Pre-Trip Meeting Tips

By: Jake Dohm

-->          Outdoor leaders across the globe are marching thousands of people into the backcountry every year, with increasing numbers. People are discovering the wild-side within themselves and feel the need to fuel that fire, and as outdoor leaders we have a responsibility to protect our wilderness and the well-being of the people going into it. There are many components to an outdoor excursion as we all know, but it all starts somewhere. Whether it’s an idea, suggestion, or a deep desire to accomplish that has been with you for a long time. The ideas flow through people until one strikes a cord and there is no more time for thinking, its time for action.

            Once there is a group of people with a similar idea for an outdoor adventure someone needs to start planning. Because this is a group trip, it has been seen over time that having an initial gathering of folks is a great way to begin the adventure before embarking into the unknown. In the outdoor world, we call this a pre-trip meeting.

            Once your team has chosen a date/dates for their trip, schedule a meeting for everyone to get together and talk about the upcoming events. As a trip leader there is some organizational outlining you can do to help facilitate this meeting. Even though every trip is different and special in its own way, there are a few things that every outdoor outing should take into consideration.

            One of the first things that I like to do is establish a common goal among the group for the trip. Whether it be to climb to the top of a mountain or just gain better team-building skills, you have to assess the group and determine what you all want to accomplish before you run out into the woods having no idea how or why you are even there in the first place. Write this goal/s down somewhere so people continue to remember the goal/s and then begin to evolve the trip around what they really want to accomplish.

            Now that everyone is on the same page about where we are going and what we want to do when they get there, you can then begin to figure out how everyone fits into this picture. It is crucial that everyone in the group is apart of the group, and feels that way. So the next thing I like to do is talk about roles and how each person can have an extremely important part in this expedition. Without everyone participating this ship can become extremely difficult to sail, and everyone goes down in a sunken ship. Make whatever groups you need to, let the group make groups, let the groups make individual positions, and let the individual positions make requests about what they need. Once you have the people, you can create the team, and the team works together to accomplish the goal/s that they have set for themselves.

            Numero Uno as a trip leader is to be a leader, while not actually leading. The more you let the group create their trip the more they own it. The most boring trips I have ever been on are the ones that are all laid out in front of you, structure can be beneficial, but rules with no flexibility are just plain frustrating. Your job as a facilitator is just that, to facilitate. Keep the group on track while not being too hands on, it can be a difficult task. So there are a few things that I like to point out to groups to help them keep themselves on track.

            Take into consideration the environment you are about to be in, weather, cold, hot, clouds, mountains, forests etc… There is appropriate clothing and behavior that should be addressed by the experienced leader to ensure we don’t put anyone at serious risk. Maybe talk about personal experiences or stories you have read about other doing similar things. Relation can be a powerful tool in facilitating. And gaining the trust in the group that you know what you are doing is also very important. Know what you know, as well as what you don’t know.

            Emphasize that this is a challenge by choice outing and no one has to do anything! But also understand that challenges will arise and sacrifices will be made. Creating a “safe-learning” environment will only allow participants to push themselves further. Creating the need to know and recognizing teachable moments is your job as the facilitator and the more you have, the safer the learning environment becomes.

            Mitigating risk is also your job, and teaching the group about how to do this in a friendly, fun way can be the difference between having a great trip and having a catastrophic event 10 miles from services. Understanding that safety is only a figment of our imagination and anything can happen is only reality. So being too prepared isn’t really a concern in risk mitigation, do everything you can.

            Do a touch on LNT principles as to keep our wilderness the way we found it. This will help in accomplishing our goals as well as presenting a professional appearance to the other hikers out there.

            The final piece of the pre-trip meeting is a to come up with some kind of full-value contract or at least an understanding among the group that there are certain expedition behaviors that we as a group wish to follow. That way if anyone does “step out of line” you have a written and signed piece of paper you can refer to and stand by. It is important to do this because once again it makes the trip that much more personalized. The group can feel good about the goals that they set for themselves and the outline they created in the pre-trip meeting.

Make sure to bring in some visual-aids and keep your enthusiasm at an appropriate level. This is a very important meeting in the planning of an outing and can be facilitated very well with great results if done correctly. Keep in mind the tips and suggestions I have given you and remember to be creative, have fun, mitigate risk, and get the hell out there!