My name is Dominik and I have been the Ropes Coordinator for three summers running. I started as a counselor in 2018 and have stayed ever since I discovered the magic of Camp Alta Mons that first summer. Now my job is quite a bit different with its own rewards and challenges. Being the Ropes Coordinator mainly consists of setting up the Ropes Courses, inspecting the equipment, and of course facilitating the actual High Ropes elements. Since most units can’t do High Ropes on Mondays and Wednesday afternoons, Monday ends up being inventory and inspection day and Wednesday is big for being able to interact with units outside of the challenge courses. Many of my Alleluia moments happened while campers were on the course, but some of the more meaningful ones happened in that unstructured time.
Every week the zipline proved to be a fountain of Alleluia moments. This is the course on which most junior high kids who are nervous or afraid of heights manage to confront their fears. Some kids who had not even contemplated getting on a ladder earlier in the week would face the tree climb to the zipline only a day later. This was the most rewarding part of my job this summer, and the zipline will always hold a special place in my heart because it allows these rare moments to happen every week.
A different kind of Alleluia moment occurred during Wednesday nights, Home-in-the-Woods. What can be a scary time for some younger campers, turns into a more relaxed and chill time for the older ones. Despite the two year gap between the last time campers could come to Alta Mons and this summer, many remembered me and the events of that summer. One camper asked me about a co-worker from that summer and called him her “best friend” and asked me to make sure he was doing alright. The next week I had a camper at my Home-in-the-Woods site yell “I love you” as I was leaving to drive the tractor for a different unit. He later claimed he was yelling to camp as a whole, but that moment will stick with me for a very, very, long time.
Overall this summer was a wonderful one because I was so much more focused on looking out for these small Alleluia moments. It is easy in the rush and excitement of camp to lose those little moments in favor of grand triumphs or major complications. However, this summer made it clear that what allows us to praise God every day are those little everyday moments that are so easy to miss.
Every week the zipline proved to be a fountain of Alleluia moments. This is the course on which most junior high kids who are nervous or afraid of heights manage to confront their fears. Some kids who had not even contemplated getting on a ladder earlier in the week would face the tree climb to the zipline only a day later. This was the most rewarding part of my job this summer, and the zipline will always hold a special place in my heart because it allows these rare moments to happen every week.
A different kind of Alleluia moment occurred during Wednesday nights, Home-in-the-Woods. What can be a scary time for some younger campers, turns into a more relaxed and chill time for the older ones. Despite the two year gap between the last time campers could come to Alta Mons and this summer, many remembered me and the events of that summer. One camper asked me about a co-worker from that summer and called him her “best friend” and asked me to make sure he was doing alright. The next week I had a camper at my Home-in-the-Woods site yell “I love you” as I was leaving to drive the tractor for a different unit. He later claimed he was yelling to camp as a whole, but that moment will stick with me for a very, very, long time.
Overall this summer was a wonderful one because I was so much more focused on looking out for these small Alleluia moments. It is easy in the rush and excitement of camp to lose those little moments in favor of grand triumphs or major complications. However, this summer made it clear that what allows us to praise God every day are those little everyday moments that are so easy to miss.
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