BRUCETON MILLS — With snow still covering the ground, the pre-conference workshop for the Mid-Atlantic Association for Experiential Education got under way at the WVU Research Forest, on Friday afternoon.
C.J. Belknap, with Adventure WV, said the conference discusses climbing site management and rescue techniques. Attendees from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and others will converge this weekend to talk experiential, outdoor and adventure education, he said.
Visitors are a combination of educators from other colleges and universities, as well as outdoor programmers, such as the Adventure WV crew.
“It is actually a big weekend for us. We’re hosting the Mid-Atlantic Association for Experiential Education, the AEE, conference here at our facility. That’s the first time we’ve ever had the opportunity of hosting this event,”
Belknap said.
On Friday, participants donned harnesses to climb the alpine tower, a structure that is typically used for challenge courses. This time, attendees were learning about rescue techniques.
“They’re going up and talking about climbing technique and different climbing site management sort of philosophies and theories and getting a chance to talk a little bit more about what it takes to manage a climbing site,” Belknap said.
“We’re really just kind of celebrating our industry, our heritage, and getting a chance to talk a lot about the different sort of sessions and professional sort of expertise we have in the region.”
Ron Rittenhouse /The Dominion Post
