Summer Employment Opportunity at Upward Enterprises

Are you looking for a fun summer part-time job with a flexible schedule?

We are looking for seasonal staff to work at our event facility in Gaithersburg where we run zip lines for picnic groups. It’s a fun, outdoor job for someone that is enthusiastic and dependable. Most events are held on the weekends and we offer training as needed.

Job Duties: assist guests with proper harness and helmet fitting, assist with landing point for participants, and provide excellent customer service.

Benefits include: flexible hours, working outdoors, meals and shirt provided.

Requirements: high school or equivalent, must complete safety training, ability to stand outside for long periods of time, reliable transportation, English speaking, ability to pass background check and drug test, excited to deliver adventure and educational experience to our guests.

To apply: send email inquiry and resume to Clive at clive@upwardenterprises.com

Smokey Glen Farm Zip Line at the Grove Picnic Site Open

Just uploaded a new video highlighting our zip line Upward Enterprises just built at Smokey Glen Farm. This zip line is located at the Grove picnic site. This video was taken at its grand opening event in May. What is unique about this zip line is that it is designed with a return so that riders circle back to where they started. On a beautiful opening day, we had a lot of riders come to the end of the zip line and hop right back on for another trip. The kids loved it!

 If you are booking an event with Smokey Glen Farm at the Grove, give us a call if you are interested in also booking the zip line 301-834-6140.

Introducting the new Zip Line at the Grove at Smokey Glen Farms

Due to the increased popularity of our zip line at the Pavilions, Upward Enterprises has expanded our service to add a new zip line with return at the Grove picnic facility at Smokey Glen Farms in Gaithersburg, MD. The new Grove zip line is open for private events booked through Smokey Glen.

We will be previewing the Grove zip line at the 2015 Smokey Glen Farm Open Day, April 8, 2015.

Bicycle Elevator - First Floor Canopy Tour?

At the ropes course we use ladders to get up into the trees for our canopy tour zip line but what an inventive way to switch things up - a bicycle ride to the treetops! Being safety conscious, I'd recommend wearing a helmet. Can't wait to see how the rest of his tree house turns out.

Jack Rides the Zip Line at Upward Enterprises Ropes Course

Jack, my nephew is visiting us for the summer. I took him out to my ropes course last week to ride the zip line. It was a beautiful day and as you can see by this video below, we had a blast. Now its your turn to get your group out and enjoy the ride.

Extreme Zip Lines from Around the World

Over the past two years, it seems every where I look there is a new zip line / canopy tour is being built. I fact from the Upward Enterprises ropes course in Buckeystown, Maryland, I can more than a half dozen that are only driving distance away. What makes our zip lines at our ropes course so unique is that they are part of our team building program and just one of the many elements we use to build leadership and team bonding.

But everyone wants to have fun too, right? That is why I have put together my "wish list" of zip lines around the world that I would love to ride. Just get me a plane ticket and I'll be off!

1. Ever want to be a bat in a cave? The Louisville Kentucky Mega Cavern underground zip line is the only cave zip line in the world.

 

2. Ah, Luzerne Switzerland... the mountains... the lake! Now I can take the Sternensauser world's longest zip line and see it all.

 

3. Heading to warmer climates is the Dragons Breath Zip Line in Labadee, Haiti. I can feel the cool ocean breezes now as I sail over the water for a soft landing on the beach.



Do you have any zip lines in your bucket list? Post a comment and let us know.

 

Team Building Joke Tuesday - Ziplining

Of course at Upward Enterprises we operate REAL zip lines and we promise the only electricity you will feel will be from your own excitement.

Company Picnic at Smokey Glen Farm with UEI

Next week, April 2, 2013 is the annual Smokey Glen Farm Trade Fair. It was originally going to be this week but with the cold weather, they decided to postpone the event. Upward Enterprises has had a long and rewarding relationship with Smokey Glen. It's a great picnic facility and we highly recommend Jim Sweet and his staff to put on a memorable event for you group.

For over 10 years, UEI has been the exclusive operator of the double zip line at the Pavilion. We also offer portable rock climbing wall rental as an additional event. We can even bring our portable team building program out to Smokey Glen. The Trade Fair is always a fun day, where we get to meet our old clients and hopefully make new ones. We will have the zip and wall running for you to test your adventurous side while Smokey Glen will have the barbecues fired up to serve samples of their delicious food.

