Zipline Alumni News

We are grateful for the alumni who have come to us with their ideas and constructive critiques for ways to continually build our programs and bolster the organization’s foundation. They have shared feedback with a sense of shepherding that a parent would hold for one of their own children.

We’re grateful to share with you news of new leadership that has unfolded for the organization.

For many A/U Ranches mountaineering alumni – plus those of us on the National Alumni Board (NAB) – the Mountaineering Reunion held during Mini Camp in August was a happy reconnection several years in the making.

Sometimes it takes courage to step up and speak Truth in the face of fear or contagion. But if DiscoveryBound National Leadership Council holds to one of its main principles, “encourage the heart,” then encouraging each other as leaders and healers is the very thing we’re here to do.

We heard more this year from parents about the solid foundation of Christian Science being present in programs. And like every year, we are grateful for the opportunities to see so many significant healings through the transformation of thought. Here’s what’s currently underway at Adventure Unlimited.

On a day-off adventure this past summer, a group of bunkhouse parents ended up right where they needed to be to provide help and care to campers and staff.

In this episode of A Thousand Windows, alumnus Garrett Barner tells his story of how the A/U Ranches – which included mentors like Lachlan Clarke – helped him understand the practicality of Christian Science, and that he could do anything he set his mind to.

With five summers of experimenting with program activities and overnight trips, Cap Andrews, I think, was looking for something new to challenge those campers who had already “done it all.” Thus came into being The Four Peaks Trip, an overnight at Kite Lake above Alma, CO, and a one-day ascent of four 14,000-foot peaks.

Photographic proof of my first peak climb was captured on a roll of Kodak 110 film taken by a camera that looked more like a block of cheese than the sleek phones in our pockets these days. 

I have been so fortunate that my Sunday School teacher – a father of four A/U Ranches campers – took enough interest in my spiritual and personal development that he co-sponsored my first trip as a camper to Sky Valley Ranch in 1966. In that spirit of helping others better themselves – by embracing them in a loving atmosphere that promotes personal development and confidence – my wife, Linda, and I made a 10-year pledge from my 401(k) to benefit campers at the A/U Ranches, which will continue from our estate in the event of our passing.