The first “modern” ropes courses were built by enthusiastic outdoor activity instructors who used skills more akin to climbing. Over the years, techniques improved and ropes courses became more permanent in nature. This started with Outward Bound in the UK but the concept spread 20 years later to the United States where in the 1980s there was a great increase in the number of ropes courses being developed.
Following a series of seminars in the United States, the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) was formally created in 1993. One of the first tasks for this new association was to set standards for the industry. The first edition of the standards was issued in 1994 but this related only to construction. The second edition was released in 1998 and included standards for operation. The most recent edition was released in 2004 and includes standards for installation, inspections, operation and ethics. Standards for certification of facilitators and course managers are currently under development.
In the early 1990s RCD was spearheading ropes course standards for the United Kingdom. These standards were similar to those of the ACCT but also ensured that the recommendations were compatible with UK and European regulations. In 1995 the Advisory Association for Ropes Courses and Initiatives (AARCI) was inaugurated at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham with an overwhelming amount of support and encouragement from across the UK. Guest speakers included Tim Kempf (current chairman of the ACCT) and David Jamieson who initiated the formation of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA). Nick Moriarty, Director of RCD, was elected Chairman and a committee was formed. Like the ACCT the first task of AARCI was to issue its members with a set of construction and operational standards. This was duly done and they remain the backbone of operational procedures some ten years later. As an Association however, AARCI, was less successful and once it had provided members with a useful point of reference it ceased to offer any real value. Accreditation of courses and instructors may have been a way forward but the outdoor industry was heavily committed to fulfilling the requirements imposed by AALA and the prospect of yet more “regulation” was unappealing to members. After a few years, the need for AARCI diminished and the Association disbanded.
In 1998 the Directors of RCD attended a meeting in Bavaria in Southern Germany as the UK representatives for what would become the German Ropes Course Association and then later the European Ropes Course Association (ERCA). The first set of ERCA standards were produced in Germany, in 2003 and these were then available in English in 2004 (ISBN3-937210-08-3). Membership of ERCA has grown steadily over the years, however the recent and bold decision (ahead of the ACCT) to provide accreditation both to trainers and inspectors of ropes courses which will ensure a rapid growth in membership. ERCA will inevitably become the recognised voice for ropes courses outside North America. Nick Moriarty is the UK contact for ERCA (nick.moriarty@erca.cc.). The ERCA standards are currently being reviewed to ensure compatibility with the (provisional) European Ropes Course Standards (See below) and the accreditation process to be adopted by ERCA will also reflect the EN:15567.
In early 2005 Nick Moriarty was appointed an Expert by the British Standards Institute (BSI) to represent British interests at the first meeting for the formation of a EN:15567 for Ropes Courses. The secretariat was the DIN in Cologne, Germany. It was not immediately clear what a European Ropes Course Standard would look like. Some of the Experts wanted it to extend only to recreational ropes courses, others construction only, a few had interest solely in operational issues and the French were largely unaware that there were any ropes courses outside France! Nick Moriarty was elected Co-Convenor of the process by the experts and over the ensuing 18 months a draft set of standards for the operation and construction of ropes courses emerged. A public consultation period is now underway and from early 2007 EN:15567 for Ropes Courses will become de facto. There are two parts to the standard: Part 1 is safety requirements and test methods and Part 2 is operational requirements
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