So come out if you can to meet Clive and the staff at Upward Enterprises. The crew will be out there from 10am to 1pm. Yum, I can smell the chili and hot dogs cooking now!

Leaf Peeping Ziplining Through the Trees

What a beautiful fall day out on the Upward Enterprises team building ropes course. The leaves are a golden shade of yellow and burnt red. We wish we could have everyone come out and share with us the amazing colors.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has a wonderful website giving you a guide to find fall foliage. The leaves might have peaked in Western Frederick County but we have plenty of them to see. Book an event at our course before the last leaf falls. 301-834-6140

Getting our Adventure on with FiNDiT Frederick

Back about a month ago, Upward Enterprises had the pleasure of having the staff of FiNDiT Frederick come out to our ropes course in Buckeystown for an afternoon of team building. Melissa Howes-Vitek of the magazine wrote a great follow-up article for the magazine. Many of the people who come out to my course are hesitant to participate because they are afraid they will fail or the activities will be too scary. Melissa and her group are great proof that coming out to the team building course and tackling those fears can change your life. Melissa, we here at Upward Enterprises are inspired by you. Please, if you have the time, check out her story and video below.

 

High School Teen Mentors Benefit from Day of Team Building

I was happy to welcome a group of 12 students from St John's Catholic Prep of Frederick Maryland who were being prepared as mentors to incoming freshmen this semester. Their teachers and counselors had set goals for the day and the students, I am sure, had some goals of their own. Even though the school is very close to the Upward Enterprises ropes course, this was the first time the school had ever come for team building. After the day’s successful outcome, I am hopeful they come back with more students.  

It was easy to see right from the start that this group was going to be receptive to the education that I was about to introduce to them. We started with the formal introductions and got straight into what team building meant.

One of the team building activities I set up for them was to get the team through a hoop in the fastest possible time. They had most of the "Cliché" answers but could they put the theory into action? Immediately they had questions about what through the hoop meant and if there were any rules or boundaries. As I watched the group work together, they came up with the following strategy virtually by themselves.

1. Defined the goal and confirmed exactly what “through the hoop meant”.
2. Set the standards to which they all agreed to work by.
3. Confirmed the start and finish lines.
4. Tested their theory several times to collect data and changed their strategy as more ideas were gathered.
5. Completed the task in 9.2 seconds before they showed no further improvement.
6. Processed the whole experience so as to learn what and where the new found skill and group dynamic could be used in the future.

 All this in one activity! Whew…

After that we moved on to the cable traverse, affectionately know as the Mohawk Walk. This is a series of 4 cables that have various elements one can to use on the crossing to the given destination. Here the group was tested. The students had some great ideas which worked right off the bat. However other ideas created consequences to be paid. They quickly learned that consequences can immediately slow things down putting the entire process in jeopardy. Strengths and challenges of the group as a whole were taken into consideration and the group started to work around them. This synergy lead to a major break-through idea that then set the path. The end was now in sight. Time was running out to finish the exercise, adding more pressure, but with that came focus and determination.

The whole task was completed to rapturous applause and celebration. It was amazing to watch this group learn and grow as a team right before my eyes. As a reward, the St. John students got to ride the zip line at the ropes course. But what has riding a zip line got to do with team building I asked? Of course I got all the right answers.

The students gained a rewarding learning day that they can carry with them throughout their lives. The teachers went away with a little more knowledge and pride in their students and a mountain of metaphors to use in the future when the time arises.

I went away with another gratifying day in my outdoor classroom knowing that I contributed to the future of the next generation in America.

Work out for the Marine Veterans

I took a call the other day from a Marine Sargent who was looking to celebrate one of his colleagues' birthday and return from Afghanistan with something a little different. They chose team building at Upward Enterprises and I agreed to take this small group of America's finest on my challenge course.



I guess there could be some similarities.

I arrived at 7:00 a.m., 30 minutes before the agreed start time, only to find they were already on the property and had been there from 6:15 a.m. and travelled 45 minutes to get there. They had hiked the trail already and got an indication of what was to come.
After the formalities and intros we share a few "war stories" and then proceeded to the zip lines and canopy tour. It wasn't long before they came to the opinion that I too was "Hard Core". Even the EOD (Bomb Disposal) Specialist, who was apparently scared of nothing, referred to me as the 'Old Grey Back".

