much quicker getting back than it was to get to the campsite. Once back we cleaned up our equipment and then had some small projects in the afternoon in preparation for the following day.

Thursday was our big project day where we were a business constructed of managers, deputies and employees with the customers being the centers instructors. Throughout the day were were given 12 random projects which had to be completed, some were based on site others involved going elsewhere. In order to be successful it was important we were able to prioritise activities, assign suitable people to each task and being able to work together. Our tasks included an Arrows game where we had 2 teams of 3 each stood on squares in a line with one space in between the two teams and the teams had to reach the opposite side and they could only move forwards; estimating the length of a bridge without any equipment; Orienteering; 6 people swapping canoes whilst on the tarn; counting stepping stones across a river; finding a memorial on the center's grounds; building a trebuchet and firing an egg across the river; catching the egg whole after it has been fired and the final task was for 4 people to climb up a 30ft pole with about a ½ meter platform at the top to stand on. I was one of the unlucky ones to be sent up the pole, and once all 4 of us were standing on top of the rather wobbly pole on a small platform we had to hold hands and then lean back in a star shape. We were supposed to be able to hold the shape once out but we all just fell back dangling on the ropes held only by our friends below! 

Friday was our final day and involved the most challenging task of the week, we were to jump off a 25ft high bridge with no safety ropes into a river. Once kitted up in our buoyancy aids and helmets we had a quick demo from the instructors and given our safety briefing, we had to jump just right as there were rocks either side of the river, the instructors were to be positioned downstream with throw lines if needed, whilst we helped each other up onto the bridge. We all attempted the jump fully supported by the other members.  

Once we had all jumped we hopped back into the mini bus for the short ride to there center where once dried and warmed up we met for the final time. We received a de-brief and discussed what we had learnt during the week. Once completed we all said our goodbyes to our newly made friends before rather reluctantly setting off back home.  

Overall we had a fantastic week and all took away many memories that wont be forgotten. We have to thank both the YKC for giving us the opportunity to go on the outward bound course and also the members and staff for making our week so enjoyable.