All Summer Sanders could do was watch her beloved tiny team of two from the sidelines as they navigated the obstacle course at Snowbird in the Wasatch Range outside Salt Lake City.

Along the way the team meandered through a menu of mountain sports activities. They hiked, ran and climbed. Over a rock wall they went. On a mountain bike they pedaled. They flew on a zipline and made their way across slack lines.

Sanders, like other moms and dads, was excited and nervous. She knew what it was like to compete. After all, she had  won four Olympic medals in 1992 in swimming—two gold, one silver, one bronze.

But this wasn’t the Olympics. It was the Kids Adventure Games and the kid-centered event was testing her single-digit aged children’s self-reliance, teamwork and resolve.

“One hour and 59 minutes later, our muddy, sweaty, and smiling kids crossed the Kids A.G. finish line full of pride, with just a few scratches,” she blogged. “They were exhausted and yet so pumped about the experience. Later we would learn that the Snowbird course was the most challenging that the organizers had ever put together.”

Forget about soccer and lacrosse. The Kids Adventure Games (kidsadventuregames.com) embrace mud pits, rope swings, cargo nets, hiking, biking and more for children aged 6 to 14.

Originating in Vail, Colorado five years ago, the series has now grown to an eight-race endeavor at ski resorts across the country.

The race features teams of two tackling the course as helicopter-whirling parents park it on the pad. They are encouraged to be cheerleaders though.

“The idea behind the Kids Adventure Games was to create an event that gets kids outside, without technology, engaging with the outdoors, challenging themselves physically and emotionally, and feeling a huge sense of accomplishment when they cross the finish line,” says Billy Mattison, Kids A.G. co-Founder, international adventure racer and race director in a release. “The race emphasizes teamwork, problem solving and overcoming obstacles.”

This is no cake walk. The course is a parent-free zone and is kept secret until race day. Once kids get the course map at the pre-race meeting, they can only talk about it with their teammate.

The Games are slated for a number of locations. Snowbird plays host June 19-20 while it touches down at Squaw Valley, California June 26-27. The race returns to Vermont’s Trapp Family Lodge July 10-11 while Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia tries it for the first time July 17-18. It’s back to the other side of the Mississippi August 5-9 at Vail, August 21-22 at Mammoth, California, August 28-29 in Big Sky, Montana and September 5-6 in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Mammoth’s public relations manager Lauren Burke says there is no other event out there for kids ages 6 and up. Not only do parents help, so do volunteers from the Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation.

“Kids Adventure Games is a challenging course which requires kids to work together and have fun,” she emailed. “The course consists of a number of existing/natural obstacles (bike trails, logs, mud pits) and a few man-made (tyrolean traverse, cargo nets and slide).”

She says the event encourages and supports children in their outdoor adventures.

In the Appalachian Mountain Range, Snowshoe’s vice president of marketing David Dekema believes the Games are a good match for the resort.

“We’re all about creating outdoor fun for the entire family,” Dekema emailed. “From mountain biking to geocaching we look to bring activities that will get families excited about coming to the resort. The Kids Adventure Games has been so popular in the west, that we are excited to be able to offer this race to our roster of activities for families to choose from.”

Plus, the Games mirror increased interest in challenge competitions for adults.

“There’s been an uptick across the country in adult activity racing—from Tough Mudder to Mud Runs and Dirty Dashes,” Dekema said. “With so much of the emphasis on teamwork instead of just individual achievement, this fits in well at vacation destinations, like Snowshoe. These types of races allows siblings or entire families to spend quality time together but at the same time ramp up the adventure and compete in a race together.”

The resort is also keeping its inaugural expectations realistic.

“We know that any new event takes some time to grow organically,” says Dekema. “We’re doing our part to spread the word and we hope this year is such a success that it continues to build momentum by word of mouth and on social outlets. We’re realistically hoping for a few hundred kids to participate in this year’s event, with the possibility of it expanding next summer.”

Image courtesy Kids Adventure Games