Delivering Adventure

In this episode, Curtis Pawliuk joins Chris and Jordy to talk about how he has helped to create adventure through the development of a mountain bike park in Valemount, BC. Curtis Pawliuk is the Executive Director of the Valemount and Area Recreation Development Association (VARDA). Curtis shares some of the challenges and successes that VARDA has had developing the Valemount trail system. He also touches on its impacts on the local economy and what other communities could learn.Key TakeawaysThink big: It’s okay to dream, in fact we need to. This helps us to keep ourselves and others motivated to keep going.Creating adventure facilities takes resources: It takes time, money, support, and energy. Curtis mentioned the STP Committees– the same ten people that are always working on driving an organization forward. You need to find the people who can spend time to build whatever you are creating.Build what people want: If you want to be successful at creating adventure, you have to build experiences that people want. This can be different than the experiences that you might want to deliver.Guest Links & ResourcesValemount Mountain Biking: https://ridevalemount.com/mountain-biking/VARDA: https://ridevalemount.com/Frozen Pirate: https://linktr.ee/frozenpirateInstagram: @frozenpirateFollow or SubscribeDon’t forget to follow and share the show!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

What are some of the key strategies to managing risk while we are leading adventure and delivering it to ourselves? Grant Statham is back to continue this discussion with Jordy and Chris. Grant taps into his experience as a well respected thought leader on mountain risk and understanding. Grant is an ACMG / IFMGA mountain Guide, Parks Canada Visitor Safety Specialist, avalanche forecaster and a risk consultant.Key TakeawaysList of options: A good decision is one where we pick the best option. Identifying all of the options beforehand, is a crucial step to making good decisions.Understanding intuition: If you get a feeling that you should increase the risk, you need to be able to justify your decision to do so, with hard facts.Avoiding overconfidence: Beware the expert opinion; often wrong, but rarely in doubt. We often think that we know more than we do, but we rarely want to admit this.We can reduce our risk with knowledge: The more information we have, the easier it is to pick the best option.Build yourself a buffer: Building in a bigger margin of error can protect us from mistakes, or simply misjudging a situation.Slow down: Slowing down gives us more time to process the information coming at us.Guest Links & ResourcesInstagram: @stathamgrantTed talk on Risk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZu5Lzgv1AThinking in Risk: https://thepowdercloud.com/learn/avalanche-education/thinking-in-risk/Avalanche Canada Ice Climbing Avalanche Atlas: https://www.avalanche.ca/resources/ice-climbing/atlasFollow or SubscribeDon’t forget to follow or share the show!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

Risk is an essential part of any adventure experience, but what is risk and what does it mean to manage it? In this episode, ACMG / IFMGA Mountain guide Grant Statham joins Chris and Jordy to explore the topic of managing risk. Grant currently works for Parks Canada as a visitor safety specialist doing mountain. Rescue and avalanche forecasting. He also works as a risk consultant, and as a mountain guide.Key TakeawaysA risk is a chance: When we take risks, we have a chance of losing something, but we also have a chance of gaining something. The uncertainty of not knowing which will happen is the risk.Not taking a risk, comes with risk: It is impossible to live a life without risk. Not taking risks comes with a danger of missing out.You can’t have adventure without taking risks: Challenge, adversity and risk taking are essential components of any adventure experience.Have a process that helps guide you in your risk taking: This can be a decision-making tool, framework, philosophy or a list. The process that we use to make decisions will increase your chances of having a positive outcome.Reserve your decision until you have as much information as possible: Waiting until you have to make a decision keeps your options open. This means that if new information becomes available, you haven’t committed yourself to a course of action that may be hard to reverse.Guest Links & ResourcesInstagram: @stathamgrantTed talk on Risk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZu5Lzgv1AThinking in Risk: https://thepowdercloud.com/learn/avalanche-education/thinking-in-risk/Avalanche Canada Ice Climbing Avalanche Atlas: https://www.avalanche.ca/resources/ice-climbing/atlasGordon Graham: VideoFollow or SubscribeDon’t forget to follow and share the show!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

In this episode, we continue speaking with Peter Weiland on how we can help people to embrace adversity. Peter reveals some of his biggest challenges owning a bike tour company, some of the pressures of raising kids in a mountain resort town, his philosophy to coaching kids to play soccer, and the secrets to how to help people to push their limits.Peter is a former semi-pro adventure racer, former owner of Rocky Mountain Cycle Tours and currently manages a youth soccer program. Peter is also a ski instructor at Whistler Blackcomb.Key TakeawaysThe value of having a sense of humor: Having a sense of humor can really help us to power through difficult moments.Getting people through adversity can involve setting small milestones: Nothing builds confidence like success and sometimes people need small successes. This applies to finishing long journeys and learning new skills.Kids and not pushing them:. Everyone has a limit, for kids that limit is lower. Just because someone can do something doesn’t mean they will enjoy it. Just because they can finish something doesn’t mean they will want to do it againJust Recognizing the value of adversity and communicating it: Sometimes, just letting people know that what they are doing is hard - while reminding them that it will be worth it - can be enough to help them to keep going.Guest LinkYou can find Rocky Mountain Cycle Tours here: https://rockymountaincycle.com/Follow or SubscribeLiked the show? Remember to follow or subscribe!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

