My first activity was a staff training session on the off-road Segways run by Mike. The venue is just across the road from TreeZone. Roger, Josh and Chris from TreeZone and Jon and Phil from Boots 'n' Paddles also attended. The Segways were great fun, although as a consequence of my own excitement I did manage to fall off...
The rest of Saturday was spent with Roger and Chris helping out with sessions on the TreeZone course. I was given the full customer experience as part of my induction and I witnessed how much enjoyment the other customers got from the physical and psychological challenge of the treetop course. As part of my induction I also started my training on the instructors equipment and safety techniques with Chris. Sunday was a full TreeZone day and it was spent getting further training on the safety equipment and ropework as well as the setting up and closing down procedures for the course.
There were several groups in throughout the day which allowed me to get my first instructing experience, I spent most of the day in charge of the the lower end of the zip-wire and also helped some of the customers who were struggling on the course by guiding them round and giving them some encouragement. The latter gave me a chance to practice with some of the instructor equipment.
It was a very positive and exciting working environment but it also required a fair amount of focus. With both my own and the customers safety to think about you had to be on the ball and quick to deal with any issues before they became a real problem. I found it very rewarding and some of the fears, attitudes and emotions demonstrated and experienced by the customers gave me plenty of food for thought in terms of outdoor learning and the benefits it could hold.
There were several groups in throughout the day which allowed me to get my first instructing experience, I spent most of the day in charge of the the lower end of the zip-wire and also helped some of the customers who were struggling on the course by guiding them round and giving them some encouragement. The latter gave me a chance to practice with some of the instructor equipment.
It was a very positive and exciting working environment but it also required a fair amount of focus. With both my own and the customers safety to think about you had to be on the ball and quick to deal with any issues before they became a real problem. I found it very rewarding and some of the fears, attitudes and emotions demonstrated and experienced by the customers gave me plenty of food for thought in terms of outdoor learning and the benefits it could hold.