About Challenge Course Practitioner Certification

As an Association for Challenge Course Technologies (ACCT) Professional Vendor Member (PVM), Project Adventure’s services meet or exceed ACCT’s Practitioner Certification Standards. We are an accredited certifying body in compliance with ACCT’s PVM requirements. We offer three Practitioner Certifications: Level 1, Level 2, and Course Manager. Our Open Enrollment Workshops are intended to prepare a practitioner for the written and practical exam. Note: PA’s requirements for training hours/days and facilitation experience exceed the minimum required by ACCT for each certification. Each Level is broken down into the trainings and experiences required to take PA’s Certification Exam. Project Adventure offers Full Certification (Spotted/Low Elements and High Elements combined) or we can do Site Specific Certifications at client sites. If you’re interested in a Site Specific Certification, please email info@pa.org.

Certification Level 1:

Start: No previous Challenge Course experience

Step 1: Attend Adventure Programming (4 days or 40 hours) Open Workshop workshop.

Step 2: Work on a challenge course under the supervision of a senior staff to gain experience. Minimum of 25 days (200 hours) of course experience needed before testing. Begin Challenge Course portfolio. (Click HERE for ACCT Portfolio Template) .

Step 3: Attend Technical Skills Intensive (3 days or 30 hours) Open Enrollment workshop.

Step 4: Confirm Project Adventure certification requirements have been met for Level 1:

  • 7 days/70 hours of training (this can be a combination of in-house and professional training)

  • 25 days / 200 hours of course challenge course facilitation experience

Step 5: Apply for Practitioner Certification Level 1 Exam (Application)

Step 6: Level 1 Certification is good for 1 year. Begin working on Level 2 requirements.

*Practitioners with only low elements should take our Adventures in Low Elements workshop. We don’t offer certification for just low elements.

Certification Level 2:

There are pre-requisites of the Level One trainings and experience prior to attending the Level 2 Advanced training course. In-house training can substitute for some of this but professional training by a PVM is encouraged.

Step 1: Complete Level One requirements for training and experience.

Step 2: Attend Advanced Skills & Standards (4 days or 40 hours) Open Enrollment workshop.

Step 3: Confirm Project Adventure certification requirements have been met for Level 2:

  • 11 days/110 hours of training (this can be a combination of in-house and professional training)

  • 100 days / 800 hours of challenge course facilitation experience

Step 4: Apply for Practitioner Certification Level 2 Exam (Application)

Step 5: Level 2 Certification is good for 3 years.  Keep training current and prepare for Course Manager if applicable to your situation.

Challenge Course Manager:

Step 1: Complete Level Two requirements for training and experience.

Step 2: Attend Adventure Program Management (3 days or 30 hours) Open Enrollment workshop.

Step 3: Confirm Project Adventure certification requirements have been met for the Challenge Course Manager:

  • 14 days / 140 hours of training (this can be a combination of in-house and professional training). At least 30 hours of management training, 16 of which shall be specific to challenge course management.

  • 200 days / 1600 hours of challenge course facilitation experience

Step 4: Apply for Challenge Course Manager Exam (Application)

Step 5: Challenge Course Manager Certification is good for 5 years.

*Not everyone must achieve a certification. Contact us at (978)524-4554 for more details on what the best options are for you.

For more information on ACCT and the certification standards, see the Association for Challenge Course Technology website.

Skills Verification is another option for your site while preparing for certification. Contact us at info@pa.org for more information.

Ready to move forward? You can register for your certification training and testing online using the link below, or schedule a custom training and test by emailing us at info@pa.org.