Inside Out

This 2002 obituary for Goran Kropp, the Swedish adventurer and mountaineer contains this passage which describes how he prepared himself for the unexpected.

“While doing his national service in a Swedish infantry regiment, he trained for Alpine climbing expeditions by sleeping in a gravel pit. His tough, self-imposed programme included setting his alarm clock at random: if he woke at 3am he would walk 30km in full combat gear; if he woke at 6am, he would walk 60km. “I wanted to get used to living with the unexpected,” he said.”

The rest of the obituary further emphasises how dedicated this man was to both adventure and minimal impact techniques.

“Kropp aimed to tackle each expedition “in harmony with nature”, without support and leaving no trace of his passing. “It is important for me to leave nothing behind me on a mountain,” he said.”

You can read the rest of the obituary on the Telegraph website.

Photo from MountainZone.com.

We’ve just spent the weekend surfing at Saunton in North Devon. Blue skies and clean waves were conspicuously absent but we did have a lot of fun. I’ve never been board surfing before and I’ve got a new found respect for those who make it look so effortless and easy.

Returning home on Sunday night I realised I was covered in bruises. There is the one on my back from falling off the board into 4 inches of water after I misjudged how far ashore I had come.  I’ve got one around my left ankle where my leash pulled tight after I let go of my board while wading out. The one on my chin is the most visible, caused by throwing myself forward onto my board with a little too much vigour.

They might make me a little bit sore but I am proud of my bruises. Really proud. They are like little campaign medals and, to me they represent two things. Read More »

Totem would like to invite you to participate in our next Anything Could Happen course which will be running in September. It will be taking place in North Wales on either 11-13th September or 18-20th September. The cost is £280.

There is plenty of of information about the course at www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/anythingcouldhappen

In summary, it is an open outcome course with no fixed programme. We aim to draw together a diverse group of people, put them in beautiful surroundings, and provide challenging activities to create a powerful learning experience. It is aimed at people who are interested in their own personal development and who want to explore their own learning in an exciting and challenging environment.

Since we use Agile Programming, we can’t guarantee what you’ll be doing on the course but previously we have guided blindfolded partners; hunted foam animals scattered throughout the town; created art out of slate; abseiled and climbed; had round table debates; created codes and built a bridge across a lake.

We couple this with meaningful, engaging personal and group reflection and review to ensure that participants come away having learnt from everything they have done.

Some comments from previous participants:

“Thought provoking and loads of fun with plenty to take away to think about and hopefully apply!” -James

“A month of life packed into 48 hours!” -Eeva

“Thought-provoking; knackering but fun and challenging” -Billy

Mark also wrote a short piece about his time on the course, which you can read here.

The course fee includes all food and accommodation for the weekend, as well as the training, activities and any materials used. We will be based at the well equipped and friendly Bryn Du Mountain centre.

If you are interested in attending the course, please let us know which dates (11-13 or 18-20) you could attend and which one you prefer.

If you have any friends, colleagues or family who you think might be interested, please do not hesitate to forward this to them.

If you want to know more about this unusual course, please feel free to contact us.

” A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. ”

Robert Anson Heinlein in Time Enough for Love (1973)

On our Anything Could Happen course we ask the participants to recommend a book that they have read that changed the way they thought or behaved. The participants of ACH1 had the following suggestions. Read More »

We’ve just arrived home from the Sonata Nationals, a yacht racing event that this year was held in Poole. The Sonata is 6.9m boat that is very seaworthy and fast for its size.

We were blessed with sunshine and a good amount of wind which meant the racing amongst this very competitive fleet was close, intense and exciting. In this type of event there aren’t many tactics, the short courses and identical boats mean that most races are won by making your boat go faster through the water. A 1% drop in performance will cost you 60m over the race and probably about 5-6 places.

What struck me out on the water that a small yacht like the Sonata, normally crewed by 3 or 4 people, was a perfect medium for team building.

Read More »