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Progress Capture 201 South Avenue - 2nd Floor Grand Junction, CO 81501 Office - 970-255-7393 // Fax - 970-255-6741 www.bonsai-design.com 1 T his second issue of the Progress Capture focuses primarily on the recent ACCT Conference held in Red Rocks, Nevada. In total, 17 Bonsai employees were able to attend the conference. I’ve spoken with some attendees, read the written responses of others, and thought I’d try my hand at providing a brief synopsis of the conference to open up issue #2. Overall, it seems as if it was a really positive opportunity for all folks involved, as well as Bonsai as a whole. With such a strong presence, we were able to really represent our strength as a leading member of a growing industry. We’re all aware of the burgeoning network of regulations and standards being applied to the industry every year, and this conference provided a good chance for attendees to really absorb a ton of information. With constant networking opportunities, a wide range of workshops, and even a Builder’s Olympics, there was barely enough time, if that, to soak it all in. As far as the workshops went, it seems as if some of them were exploding with rich and valuable information, covering a range of topics from tree biology to new OSHA standards for crane operation. Some workshops, on the other hand, showed us just how ahead we are of the field, being a bit too familiar to provide excited engagement. Two of our own, Patrick Ferebee and Oliver McCloud, were responsible for two presentations. Nice job fellas! Also exciting, we had seven Bonsai staff members participate in the ACCT Inspector Certification Exam (ICE). We’ll be getting test results any time around publication, so cross your fingers and lets hope we have a bunch of certified inspectors in the fold. It seems there was just a touch of nightlife involved, though for the most part all parties were too engaged in the conference to spend much time in the city of Vegas. Following the conference, a lot of the gang headed out to Red Rocks Canyon, just a few miles outside of the city. A blast of fresh air, some chilly sandstone views, and a handful of rock climbs served as a finale to a generally wonderful long weekend. Cheers! John Nixon Editor’s Letter Contents ACCT Conference & Photo Gallery Social Network Feed Bonsai Birthdays Field Notes Built With Harmony, Precision, & Balance Issue #2 March, 2013 Courtesy of Patrick Ferebee: Taking a break from R and D, Estes takes an opportunity to soak up some R and R atop some comfy sandstone in Red Rocks Canyon... Photo of the Month Todd C.’s excellent shot of a mini-Vegas skyline...
Transcript of Progress Capturebonsai-design.com/wp-content/uploads/BDi-Progress... · 1 T his second issue of the...
Progress Capture
201 South Avenue - 2nd FloorGrand Junction, CO 81501
Office - 970-255-7393 // Fax - 970-255-6741www.bonsai-design.com
1
This second issue of the Progress Capture focuses primarily on the recent ACCT Conference held in Red Rocks, Nevada. In total, 17 Bonsai employees were able to attend the conference.
I’ve spoken with some attendees, read the written responses of others, and thought I’d try my hand at providing a brief synopsis of the conference to open up issue #2.
Overall, it seems as if it was a really positive opportunity for all folks involved, as well as Bonsai as a whole. With such a strong presence, we were able to really represent our strength as a leading member of a growing industry. We’re all aware of the burgeoning network of regulations and standards being applied to the industry every year, and this conference provided a good chance for attendees to really absorb a ton of information. With constant networking opportunities, a wide range of workshops, and even a Builder’s Olympics, there was barely enough time, if that, to soak it all in.
As far as the workshops went, it seems as if some of them were exploding with rich and valuable information, covering a range of topics from tree biology to new OSHA standards for crane operation. Some workshops, on the other hand, showed us just how ahead we are of the field, being a bit too familiar to provide excited engagement. Two of our own, Patrick Ferebee andOliver McCloud, were responsible for two presentations. Nice job fellas! Also exciting, we had seven Bonsai staff members participate in the ACCT Inspector Certification Exam (ICE). We’ll be getting test results any time around publication, so cross your fingers and lets hope we have a bunch of certified inspectors in the fold.
It seems there was just a touch of nightlife involved, though for the most part all parties were too engaged in the conference to spend much time in the city of Vegas. Following the conference, a lot of the gang headed out to Red Rocks Canyon, just a few miles outside of the city. A blast of fresh air, some chilly sandstone views, and a handful of rock climbs served as a finale to a generally wonderful long weekend.
