Why do it?Is “Because it’s there” a good enough reason to do something? Do you want to do it to become wealthier, to be more secure, to learn something or just to get to the top?
You need to work out what you resources you need, you need to work out a rough schedule as well. You also need to make sure you’re up to the task and have the right team around you.
At Totem we believe that outdoor training is a tool, not
an end in its own right.
A carpenter might sometimes reach for a chisel while making a chair, but it’s not the only tool he uses. In the same way, for trainers and training managers, only sometimes the outdoors is the right tool for the job.
We work with training organisations to deliver their learning aims, or parts of them, using the outdoors as the vehicle. We are proud to be a small cog in a larger training machine.
Unlike traditional adventure education, with us it’s not always climbing vertiginous mountains and paddling raging rivers. We frequently make use of the near-doors, that natural area just beyond the classroom where lessons can still be learnt but it’s still pretty comfortable, and a cup of tea isn’t far away. Adventure is, after all, a state of mind.
Our trainers use a mix of taught theory and ‘learning by doing’ (experiential) challenges. This allows the academic learning to be reinforced by practical examples of working with others under exciting conditions.
Have you ever been lost? In the hills? In the city? Underwater? In your own mind?
Jamie Neal has. Christopher Columbus has. Macaulay Culkin has.
We’d love to hear your story, comment below or mail me.
This 2002 obituary for Goran Kropp, the Swedish adventurer and mountain
eer 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.
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.
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.
At lunch today the conversation turned to “ice-breaker” games used on course and I talked about my “Share the stupidest thing you have ever done” game. I like this game as it always seems to break down barriers fast.
Jeremy Renwick of Kubernetes then made the very good point that this game functions because “friendship is the exchange of vulnerabilities“.
This had me thinking all the way home across the Wiltshire Downs. I have always been aware that friendships developed during climbing trips (or sailing, or kayaking) have a tendency to go from strangers to lifelong friends in very short periods. I knew that trust was an important part of this friendship and this statement sums it up perfectly for me.
When you hand the rope holding you to someone during climbing, you are about as vulnerable as you can be. Your life is literally in their hands. If those vulnerabilities aren’t exploited then you have formed a bond of trust that is as powerful as it is possible to be and a friendship normally follows.
I can see this phrase appearing in some of my courses from now on. I shall, of course, attribute it to Jeremy!
We don't change organisations, we change people. People change organisations.