After a couple of hours we changed direction and headed for the Static Tower. More of the same just with more height. Again we shared some old stories and metaphoric relevance's to our experiences and so it came to end of the session and move on with the day.

We left each other's company with a good deal of respect for each other and what we have done and are doing for our countries. I hope these guys will revisit as they said they would.

Keep safe lads and God bless.

Is zip lining a safe activity?

Is flying safe? If you select your zip line operator with the same confidence as your airline operator then the risk you take should be minimal.

The zip line industry has been hit hard in the last few months with some bad press involving zip operators who function outside industry practices with little or no standards.

Yes, zip lining is safe if your operator follows the industry standards and maintains the daily and monthly checks that they should perform to ensure that they are not putting their staff and clients at risk. If you are looking to zip line be sure to find out the qualifications of the company you choose to hire to ensure your safety.

Here at Upward Enterprises, we go above and beyond assuring that all industry standards are met and you have a trained staff member with you at all times when you are the zip line at our ropes course. I encourage my clients to ask about the safety rating and procedures that we enforce to keep them safe.  I have a display of my last inspection and trainings to hand for the client to see. I insist that clients fully understand the protocols of our course and if they chose not to adhere to them, they will not ride.

Zip lining is fun and very rewarding so let's keep our industry safe from both the operator's side and as clients get the answers to questions that will keep everybody safe.

Jerry Seinfeld vs Jay Leno zip line in New York

I watched with eager anticipation the advert during the Super Bowl for the Acura NSX.The zip line feature full access package offered by Jerry Seinfeld nearly did the trick until Jay Leno turned up with that flying suit. Ah well, I don't have a flying suit to offer but I do have zip lines that will opening again this month. Why not get ahead of the rest and book your adventure now.

Zip Line at Upward Enterprises Facility in Maryland

An Exciting New Year Ahead!

Here we are in the second month of 2011 already. Before we know it, it will be the summer and instead of freezing like today it will be 100'....oh we can't wait.

Well until it's time to get out the shorts and sunscreen, there's still lots of fun to be had at the ropes course and we'll even throw in some hot chocolate to warm you up.  There's nothing better thatn getting the  adrenalin running to get you warmed up on a cold day.

Last year we added an amazing Canopy Tour to our array of activities and if you didn't get chance to do it last year, then 2011 is the year to  come and try it out.  After zipping through the trees on our 600ft zipline, take another zipline to connect with the start of the canopy tour.  Once hooked on you traverse through the course high in trees. Sound like fun?

The weather is going to start warming up soon (we hope) and we're eager to get out on the course again before cabin fever sets in, so give us a call to book your groups visit to the Ropes Challenge course for some fun this year.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Mexican Zip Line Experience!

Even when it comes to vacations, we always seem to find ourselves near a zip line! This year we vacationed down on the Mexican Mayan Riviera and had a wonderful time taking in the sights and sounds.

During our stay we visited two adventure parks that offered amazing zip line experiences and we wanted to check them out and see how they do things in Mexico. The first place we went to was Holkan Kingdom where they had built a series of wooden towers, 12 in all with 8 zip lines, 2 suspension bridges and one monkey walk joining the towers. The longest zip line was 800 feet long across the lagoon. Check them out and see what other great activities they do!

Some of the zip lines you zipped over the lagoon below and others over the tree tops of the Mexican jungle!. It was all great fun and gave us some ideas of what to add to our own ropes course back in Maryland, Upward Enterprises Team Building.

The second visit was to the Xplor Park which boasted 15 giant towers built of concrete and stone that were linked with 12 zip lines, two suspension bridges and one very long water chute! Two of the zip line landings were into water which was a new experience for us. The longest zip line was an amazing 1800 feet from a tower that stood 120 feet high above the jungle.

We had a blast at both of these parks and were really amazed at the set up and running of both, especially at Xplor. All of the staff was professional, friendly and there to make sure you got the best experience possible.

All in all, we loved everything about our trip and can't wait to head south again for some more adventure!