March isn’t the ideal time of year to be jumping in the rivers of North Wales. With snow on the hills still and persistent light drizzle, the water temperature is 4-6°C and the air only fractionally above that.
However, Dave from Boulder Adventures called and said he had a new gorge to explore and would I like to tag along. Jumping, swimming, climbing and sliding, all mixed up with a little adventure, of course I would!
In 1965 Paul Petzolt, founder of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming used the phrase “Expedition Behaviour” for the first time.
For him it represented a series of principles which guide the decisions and behaviours of an expedition’s members in order to achieve the maximum across the team with the minimum of stress. By 1974 he’d refined the idea enough to write 17 pages on it in his seminal “Wilderness Handbook” and it continues to be at the core of NOLS courses today.
Expedition Behaviour means being prepared, on time, organized, flexible and humble; seeing the humor in everything; exercising a tolerance for adversity, uncertainty and discomfort; and putting the needs of the group and others on the same level or above one’s own needs. Some people do it instinctively, others take a while but eventually, given the reality that wilderness places in front of us, almost everybody gets it.
There was an experienced stand-up comedian on BBC Radio Wiltshire last week, being interviewed about his upcoming tour. I didn’t get his name as my car journey finished before the programme.
The DJ asked him “What advice would you have for any up and coming comedians?” and the answer he gave was quite enlightening.
He spoke about Gig-Miles and Stage-Time. Gig-miles are the distances you travel to do gigs, up and down the motorways of the country, often night after night. Stage-Time is the amount of hours you spend in front of an audience. Free or paid, it makes no difference he said, what counts is the hours.
These two metrics are a measure of two things. The first is commitment, if you are willing to put in the Gig-Miles and Stage-Time, you are dedicated to what you are trying to achieve. The second is experience, the more of both of them you have, the more experience you will have gained.
In the outdoor world, our equivalents might be Sleeping-Bag-Nights or Boots-Resoled or even Thank-You-Letters-Received.
What are the equivalents of Gig-Miles and Stage-Time in your job?
Picture under Creative Commons from That Other Paper’s Flickrstream.
On the Three Peaks event I ran for Evolution Services this weekend I spent some time talking to one of the participants about the feeling of achievement that comes from climbing a mountain. This feeling is very satisfying, often represents real learning and, importantly from a trainers point of view, impossible to fake.
There is no way in the world that moving some barrels and planks around on a patch of grass to cross a ‘river’ marked out with ropes can ever compare to building a pontoon to cross a real river. Read More
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 wh
o 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
We don't change organisations, we change people. People change organisations.
