Vail Resorts had the advantage of being an existing corporation that had some protocols in place. On the flip side, Treetop Quest is a small, four-year-old operation near Atlanta that offers various obstacle courses that target different ability levels. Still, its training protocols are similar to Vail’s.
Cloe Amara, regional director of operations, says that staff is trained, tested, and monitored throughout the season. A third-party trainer administers a test on the final day of an initial four-day training that covers customer service, safety, emergency situations, and rescue. Amara says that a new group of staff members is trained three or four times per year, but Treetop doesn’t conduct a formal refresher training.
Show and tell: A guide at Treetop Quest in Buford, Ga., leads a ground school training session for a group of guests.
Amara says it’s important to train staff on their own safety, not just the customers. “We always train on how to take care of a customer, but I’ve learned to also train staff how to take care of themselves. For instance, I always push staff to push clients to drink a lot of water, but learned to urge staff to do the same when I then saw one with her nose bleeding because she was dehydrated,” she says.
“In training, I emphasize employee risks a lot,” Amara adds. “Employees are required to report any near-misses or any defect on the trails. For me personally, being honest about what could happen if they do not pay enough attention is key.”
Amara also says from a safety perspective, it’s important to pay attention to your market and customers’ abilities, and tailor accordingly. “We’re always learning. We came in with a European-style course, a challenging black-level course. We had to rescue every third person in it, so we had to modify and change a few elements, and added extra coaching to people before they start struggling.”
Bonsai’s Walker says his training team emphasizes risk management. “We talk about steps that staff can follow to make sure that people have all of the skills and also have the physical ability to participate on the course,” he says. “We try to educate and work with all of our trainees on how to better mitigate risk. From their first day of training, a basic trainee will have the concept of managing risk engrained in their head.”
“Some of the challenges in this industry are that the technology is changing so rapidly and that the industry is growing at such a rapid rate,” adds Barrow. “Staying informed of all the new technology and practices and current standards is one of the most challenging aspects of operating. I’m a firm believer that training is the best risk prevention you can do.”
