BYU student Heather Boyd is standing on a platform perched on a tree, some 40 feet above ground. There's a quiver in her voice.
"Are you sure this harness is safe?" she asks the man below who holds her life in his hands with a rope.While a group of fellow students looking on from the ground encourages her, she adjusts her helmet and nervously tugs at the harness again. Then she leaps into the air and grabs a large metal ring dangling in the air about 7 feet away. She breaks into a smile as she is gently lowered back to Earth.
Mission accomplished.
"My heart's beating 100 miles an hour," she says breathlessly as students gather around, congratulating her on a successful landing.
Every week, people like Boyd tackle fear-inspiring challenges at Challenging Leadership Adventure Systems, a company located at 3606 W. Center St., in a secluded outdoor park along the Provo River.
Whether it's scaling a rock wall, climbing a giant ladder, balancing on beams or flying down a 100-yard zip line between giant trees, CLAS supplies heart-racing experiences aplenty.
Yet the purpose of the park isn't to provide titillating thrills but rather leadership and communication skills - by providing a series of mental and physical challenges for its guests.
"Some of these things look impossible and when they do the impossible, it's great," said Benjamin Allen, president and founder of CLAS. "That's the benefit of the ropes course experience."
Since he opened his business in 1994, Allen says more than 10,000 people have learned a thing or two about life, about others and about themselves from his course.
Those who have taken CLAS courses run the gamut: from couples who want to strengthen their marriages to employees of local businesses and sports teams who want improved unity to troubled youths searching for self-esteem to leadership groups trying to hone their abilities.
Not that a day at CLAS will solve every problem, but it does make an impact.
David Stemmons, a manager at Jones Paint and Glass, has brought a couple of groups to bolster relationships in the workplace. Stemmons said prior to the CLAS experience, there was some backbiting among employees and one seemed isolated from the rest.
"It got them to communicate better," said Stemmons. "It was such a good, positive experience. They get pushed out of their comfort zones and it makes them rely on their co-workers. It breaks down barriers and we work together better now."
When Allen works with participants, he'll offer scenarios that force participants to make decisions and solve problems. For instance, he'll instruct a group of eight people to traverse imaginary shark-infested waters by swinging across on a rope in a certain amount of time. As the group soon learns, the task requires teamwork and patience. Afterward, the group discusses its performance.
"At first we all tried our own thing," said Katy Roberts, a BYU student. "Then we realized to cross, we had to work together."
Mike LeCheminant, a CLAS employee, says the training approach is unique. "It's a different kind of learning than being in a classroom," he said. "You have to look for the application to real life, but as someone overcomes challenges, like flying down a cable between two trees, it gives you confidence."
LeCheminant was a visitor a few times before getting hired and he came away impressed with what he had learned about himself. "It made me become more aware of my strengths, weaknesses and fears," he said.
That is precisely the type of results Allen had hoped for when he bought several acres of land not far from Utah Lake a few years ago. Allen, who graduated from BYU with a degree in recreational management, cleared the area, built a home, a 300-seat am-phi-theater, a high and low ropes course and set up the business.
While some activities can be dangerous, Allen says safety precautions are taken and no one has ever been seriously hurt. Instead, Allen will tell you, participants come away healthier in many ways.
"This is where people come to learn how to trust each other," he said.