Scott Owen (Interim Coordinator): The primary goal of Venture Out is to encourage people to challenge themselves both individually and as a group to achieve something that they never thought would be possible.
Donnie Goeller (participant on ground serving as belayer): There's another foothold above your left foot. There's one more higher. Yea. There you go. You're almost there.
Scottt Owen: I think one of the coolest things that I see almost every time that we have a group out to Venture Out is whenever somebody overcomes a fear that they have. Most of the time that's a fear of heights. We get somebody at the beginning of the day who said, "I don't think I can climb that. I can't even go up 5 feet." By the end of the day, they're up on top, cheering that they just climbed a 60-foot structure. It may not seem like that big of a deal to some people, but it's a huge deal to them because they never thought that they could do that. And the fact that they did is cause for celebration. They'll talk about it for a long time afterwards.
Donnie Goeller: Oh, you got to get up there. You're right there. Wrap your arms around the pole and use that extra last foothold with your other foot. There's a foothold for your left foot up higher. Yea. This thing is holding your weight.
Scott Owen: The biggest challenge is mental. A lot of times, if people don't think they can do something, it's because they don't think they can do something. Once they get over that initial fear, they're able to see themselves for what they really can do and are able to complete a task.
Casey Williams (just finished climbing): Oh man, it was exhausting.
Brett Moore (Casey's belayer): You did an awesome job, man. That was awesome.
Casey Williams: Thanks. Thanks for being the lifeline. It took me a little while, and then Brett was very vigilant.
Fellow participant: As soon as you got your courage, you were gone. Rock on.