The program is composed of group initiative games, trust events, low-course events and high course events.
Some activities involve a group challenge, while others develop individual skills and agility.
Participants climb, swing, balance, jump, rappel, and devise solutions to a variety of problems. Most participants achieve much more than they imagined they could. Nontraditional People with underdeveloped coordination or strength can be discouraged by traditional sports and games, while experienced athletes might be overconfident in their physical abilities. Project COPE encourages the involvement of all team members in all COPE activities and events. The actual risk of a properly conducted COPE program is lower than traditional sports programs, but the perceived risk can be very high.