Climbing horizontal rope ladders and jumping off a tree platform to grab a bar 10 metres off the ground never fails to trigger an adrenaline release.
The high ropes course at Ness Lake Bible Camp has a way of making people conquer their natural fear of heights.
If that doesn't do it for you, try the zipline. It plunges through the trees 100 metres across a ravine, with six metres of freefall between your feet and the ground.
Then there's the jungle swing, a exhilarating leap of faith off another high platform that enables Ness Lake Tarzans to exercise their scream-ability as they shoot out over the lake. Of course, safety is paramount, and every jungle-swinger is firmly cinched to the rope.
The camp's outdoor adventure props are designed to bring out the kid in all of us, like paintballing, canoeing, kayaking, watersliding, swimming or the blob, an inflated ball that sits in the lake and acts as a water catapult. Although closed for maintenance right now, Ness Lake is a popular year-round destination for church or school activities or family reunions, and for new company employees trying to get know each other in team-building conferences.
"The zipline seems to be less intimidating for people to do -- even through it's across a ravine, the jungle swing is terrifying," admits Jenny Cloarec, the camp's guest services manager. "You climb up a tower and you're harnessed to the jungle swing seat, so never come off it at any time, but you have to let yourself go and jump off the tower and it just seems really high.
"You have to get over the mental challenge more than the physical challenge of jumping into thin air. All of these activities are good for adults or kids."
A second zipline at the adjacent Camp Wilderness ends with a cool dip into the lake. Located 30 minutes northwest of the city, Ness Lake has the only ziplines in the Prince George area available to the public.
One of the most popular team-building events is a 10-foot wall with no handholds or foot rests. The object is to get everybody over the wall without using any ropes and the trickiest part of that is getting the last person over.
Groups come to the camp for training seminars and team-building retreats as day trips or for as many as four days, and can pick and choose the activities that want to make the event fun for participants. Meals are provided by camp staff. Off-season bookings from September-May are taken up to a year in advance. Until the summer camp season starts, May and June are devoted to school groups who use Ness Lake for gym classes or graduation activities.
Overnight accommodations include the 5,000 square-foot Founders Cottage, which sleeps up to 26 people,and the Waterfront Lodge, which has room for 32. The camp also has 12 heated cabins, each with 15 bunkbeds.
Call Cloarec at 1-250-967-4163 or email [email protected] to make bookings.