Youth & Family Services kids get a day of zipline fun

KEYSTONE | Zoey Fischer was more than pumped as she buckled into a zipline safety harness in preparation for a day of aerial park fun at Rushmore Tramway Adventures on Thursday.

"Really excited," Fischer said, as park employee Kyah Watson finished tightening the straps and buckles on Fischer's harness. "I've always really wanted to ride a zipline."

The experience on the aerial adventure park's beginner course didn't disappoint. Hannah Ireland and Avery Berendse negotiated a series of rope and wooden bridges strung between wooden platforms affixed 10 to 15 feet up on the trunks of tall pine trees.

"It was a little scary at first, but definitely fun," Ireland said, as she unbuckled twin harnesses, used alternately when moving from station to station to ensure being tethered at all times.

"It was scary, expecially when it got wobbly," said Berendse, of tightwalking on swaying wooden and rope bridges.

The girls were part of a group of about 100 Youth & Family Services Girls Inc. members who got the chance to test their confidence and have some thrills courtesy of the Keystone attraction's management. In the breezy air Thursday morning, the girls carefully shuffled through the challenges of the aerial adventure park ziplines, rode a chairlift and zoomed down an alpine slide.

Thursday's visit by Girls, Inc., members and Youth & Family Services staff was third of three days of activity for YFS children.

Tuesday saw about 14 children of early elementary school or kindergarten age come to the park, with another 40 children from YFS's Child Development Center visting on Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Brianna Nelson said YFS, which provides youth development programs and counseling for families in Rapid City, jumped at the adventure park's offer for a free outing for about YFS children, parents and staff.

"This is not something they would be able to experience without a generous offer, so we are incredibly grateful for that," Nelson said.

Included in the day of outdoor fun and physical activity are lessons in team-building and communication, Nelson said.

"You have to use problem-solving skills to get across some of the elements in the aerial adventure park, and you're using really great communication skills to talk with your peers to make sure everyone stays safe," she said.

Getting kids outside is important. They get to explore a lot about themselves, run around, be creative and be loud, the things that are restricted when they're indoors," she said.

Rushmore Tramway Adventures manager Cameron Fullerton said bringing YFS children, parents and staff to the park over the course of three days this week is a way to both give back to the community and provide a new adventure for kids.

"Groups like this are fun. You get to bring in people who have never done anything like this before and they get a chance to try this," he said. "That's the whole point of doing this is giving them the exposure."