Mike Lyons wants you to come outside and play.
As the University's director of outdoor education, Lyons is setting up a new program designed to teach people lessons in teamwork and confidence-building.
Instead of textbooks and a chalkboard, among his tools are ropes and cables. His classroom is in the trees.
The only course requirement: a willingness to romp like a kid.
"You've got to be crazy and have fun," Lyons said.
But there's a serious side to the program that Lyons is establishing on the grounds of the old Chapel Hill golf course beyond the southeastern edge of campus.
Through the Carolina Adventures program, Lyons intends to show people how to work together, learning to use a group's strengths and to overcome its weaknesses to reach an objective.
The objective usually is as simple as getting from point A to point B. Simple, until you consider points A and B may be 25 feet up in the air.
Nets, ropes, pulleys and a zip line
Lyons has designed his program to help any UNC-affiliated group that wants to learn to work better together.
The program--a part of Intramural- Recreational Sports in the Department of Physical Education, Exercise and Sport Science--is supported by fees paid by participants. It got off the ground with a $100,000 gift from the late Charles Aycock Poe, a Carolina alumnus.
Lyons hopes to expand the program so that someday it will offer such activities as adventure travel programs, such as weekend paddling trips. He has begun building trails through the property, which already is being used as a course for Frisbee disk throwers.
For his challenge program, Lyons has built a series of courses made up of nets, ropes and cables through trees.
One of the highlights is what Lyons says is the country's longest "zip line," a 1,200-foot-long cable strung from a platform down the length of one of the old golf course holes. Riders hang from a pulley that rolls down the length of the line.
"It's not a high-speed ride, but it's a nice long ride over a pond and down to the green," he said.
For a balancing act, there's also a telephone pole suspended horizontally 25 feet above the ground.
"It looks pretty easy from the ground, but once you get up there, even the cockiest person will have some reservations," Lyons said.
Despite their ability to induce fear, all of the elements are designed to be safe, he said. Participants always are secured by safety lines.
The obstacle courses are like those used by outdoor adventure organizations such as Outward Bound, said Lyons, who worked as an instructor and guide with such groups in the Northeast before coming to Chapel Hill four months ago.
He says he's not interested in having people come out only to swing through the trees.
"I don't want to turn this into a ropes course factory," Lyons said. "I would rather have an educational facility where people are learning something along the way."
Learning by challenge
A typical program begins with a series of ground games and challenges.
"There's a very set sequence of events and progression from when I first meet a group and when we get up on the ropes," Lyons said.
A typical early challenge is one in which one person stands on a platform four feet off the ground and falls backwards into the arms of the rest of the group.
"Some groups have no problem doing that," Lyons said. "Others will have some issues that come up. One of the big issues is trust. You work together, but do you trust one another?"
Lyons said the exercises were needed to determine if a group was ready for tougher challenges.
"If you can't trust someone when you're four feet off the ground, how can you trust them when you're 30 feet off the ground?" he said.
Groups also are given problems to solve, such as navigating a course of cables strung about 20 inches above the ground. The problems are designed to demonstrate whether members of a group can communicate and work as a team.
"We have fun, but we allow groups to examine how they work together," Lyons said. "Their roles may change. Someone who has very little to say in the office may become very vocal and someone who is not assumed to be a leader may take a leadership role."
Getting high
After ground school, class moves into the trees.
The program features a low ropes course and a high ropes course. The low ropes course is not too physically demanding, Lyons said.
"You don't have to be an athlete or be on an exercise training program," he said. "But as with any outdoor activity where you're moving around, it would be nice to be in some sort of shape."
The high ropes course is more physically demanding, he said, simply because participants need to climb ladders or nets 15 to 20 feet just to get to it.
The program follows a philosophy of "challenge by choice," Lyons said. Participants are not allowed to goad others.
"You can choose to take the challenge or you can choose not to," he said. "There's not going to be any name-calling or prodding. The group is supposed to learn to give you the support you may need to take the risk. That's one of the goals."
Lyons said he could customize programs depending on the needs of the group. Half-day, full-day and weekend programs are available, he said.
He suggests people contact him early so they can discuss the group's needs and objectives.
But he says participants should plan to be silly.
"That can be an issue for some folks," he said.
"We may ask you to quack like ducks. We have to try to remember what it's like to play. As we grow older we eliminate the kind of play like when we were children.
"If people are willing to take that kind of risk, to play like a child, that may be a greater risk than climbing up in a tree, believe it or not," he said.
Director Mike Lyons gives directions on using the Cat Walk. In the photo at the right, students prepare for the high ropes course.
Carolina Adventures Fees for Faculty and Staff
Full Day (combination of low and high elements)
$15 per person $210 group minimum
Half Day (up to four hours)
Low Course High Course
$10 per person $12 per person
$140 group minimum $168 group minimum
Call 2-4179 for more information. Director Mike Lyons suggests planning programs at least two-four weeks in advance.
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