Cheers!John Nixon
Editor’s Letter
Contents
ACCT Conference& Photo Gallery
Social Network Feed
Bonsai Birthdays
Field Notes
Built With Harmony,Precision,& Balance
Issue #2 March, 2013
Courtesy of Patrick Ferebee: Taking a break from R and D, Estes takes an opportunity to soak up some R and R atop some comfy
sandstone in Red Rocks Canyon...
Photo of the Month
Todd C.’s excellent shot of a mini-Vegas skyline...
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ACCT Conference
ACCT Conference 2013 Las Vegas Nevada
Hello All out there in Bonsai land!
I would like to share some of my experiences and photos from this year’s ACCT Conference. There were 17 Bonsai employees in attendance including most of our Headquarters staff, Operations and Training Department, and a handful of our Design and Installation team members. This year’s conference included the opportunity for seven of our fellow employees to sit for the Inspector’s Certification Test developed by the ACCT. We also had members from our Operations and Training Department presenting proudly to our professional peers.
This year’s ACCT Conference hosted over 100 Workshops by professionals in our industry, including:
ӹ The New ASTM Aerial Adventure Course Standards ӹ Tree Structural Adaptation: An Introduction to Visual Tree Assessment ӹ Design, Performance and Inspection Standards Explained ӹ Blood in my Canopy: PPE for the Canopy Tour Guide
Just to name a few.
Some of the exhibitors that set up booths to show off their goods and services included:
ӹ Sterling Rope Co., Inc. ӹ Tuftug Products ӹ Sherrilltree ӹ Misty Mountain Threadworks ӹ Deus Rescue ӹ Frenchcreek Production, Inc. ӹ Bonsai Design Inc.
A 320’ butterfly coil in 42 seconds! Go Oliver...
BDI sets the pace in the threaded rod competition during the Builder
Olympics...
Haydn gets spliced...
Nick Earley splicing the competition...
This was an awesome experience that I cannot thank Bonsai enough for increasing my exposure and experience to the world of the Association for Challenge Course Technologies.
A few pictures from this year’s conference…
The BDI booth in all its glory... I think there’s a consensus that we could up our game in
presentation materials... Adam looks good though...
The Aerial Trekking Bike looks pretty fun...
A “Superman Style” body harness, a good way to fly through the sky...
ӹ Estes Shell
Issue #2 - March, 2013
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Photo Gallery
A Powerfan Autobelay...
A sweet Tree Sonography Kit....
A Garnier Limb
Shiver me timbers, nice Line Gun...
Issue #2 - March, 2013
A few nice photos for all you gear-heads out in Bonsai
land.....
And a few b e aut i f u l
landscapes from the wonderland of Red Rocks Canyon. What a picture it paints just a few miles from the Vegas strip.
Pictured below: 3 nice shots of the Red Rocks Resort, host of the
Conference
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Is that the safety meeting?
You know it. He decided to sing it. Do not quite remember what I was thinking - but it was funny nonetheless!
Singing about bloodborne pathogens... noice!
You down with BBP? Ya you know me!
It kept everyone laughing for sometime, that’s for sure!!
Ehr me gherd. There er ser merny aereswerm peeps at this plerce! Cracking up over here...
Becky Shell:
JonaBeth Russell:
Becky Shell:
Josh Pozner:
JonaBeth Russell:
Becky Shell: Laughter begets laughter begat from song: Beth Russell watches Josh “Juice Box” Pozner sing about bloodborne pathogens to bring a bit of
fun to the Weekly Safety Meeting at BSA.
Social Network Feed
Issue #2 - March, 2013
Bonsai is happy to encourage the celebration of the following March birthdays:
ӹ Nick Earley: 3/14 ӹ Patrick Ferebee: 3/17 ӹ Rachel Agnew: 3/21 ӹ Daniel Mears: 3/28
Bonsai Birthdays
Photo Gallery cont.
Red Rocks rocks for rock climbing...
Mark Craven on a line...
Haydn on a cool angled ledge...
Todd Claussen chooses his adventure...
