A guest Blog by Lorenza

Our first Blog entry is by one of our work experience students, Lorenza

During my time at Pro adventure, I have gained so many new skills and really improved in a lot of areas such as confidence in leading groups. The first activity I did was an all day White Water Kayak from Glyndyfrdwy all the way back to Llangollen on the river Dee. Before this my only other previous experience in a kayak was on the canal once a week for 5 weeks. Straight away this built my confidence and I was able to do so much more. Although I capsized 4 or 5 times, I learnt about edging, ferry gliding and breaking in and breaking out, something that I had never even heard of before hand. This all helped for my next activity which was again a white water kayak all day trip. This time I was allowed to try Serpent’s Tail, something that I had looked at the week before but wasn’t allowed to do for my own safety. First thing I thought of when I was told I could do it was ‘Who’s got the throw line because I’m going for a swim?’ Thankfully I was guided through it before I tried it and managed to pick up the right skills to get myself down it in one piece. Since then I have done a lot more kayaking with different instructors. None of the instructors are the same and they all do things differently so it’s really good to see different people run the sessions and to help out with demonstrations.

Also I have been able to do a lot of all day climb and abseil sessions and indoor sessions. Being a keen climber myself meant that I felt very comfortable doing this because I can help out instructing and don’t feel like a total beginner. I have also learnt how to rig up the climbs, something which I had never done before. Again this helped build my confidence around others.

Mountain Biking is another activity that I had very little experience in as well. But going out doing a mountain biking session meant that I also got to learn some new things and try something different. My only other previous experience with mountain biking was a stunt I tried on some very steep hills that lead from one to another straight onto a road with holiday caravans on the other side. This nearly ended up with a hospital trip and some fees to pay! I won’t be trying that one again in a hurry. But one thing I learnt from mountain biking is that when using berms, don’t press the breaks and lean the bike! Again a really enjoyable activity. Definitely would love to learn a lot more about mountain biking and take it up as a regular hobby.

On holidays in the past I have tried archery and really enjoyed it but only really been messing around and I was never really taught how to do it properly. But going on an archery session really helped and I learnt how to hold the bow properly and how to fire the arrow pretty accurately. Also, I enjoyed watching how the session was run and different games you can play and how to teach it in an interesting way. Again something that I would love to learn a lot more about.

If getting wet is something you like, which I do, then I would recommend Gorge Walking. I have really enjoyed all the gorge walks that I have done. The first one I did was an all day gorge. Both the gorges that you go to are fantastic. The first one that I did, I had the flu so didn’t really have any balance but thoroughly enjoyed myself and the cold water managed to wake me up and make me feel so much better. Again the instructors are brilliant and are all different. I have been on a lot of gorge walks with a lot of instructors and I have learnt something new each time. They all run the sessions very differently and again it was great to be there and demonstrate things and learn different things about the gorges and how you can run the sessions.

All the staff at Pro Adventure are brilliant. They love a laugh and are always there to help out and show you how to improve. They have given me a really great opportunity to stay and help out and gain some more skills before those all important qualifications. Doing this has really shown me how to enjoy life to the max and still help others achieve something. This is definitely the career path I want to follow!