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Ewalu
Climbing Tower
"Thanks for letting us come and participate in the activities. It was way fun to climb the wall. It was a good team building activity because we got to work together to accomplish the course. We all want to come back soon!" - Ewalu Camper Paul Frantzen |
The Ewalu Ropes Challenge Course continues to be a nice supplement to the
programs offered at Ewalu. The zip line and high ropes course activities are big
favorites of summer campers who look forward to being here each year. This past
year, the ropes course was used by over 2,000 people. Users included summer campers,
Ewalu sponsored retreat groups, schools involved in environmental education programs,
church youth and adult groups, high schools, colleges, and a variety of other groups.
The climbing tower is located
near Cedar Lodge in the woods just above the Maquoketa River valley. The tower has
three sides to it and is absolutely huge. One side is 12 feet high and is designed
for groups to work together to get everyone over the top. The other two sides are
covered with manufactured rock climbing holds designed for individual climbing. One
side has a three foot overhang which make getting to the top extra tough. 
The
tower rises 40 feet up above the forest floor and towers over the oak trees that surround
it. During much of the year, the trees hide it from view. In fact, a person
could visit camp several times and never notice it, but that rarely happens. Campers
somehow have a sense for things fun, exciting, and new, so they all seem to know about the
tower even without even having seen it. Maybe this is because campers often hear the
screams and cheers from the zip line and climbing tower while they hang out near the camp
canteen or the clearing near Cedar Lodge.
Construction of the climbing
tower began in the spring of 2005 during the family work weekend retreat. During the
summer of '05 Richard Hymen and other volunteers helped to complete the work.
Seedorf Masonry Inc. from Strawberry Point loaned the camp enough scaffolding
to reach the top of the tower. This made the work much easier, but it still
proceeded slowly and deliberately thoughout the summer. Campers were climbing on one
section of the tower by the end of the summer. Not until 2006 did the tower see full
use. This past year it has been put to good use by 100's of campers, staff, school
groups, and retreaters.
This past summer, Aaron Jonasen, installed a bike horn at the top of one of
the tower walls. When climbers makes it to the top they are rewarded with the
opportunity to sound the horn which most often is followed by cheers below. Matt
Janssen, Ewalu mediographer for the summer of '06, took many excellent photographs of
campers making the trek to the top of the climbing tower. His photographs are
featured in this article.
The climbing tower has been an excellent addition to Ewalu, some campers
would say, "Most Excellent!" The tower is a big challenge both physically
and mentally. It teaches participants to face their fears and push themselves to
their personal limits. The tower often "wins" the battle with a climber,
but with positive support from the group below, climbers receive encouragement and
congratulations for taking on the challenge. Climbing is a skill to be learned.
The small group environment that is provided at Ewalu is perfect for learning the
skill of climbing as well as being a support for others. We're looking forward to
making good use of the climbing tower at Camp Ewalu for many years to come. If you
haven't seen it or given it a try, come visit camp sometime and try it out. It's an
experience you'll never forget!