On a my recent trip to Snowdonia we encountered some challenging weather conditions (strong winds and cold conditions), as one of two group leaders we decided to carry on up onto the top of the Glyders. This was a questionable decision as conditions were bad and going up into them could of been avoided, we could of decided to go back down to lower more sheltered ground to practice low level micro navigation. This may of benefited the group more, as they would would have been in a better environment and state of arousal to learn new skills.

This relates to the Adventure Experience Paradigm by Priest and Gass (1997) their theory suggests that when people go out on an adventure experience they can go through 5 stages in depending on the amount of risk encountered combined with the amount of competence they have. Stage 1 exploration and experimentation, 2 adventure, 3 peak adventure, 4 misadventure and 5 devastation and disaster. They state that to get the most of the situation and be at a peak level of learning a person must be in a stage of peak adventure. Here is the model that Priest and Gass created.

                                             Priest and Gass (1997)

Before we hit the bad weather some group members were already at a state of peak adventure, this meant that when we hit the bad weather it pushed some members to reach a state of misadventure. As I had more competence I could deal with the higher level of risk putting myself in a state of peak adventure, therfore pushing me into the peak level of learning, and having to take a pro-active leadership role to navigate the group out of bad weather. To make sure the group didn't become to cold and exhausted then becoming pushed into a state of devastation and disaster, we decided to find a more sheltered place to get the bothy out so the group could get something to eat, warm up and prepare themselves for the next leg of the trip before dropping back down into sheltered ground. This brought the members that were in a state of misadventure back into peak adventure, and hopefully they learned about methods to warm up and shelter on the mountains using equipment they can carry. This relates to Senninger (2000) he stated that to learn you have to be taken out of your comfort zone, but not pushed into your panic zone.

 

Senninger (2000)

On the mountain in the bad weather the group were pushed out of their comfort zone into their learning zone (some of the group may of been pushed to far into the panic zone) then they learned how to shelter and keep warm on the mountain bringing them back into comfort zone, to then be pushed back into their learning zone/ peak adventure when we got out the bothy into the bad weather to navigate and find the route back down to sheltered ground.

Through being pushed into my my peak adventure/ learning zone I tested my abilities to lead a group and navigate through bad weather conditions. I learned that just because we had a set route to do,  we didn't necessarily need to carry on the planned route if we think the conditions are to bad and don't think the group will benefit enough.

Reference
Senninger. (2000, cited in ThemPra, ca 2008) The Learning Zone Model. [Online] Available at: http://social-pedagogy.co.uk/concepts_lzm.htm [Accessed: 8.12.11]

 

Priest and Gass (1997, cited in Neill, 2007) The Adventure Experience Paradigm. [Online] Available at: http://wilderdom.com/philosophy/PriestAdventureExperienceParadigm.html [Accessed: 8.12.11]

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