When the weather outside is biting.......

The summer may have come and gone, (although its still feeling pretty summer like today at 84') but we know that the good weather won't last forever!

Even when the mercury drops, we can still run programs out on the Ropes Course, all that is needed are some willing participants and some extra layers of clothing. To reward those brave ones who come out to us in the colder season we are offering special rates along with some hot chocolate to warm you up!

Call 301 834 6140 to discuss bringing your group out to the ropes course in November or December and don't forget your hat and gloves!

Ropes Course Open day a sucess

On Sunday 5th October we held an open day on the ropes course to enable smaller groups and individuals the opportunity to come out to the course and experience a 4 hour program.

It was a perfect fall day with bright blue sunny skies. All of the attendees had a great time and tried many of the activities for the first time that day. Starting on the lower elements on the course to build up confidence the group worked well together, progressing to the higher elements including the 600ft long zip line through the trees.

The group exchanged experiences and stories over the included picnic lunch, while taking in the beautiful surroundings that the course is set in.

The finale to the day was to climb the 20ft 'leap of faith' pole and jump from the top to catch the trapeze bar. It was a little windy up on top of the pole, but this didn't put off the 'jumpers' who gave their best shot at catching the trapeze!

We look forward to arranging another open day so that more people can experience the course for themselves.

UEI linked with Smartbox and Excitations

Upward Enterprises is pleased to announce that they have linked with two great companies who offer exciting and innovative ideas for gift giving.

Gone are the days of people getting yet another pair of socks on their birthday, now you can send friends and family amazing adventures on their special day. Both companies offer a wide selection of activities from sky-diving to driving a sports car.

Check out what they have to offer at www.smartbox.com and www.excitations.com

Raft & Ropes Course weekend

The best of both worlds, a weekend where you can go rafting and also take on the challenge of the ropes course.

In conjunction with River and trail Outfitters, Upward Enterprises is hosting an exciting weekend to combine two great activities and offering people the opportunity to take part in both.

The weekend will be held on October 4th-5th and will start on the Saturday morning with a four hour rafting experience along the beautiful Potomac river with the crew from River & Trail Outfitters. (www.riverandtrail.com). On Sunday you will join the team at Upward Enterprises at their 22 acre ropes challenge course and take part in a four hour high and low ropes adventure!

A packed lunch will be provided on both days and all of this is available to you for an amazing price of $129.99 per person. Overnight accommodation is not included but we are happy to suggest local hotels/camp sites.

To book your place on this fun weekend call 301 834 6140.

Photos and more updates to come.

Tiki Barber on the Ropes Course

On August 6th Camp Great Rock from Children's Hospital were out on the Ropes Course as part of their week long camp at the Bishop Claggett Center. The group were joined by the crew of MSNBC and Tiki Barber who were doing a feature on the camp which is specifically for kids who suffer from epilepsy.

Everyone had a fun time and enjoyed taking part on the various activities and Tiki himself even took a ride on the zipline. You can see his full report which was broadcast on MSNBC last week.

Analytical Profiles or Reality

I was asked by a corporate team building client the other day if I provided analytical profiles on participants to the ropes course and being a good sales person I said of course we do, but it will cost you! We dove into quite a long discussion then on the merits of profiling and the pitfalls. Yes, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator is available. Yes, it is expensive as you need someone “qualified” to administer it. But is it really necessary?

According to Myers Briggs, the purpose of any personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C.G.Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. People who act on instinct or believe their actions to be random in certain situations, in reality, these actions might not be random at all. The answer could be that in reality their actions are an instinctive part of their character making up their individual inventory of strength and weaknesses, or their perception of these. These ingrained personality traits make up your character and how you react to circumstances. For example: analytical people like to problem solve and think things out. People with a nurturing trait care for people. Whereas goal getters or activists very much have the goal in mind when going through a task. The interesting part of all this comes when stress is present and these character traits change. An activist when questioned why things went wrong, may revert to be an analyst and go back to the drawing board to determine why his brilliant idea did not work. Although this is interesting, it’s only theory.

On the other hand the ropes course deals with reality. Yes people perceive that they may fall and they could be right. On our team building ropes course, we see real reactions, real emotions and reality. This is one of the reasons why I say, “save your money and come to the ropes course.” You will experience people’s real character profile and then you can judge for yourselves which is better, analytical or reality.

Metaphors on the ropes course

What a great day again I had on the weekend when I was taking a group of young girls and their coaches through the ropes course at The Bishop Claggett Center. The girls were visiting from out of the country and they had 3 mentors or coaches accompanying them. Two of the girls could speak English and the rest communicated through an interpreter. It was not what happen with the girls but the comments made by the coaches during the processing period afterwards that made it such a learning experience for myself and the group.

The group had finished the day on a high level activity called the giants ladder. This is where 2 climbers have to work together with the support of the team to climb a giant ladder to the top rung. Pictures are available of this activity on the web page. One of the coaches explained through the interpreter how she had noticed that the rungs get further apart as they get higher. She thought this was a design flaw until I explain the design was intentional, creating the metaphor for living.

I went on to explain that the ladder symbolizes the struggles of life. The further you push yourself in life, the harder the challenges may be even though you have had prior experiences that you have learnt from. The higher you go on the ladder the more you rely on your team for support and help in getting achieving your goals. In life, the older you get the more you will rely on your family and friends to help you through and get what you want and need.

The metaphor was set and the smile came immediately upon that coach’s face. She had immediately become a fan of the metaphor and of the ropes course experience. I am so glad I do this job. Little pleasures like that make it all worth while.

March Madness Team Building Fun

Who said you have to be mad to have some fun in the middle of winter?
Here's some March madness for those of you who are waiting for the warm weather to come. Don’t wait! Book a Ropes challenge course birthday party in March and get 10% off the regular fee.
That is a 3 hour program on the ropes course for 12 kids for $360. But wait, if you book on a weekend we will add an additional 1 hour to the program for free. These offers are good only until March 31, 2008 so hurry, before the madness ends. Contact Clive at Upward Enterprises to book your event.

Success at evening retreat

As the President of Upward Enterprises Inc I was asked to speak at a recent retreat and I decided to work on a presentation of paperwork activities that could be delivered to 50 or so adults while in a small closed room. Most of the participants were seated and moving around was not an option due to lack of room and some disabilities. The paperwork activities are not something we do everyday at UEI but with the experience we have and the adaptability of our team building programs we pulled off a remarkably successful evening. We have had comments and feedback from the group that was transferred in to the following days ropes course activities that make being involved in this industry worth while.

On a different note, we at Upward Enterprises Inc. reacted to some feedback from our staff, about the management of the zip lines that we operate. One observation last year was the ability to adjust the lanyard that we use for the tether to the right length for clients that were a little on the heavy side. We were using the Omni slings that you could clip into wherever you thought it would work but that was still a bit of a guessing game. We researched and came up with an adjustable prussic on a multi line lanyard that is calibrated to a certain weight. We are intending to test this and I will let you all know the results.