Q8: GROUND SCHOOL: HOW MUCH CAN YOU TEACH? WHAT’S THE BEST METHODOLOGY?
KEITH: Parks need a full demo area. That should include several transfers and a short zip, including landing. Standards are evolving right now to clarify what needs to be included during ground school.
DAVE: You can teach plenty. Show a video prior to a hands-on demonstration by staff. Then guests go through a safety demo, under the watchful eyes of trained guides. That makes for a great formula for the secure and safe operation of aerial adventure parks. This segment of the experience must not be rushed.
GERHARD: Ground school can help operators limit the human error up on the course if it’s done right. A lot depends on the quality of the staff. How well are they trained? Some parks only demonstrate what people are supposed to do, while others put guests through sample elements. These might include a mini, three-element course, one of them being a zip line. So people get a feeling for the equipment. They discover, “Yeah, I can sit down in a harness and this is how I need to position myself.” That makes way more sense than just watching a demo. We also recommend having guests watch a video while they are waiting. With all that, no guest can say, “Nobody told me how to do this, I didn’t know.” We told you to watch the video, you saw it, and the explanation is all there.
CLOE: Ground school can be effective if you have good staff. Just be sure that all the guests listen. We demonstrate everything—what to do, what not to do. We tell guests, “If you do such-and-such, this is going to happen.” Then, all guests must do a practice course. That includes the different one cable, two cables, toss and swing, and a zip line, and our guides are there on the ground to correct them and assess if they are doing anything wrong. If guests have some kind of disability, or they can’t complete the practice course very well, we send them to the easiest course. And we’ll watch them carefully. We have trails following all the courses, and we keep an eye on everybody.
