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 What comes to mind when you think about what happens behind
the scenes at CR4? Do you envision robots?
How about cyborgs? Grouchy moderators, perhaps? Unfortunately, if you were
thinking of any of those things, you were wrong; GlobalSpec, the company that
powers CR4, does not resemble a movie set from the Sci-Fi channel. As for those
"grouchy moderators", did you really think that no one would notice the flame
war in the latest global warming post?
Because "all work and no play" equals no fun, some of the
GlobalSpec team took a day for themselves last Thursday. On August 17th,
a small group of engineers and CR4 administrators headed to Adirondack Extreme, a tree-top
obstacle course located in the Adirondacks, a mountainous region in northern New York. Since we spend
so much time working with all types of equipment, why not have some fun doing
it?
Adirondack Extreme is a high-ropes obstacle course that is
built between 10 and 50 ft above ground, depending on the difficulty level. The
facility has four color-coded courses that increase in difficulty: green, blue,
red, and black. Each course is designed to test a person's agility, physical
ability, and (I think, at times) mentality.
We were each equipped with a harness, two carabiners
attached to ropes, and an additional carabiner holding a trolley. Adirondack
Extreme also mandates some basic training and course safety instruction before
starting. Because the courses place participants high above the ground, the
general rule is to always be connected to something. That's what the carabiners
are for. We each had 2 carabiners, each of which was attached to its own rope.
Whether you were climbing, walking, or standing still, you had to be connected
to a cable.
 Red, coated-wire cables (approximately 3/8") ran all across
the facility. They were used going up ladders, as part of each obstacle, and on
platforms. The purpose of these cables is to have something to attach onto. As
I mentioned before, the rule is to always be attached to something. Once attached to a red cable, even if someone were to
fall or slip-off an obstacle, they would still be hanging safely. The cables
were connected by a series of cable clamps (also approximately 3/8"). Additionally,
the course and all of the obstacles included a strong, uncoated wire that was
meant to be walked on, held onto, slid down, and to support.
The course we took included swinging bridges and walkways,
climbing elements, monkey bars, zip-lines, and more. Although some obstacles
were more challenging than others, the equipment and cables provided an overall
feeling of safety as we traveled through the treetops.
Of the seven people who that started out that day, four
completed all of the courses, (We're not telling who.) Still, I think that it's
fair for me to say on the behalf of everyone that we all left with a sense of
pride and accomplishment. Even better, we had fun!
 So, there is something that you know about us.
We went.
We climbed.
We swung.
We survived.
To see what some of these adventurous GlobalSpec engineers
and CR4 administrators do while they're in the office, check out the following blogs
and user profiles.
Workbench
Creations –frankd20
The (not
so)-Daily Chris–Chris Leonard
Blogs
by Sharkles–Sharkles
Common Purposes -MillMat
Resources:
www.adirondackextreme.com
http://en.petzl.com/petzl/SportProduits?Produit=153&Activite=0
http://en.petzl.com/petzl/SportFamille?Famille=34
http://en.petzl.com/petzl/SportProduits?Produit=369
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