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Adventure Valley Update
Winter is Marching on in the Ol’ West by God Virginia, with the Adventure Valley Challenge Course build forging ahead. The crew has been working diligently through the snow, rain
and mud. So far, all the major work on our first curriculum course is done, and we are steaming away on the second.
Our crew continues to change as we said goodbye to Jason last week as he heads out to Wrightwood to help with the new course being created out there. Thanks for all the hard work! Also leaving us soon for a short stint at the RGR cable replacement is Chris “watch yourself ” Kops, who has dialed in the block-making process to a fine art.
Big thanks:
Field Notes
ӹ Nick Earley
Issue #2 - March, 2013
Nick Earley, scoping out a climbing line at Red Rocks...
The BSA crew, as photographed on Feb. 6, 2013...
ӹ Jonathan and Stevie C for their work on the Green Course wooden platforms. That leaner was a tricky one!
ӹ Beth for all the help on the cargo nets and stepping in with the logistics to make sure we all have food to eat.
ӹ Steve O for harvesting all those trees. Enjoy the rigging while it lasts!
ӹ Jeremiah and Kyle for those nice looking bridges, ready for 2 more?
ӹ Staum and Daniel for the masterful en-try decks.
ӹ Josh for always having a good attitude. ӹ Jeremy for charging right back into the
fold, and working like a monkey on Red Bull!
BSA - Adventure Valley - Orange Course...
BSA - Adventure Valley - Orange Course...
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Field Notes
R&D
Life at HQ can be a bit on the tame side most days. On others, Thaddeus’ eyes light up, a piece of scratch paper comes out, and the R&D begins.
Wait. Wait. Did I just see that? Was he praying or just smacking his protective gear to make sure that it’s all in place? All of the cameras are ready. ZipSTOP brake is retracted. Nothing beats watching your boss testing a failsafe.
Recently, Haydn (who goes by the rapper name No-E) and I had the distinct privilege of retrofitting the Buffalo Ranch test zip to be a 3/4” 6x26 Swage Compacted “Big Zip.” It was a fun 3+ day project of taking down the 1/2” line and he-man pulling a wire rope 410’. We got it rigged, Thadd tweaked the Trampoline Ramp and we got ready to test.
The idea is simple; take the prototype and do everything conceivable to make sure it works the way it should. We started small. I pushed Thadd into the ramp in various ways to see what would happen. Then we got a little crazier. With a small pull cord and friction brake, Thadd launched himself down the line. He hit the ramp at a whopping 18mph. The ramp worked. We increased the speed and made a few more runs. The final run sent the “crash test dummy” on a wild ride up the ramp and into the failsafe net just as predicted. Thadd was no worse for wear though the Hans Device neck protector (used by motocross and crazy downhill mountain bikers) was a little banged up.
Onto other points of the R&D zone, well, research zone. Bonsai has started to move into more exotic or specialty wire ropes. Currently being milled (the manufacture process of wire rope) for the zip line formerly known as ZipZilla is a 3/4” 6x26 EIPS IWRC Swage Compacted, Drawn Galavanized wire rope. Swage compacting means that they take a larger wire rope (this time a 7/8”) and put it through a rolling swager mill that squeezes it down to a 3/4” diam. Why you ask? The smaller rope has a better profile (less peaks same valley) and you get the strength of a 7/8” wire rope. This allows us to use the same trolley system for both Big Zip Rides (BZR) at BSA and gives us the Working Load Limit we need to make the 3100 feet on ZipZilla.
When we get looking at longer spans than that we need to get craftier. There are so many different compositions of wire rope, each one with its pluses and minuses. Some of the suggestions for long spans include double-compacted wire rope (hammer compact it then swage compact it), or use a 35x7 rotation resistant rope. 35x7 means 35 strands of 7 wires and the IWRC is laid the opposite way. 6x26 as we all know is 6 strands of 26 wires. The 35x7 makes a smooth profile that is very round looking (smaller peaks and valleys). This has a remarkable breaking strength and a great profile. Some of the difficulties with both ropes are that they do not bend as well as a standard 6x26 and cannot take a thimble. Oh, and did I mention that they are a bit heavy? Haydn and I both learned first hand.
ӹ john turman
Issue #2 - March, 2013
