Mentoring New Climbers

chris_girard

chris_girard

Treehouser
Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
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Location
Gilmanton, N.H.
While I'm on a kick posting my articles, here's my latest one on how I like to mentor new climbers. It's fitting since I just posted about Ed Hobbs and how I plan on writing a mentor article on Don Blair and our very own Gerald Beranek!

Mentoring New Climbers

Teach and guide someone just starting out. Take the time and share what you have learned. Teach others and help keep everyone safe in the tree industry.
tcimag.tcia.org tcimag.tcia.org
 
Been teaching climbers for over 20 years, myself.
Looking forwards to reading it, I don't have the time to immerse myself in it right now.
About Jepson, though.
I bought his book, read the foreword about how he fell out of a white pine and god saved him.................................................tossed the book.
I'm sure he has some good things to say, but I'm not trusting my life to someone like that.
 
stig said:
Been teaching climbers for over 20 years, myself.
Looking forwards to reading it, I don't have the time to immerse myself in it right now.
About Jepson, though.
I bought his book, read the foreword about how he fell out of a white pine and god saved him.................................................tossed the book.
I'm sure he has some good things to say, but I'm not trusting my life to someone like that.
Click to expand...
Same, brother Stig.

I bought the Tree Climbers Companion, and Groundie, on the high recommendations of others. Not for my self, so much as for new hires. After proofreading both, they got "lost"

A few nice knot drawings and such that MAY keep me from having to break out the crayons, but way too much religion.

A general contractor I worked for once told me, "I'm gonna put an ad in the paper. Looking for a clean cut carpenter, with valid driver's license, clean UA, and no alcoholics, no probation."
I said to him "Pick one"

Those guys have jobs where they don't get rained on, let alone rained out.
 
Nice job Chris, I think teaching new tree workers is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. I like to get new climbers started with ornamental work, with mostly handsaws and pruners. I think it takes a solid year of chainsaw experience on the ground or in a bucket, before they are good enough with a saw, and work positioning to use a saw aloft.
 
"Rock" climbing gyms are Great for new climbers, along with taking good swings.

Fun in a saddle, hanging from a rope/ protected by a rope, is great experiential learning that gear is good.

Short, top-rope falls in a gym, with a stretchy rope is way better than listng MBSs, etc, etc.
 
You guys have "problem" students? For awhile, it felt like I was on permanent teaching duty for surveying, and ones that turned out "acceptable" felt like a huge win. Some made me want to step in front of a truck and end it all. Same things over and over. New day comes, and everything from the day before was forgotten. They just couldn't get it. It was like programming a robot. Eventually(sometimes...), the program wouldn't corrupt, and the programming would stick, but it wouldn't extend either. Every task had to be taught, and applying it to a novel problem was unthinkable.
 
You don't instruct for 25+ years without hitting a few that are culls. But I was in the enviable position of having almost all of my students wanting to be there. The few that didn't, that were sent because a boss wanted their employee to be certified to climb whether that person wanted to climb or not...that was where the percentage that failed to succeed was highest.

Being a USFS certified climber was almost universally seen as very desirable training and duty. I think that made a huge difference for making the instructors job great as well.
 
Maybe that's the difference. A lot of the people rolling through surveying were just there for the income. One guy I had really wanted to be surveyor, but was dumb as a brick; nice guy too. He was one the ones that had me eying trucks :^D
 
I've got a new tact... asking from a place of curiosity about why the trainee might be having problems with x, y or z part of the training. Hear what they have to say, and ask if I am understanding correctly, then asking them what they think the solution is.



I tried a guy, recently. Seemed like he might work on day 1 and 2, then went against many well-explained procedures (ppe, entering a work zone with work happening overhead without checking, etc).

Could have approached it that way.





I always ask about their best ways of learning and try to accommodate.
 
It is surely true that no single approach works equally well for all trainees. People learn things differently, to some degree anyway. It is a challenge to be flexible enough as a teacher, to help folks achieve success.
 
Fascinating article! I look forward to hearing more about teaching/mentoring in the comments. I guess anyone who has attempted to teach a skill has some successes and challenges that others can learn from.
 
Burnham said:
It is surely true that no single approach works equally well for all trainees. People learn things differently, to some degree anyway. It is a challenge to be flexible enough as a teacher, to help folks achieve success.
Click to expand...
In my experience, from teaching apprentices for over 20 years, a good kick in the ass works fine on everyone.


You are right, of course, that was just the old master sergeant in me taking over.
"Sir, yes sir!!!!"
 
Burnham said:
It is surely true that no single approach works equally well for all trainees. People learn things differently, to some degree anyway. It is a challenge to be flexible enough as a teacher, to help folks achieve success.
Click to expand...
I concur, one trainee may be slower to learn and find certain disciplines more of a challenge than another who may be more of a natural.
But as time passes a superior application and a desire to improve will close the gap.
 
Burnham said:
I've done a bit of teaching over the years as well ;). I always found it a very rewarding thing to do.
Click to expand...
I’d have loved to learn under your direct mentorship! I’ll take digital tutelage though.

Really wish I could hit pause on the home and work life and spend a few months with the heavy hitters on here. Besides the fun, the learning experience would be fantastic. Ain’t ever gonna happen but a boy can dream…..
 
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