Peter Weiland shares his perspective on why we need adversity and what takes to overcome it. Peter is a former semi-pro adventure racer, former owner of Rocky Mountain Cycle Tours and currently manages a youth soccer program. Using stories from some of his most epic moments, Peter reveals what it takes to power through adversity both for ourselves and how to help others.Key TakeawaysYou don’t have to go far to test yourself: Adventure can be close to home.Starting people off with a little bit of adversity is better than too much: When exposing people to challenge, danger, and discomfort, start slowly and build up, instead of diving straight into the deep end. This is especially important when people have lower risk tolerance and resiliency.It is often easier to increase adversity than it is to dial it down: It is easier to go faster, harder, farther, and to increase the complexity than it is slow things down.Follow or SubscribeLiked the show? Remember to follow or subscribe!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

Bruce Wilson, a master guide and educator, shares his expertise in creating impactful outdoor experiences. He defines what it means to be a guide, stressing the importance of mindset and empathy. Bruce emphasizes that confidence, coupled with humility, is crucial for guiding effectively. He also discusses the evolution of guiding as a personal journey, highlighting the balance between leadership and allowing autonomy in others. Plus, he reveals how inner wilderness adventures can spark personal growth and resilience in daily life.

How can you control your fear? What can you do to help other people to control their fear? These are the questions that psychologist, author, and adventurer Geoff Powter answers in this episode. In addition to psychology, Geoff draws upon his experience as the former editor of the Polar Circus Magazine and the Canadian Alpine Journalist, as well as being a respected mountaineer and adventurer.Key Takeaways:Basiks Model of managing fear: The six steps are belief, action, support, intention, knowledge and skills.Calming down: It is impossible to be mentally calm and physically anxious at the same time or physically calm and mentally anxious at the same time. It is easier to control our physical side than our mental side. This is where the value of breathing comes in to help to relax us in times of high stress.About them: What we think will be good for someone else, might not be good for them.Guest LinksYou can find more about Geoff Powter’s books Inner Ranges and Strange and Dangerous Dreams: The Fine Line Between Adventure and Madness: HereFollow or SubscribeEnjoyed the episode? Make sure you follow or subscribe!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

Top CSIA Level 4 ski instructor trainer Tracey Fraser shares how we can improve people’s performance. Being better at anything makes those tasks more enjoyable. Not only that, improving skill is an essential risk management tool. The better we are at anything, the less likely we are to make mistakes. Tracey is one of Canada’s most highly certified ski instructors and technical skiers.Key TakeawaysTake a student specific / centered approach: Everyone is different and will need a different approach. A coach needs to be ready to use different approach that is based on how their student learns best.Pace the delivery of information: People can get frustrated if we give them too many things to work on or to think about at one time.Get buy in to change behavior patterns: You can’t change someone’s performance if they don’t see a problem with what they are doing.Avoiding Frustration: People need to be given something new, work through that challenge, feel that they are accomplishing something, spend some time in that zone.Rate and ReviewEnjoyed the episode? Please take a moment to rate and review it. Thanks!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

Professional backcountry skier, athlete, explorer and guide Greg Hill continues sharing his perspective on what it takes to keep adventure sustainable. In this episode, Greg talks about the importance of physical sustainability, and how we can reduce our environmental foot print by practicing small things.Key TakeawaysLook after your body: This means keeping on top of strength training stretching, taking breaks when needed, good nutrition and hydration, getting sleep, and addressing problems when they come up.Do what you can: Small choices can make a real difference when it comes to reducing our impact on the environment.You don’t have to travel far away: The adventures that we have closer to home – especially in the places that we can see regularly, can end up being remembered more often than ones that happen in far away places that we never see again.No substitute for formal outdoor education: This can help us to be more efficient, save time and save energy.Guest LinksYou can find out more about Greg Hill by visiting greghill.caCheck out one of Greg’s Electric Adventures: Here Rate and ReviewEnjoyed the episode? Please take a moment to rate and review it. Thanks!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

Backcountry ski racer, athlete, and ski guide Greg Hill talks about what it takes to make adventure more sustainable for us. In this episode Greg Shares the secrets to how he was able to keep himself motivated so that he could climb 2 million vertical feet in a single year while backcountry skiing, and much more…Key TakeawaysBeing Sustainable Includes: Maintaining our mental, emotional, and physical well being. It also includes managing our time wisely and keeping our relationships healthy.Protecting Relationships: To maintain relationships, everyone should adopt an Adventurer’s Pact. This is where everyone accepts that things can go wrong – even if they have someone guiding them.Setting Attainable Goals: If our goals are not attainable, we will likely just give up.We get what we measure: Setting goals and tracking our progress is a good way to keep us motivated.Look back to keep you moving forward: It is helpful to look back at how far we have come and consider what we achieved instead of always looking forward at the obstacles that lay ahead of us.Guest LinksYou can find out more about Greg Hill by visiting greghill.caWatch Greg Hill talk about his 5 Rules: HereFollow or SubscribeEnjoyed the episode? Make sure to follow or subscribe. Thanks!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure