Tag: skill acquisition

Over the edge: an interview with a city abseiler. Part 2

Linda

Last week, in Part 1 of our look at Te Whanganui-a-Tara’s abseilers, we talked to  Anaru Kerei and Beth Dugdale of Wellington Abseiling Maintenance (WAM) about their business.

This week we profile a former employee, Enzo Fantone, whose passion for climbing led him to undertake an abseiling course prior to finding work with WAM.

Photo courtesy of Enzo Fantone

Enzo Fantone loves to climb.  The 23 year old Frenchman came to Aotearoa on a working visa at the beginning of 2023.  He was picking fruit in Central Otago when a casual offer to go climbing introduced him to a sport that immediately hooked him.

“I’ve always been attracted to outdoor activities.  What I like about climbing is, first, the social abilities you develop.  Climbing is just the moment where you take time to understand the other.  It’s also really important because you have life between your hands so you have to be clear. You have to be 100 percent transparent in the way you talk and the way you understand the other.

“Then there is this body awareness that I really like too.  It’s a nice sport because its slow.  You don’t have to go fast.  It’s about one move after the other.  It’s a type of meditation when I go on the wall.

“It’s like playing chess on the rock.  And you’ve got four different points, and you place them in a different way.  And I think I really like this fact that you don’t have to rush.  You’ve got all the time you want and it’s just you, the rock and the person belaying you.”

On a climb one day Enzo “met this guy and he was like, in full gear, and looking really professional.  I started talking to him and I asked him what he did for a living.  He told me he was abseiling and was based in Christchurch.  We just started talking and I was fascinated by how much knowledge he had on climbing, through abseiling.”

“I was like “Oh, I want to get better at that”.  I want to get better at climbing and I want to explore also the rope access.  And also, getting paid for that is even better.”

When the fruit picking finished Enzo made his way north to Wellington, working hospitality jobs along the way, but still with a thought of how he could turn his passion for climbing into outdoor work.

Exploring Wellington’s CBD, he spotted a sign with an abseiler. Feeling he had nothing to lose by making enquiries about possible work opportunities, Enzo was fortunate to have the door answered by Anaru Kerei, owner of Wellington Abseiling Maintenance (WAM).

Image provided courtesy of WAM

Enzo explains, “Here in New Zealand you have IRATA.  It’s like a course that is possible to do everywhere in the world.  With IRATA you can work everywhere in the world.  When Anaru told me that I was like “Alright, I’m going to look for that”.  He told me about this course place that is based in Plimmerton – TARA”.

“They were offering a course that was costing $2400, so that’s a pretty big amount.  I really wanted to invest that type of money to try changing my way of living.  I’ve been travelling for five years and stopped studying at 18.  I’ve got hospitality experience so it was my gateway to the world, to earn money.  But it was also a place where I got a little bit stuck because it’s like the only big knowledge that I got.  So everywhere in the world where I was travelling, my source of revenue was hospitality.  I didn’t feel like I wanted to keep going in this way.  I realised I didn’t want to live this life forever”.

Enrolling in TARA’s Level 1 Rope Access Technician course Enzo learned “… how to be safe on a rope, how to go up, how to go down.  You learn [about] the specificity of the forces, all the angles you can do with your rope.  What’s bad for the ropes, what’s good for them.  Just a big aspect of being at heights and safe.”  After completing the week long course, Enzo returned to WAM.

“The first day I met Anaru I asked, “Are you searching for workers?” and he was like “Yeah, we’re a bit short of workers at the moment” (with two workers overseas on extended stays).

“So I think I was kind of a replacement for WAM.  A little bit shortened time.  So I ask him “If I did the course would you employ me after that?”  And he was like “Yeah, if you do the course I will definitely employ you and we will talk about it”.  I was quite happy when he told me that.  So I did the course at the beginning of August, finished on the 11th and began with WAM on the 14th”.

 WCL: Is this stage one of an ongoing qualification?

Enzo: It is. IRATA have a system of three different levels.  You’ve got level one.  That’s like dipping your toes.  Then if you want to pass your level two, you need to have a year of work in rope access, plus one thousand hours.

 WCL: So it’s like an apprenticeship?

Enzo: Yes, it’s definitely like that.  From what I know about Level 2 it’s like knowing a bit more about how to rescue people.  The more you go higher, the more you go on level 2, level 3, the more knowledge you will have for rescuing people in different cases.

 WCL: Are you going to go for your thousand hours?

Enzo: Oh yeah.

 WCL: You won’t be doing all that in your time here, so is the work you are doing now laying a base for when you return to France?

Enzo: I’ve got a plan when I go back to France, in May.  I’m going to work taking care of the trekking path where I live, in the French Alps.  They need an abseiler.  Basically what we’re going to do is like rigging from trees and taking care of the path, making sure that everything is safe in the mountain area.  I’m happy to discover this part of abseiling because it’s in nature.  It’s like different step.

When I started abseiling I was like “Oh wow! You can do a job that you like and it’s outdoors.  That’s cool!”  The next one is to do a job that I like, that’s in nature.  So it’s getting closer to climbing.  And yeah, I’m definitely going to go deeper into abseiling.

 WCL: Is this volunteer work or a paid position?

Enzo: It’s a paid position.  It’s like communal work.  And I think we’re working four days a week and it’s a team of ten people.  It goes from May through to September-October.

 WCL: Then what happens in the off season?  Would you travel or look at working a contract in another country?

Enzo: My plan as far as I can see, is to do this next summer in France.  Then I would like to do some more diverse work in abseiling.  And try to catch some good contracts.  I would like to travel a bit more with this work.  It is definitely an easy way to make money and travel and do something I like.

I also realise that, with the people I met lately in Wellington, how good it is to be invested in ecology. I would like to, later, keep doing abseiling but being more meaningful to the planet.  And do also work that I like, but also with value, with a meaning behind it.  Not just doing a job for earning money but being fulfilled in a way of being like “Oh, that was a nice day, I was outside.  I did physical exercise”

 WCL: Are you required to renew your qualifications every couple of years or will you need to do refresher courses?

Enzo: From what I remember, every three years if you don’t pass any new level, you need to do a refresh.  Because rules are changing quite often.  So yeah, every three years, if you didn’t upgrade your level of IRATA you need to do a refresh.  But if you do a course in between that, I think it’s all good.

Enzo a work above the Wellington CBD. Photo courtesy of WAM

WCL: What’s the tallest building you’ve been up?

Enzo: I would say the tallest building is 16 floors.  You do three metres per floor so it would be 50 metres.

WCL: What’s it like?  Tell me, as someone who doesn’t have a head for heights

Enzo: Actually when I go on high buildings like this I am always a bit scared.

WCL: But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

Enzo: Yeah definitely.  I think it’s always scary when you arrive at a new building and it’s also scary to be trusting in the equipment.  People tell you “This is working, this is going to save your life” but in a human perspective you’re like, “You tell me this is going to save my life but I didn’t see that it can save my life”.

“You’ve got always this adrenaline coming through your body when you go to the edge and you go “That’s pretty high” 

Going to the edge is like, not always the hardest part, but the thing that you need to improve because sometime you go to the edge with a bucket of paint or a bucket of water and soap so you need to make it clean.  At the same time it’s like the scariest moment of your day.

Yeah, it is always scary to go for the first time of the day through the other side but it’s a nice feeling.  I like it.

Going over the edge. Photo courtesy of Enzo Fantone

WCL: What do you like about working for WAM?

Enzo: It is just like a great, small business.  A family business.  And Anaru is just an amazing human.  He understands everyone in the business.  He made it a place where everyone feel good.  It’s like a second home.  It’s just great.  I think he did a really nice picking of employees in the business.  He’s got a really good team.  Everyday at work is always different and always good.  There’s younger people and older people, it’s a good range between 19 and 35.  So everyone is understanding of each other, because everyone is always in a happy vibe.  Everyone is carrying each other.

It’s also great because most of the time we work in teams of two.  So it’s really nice if you want to start knowing someone.  One day you are on a job with someone and the next day you are on another job with another person. It’s nice to get to know each one of them through the days and through the weeks.

Also Beth is working with Anaru and she’s like really, really calm and peaceful and bringing something really nice to WAM.

There are two women working there – Beth and Lynette.  I really like what they bring to WAM.

WCL: Do you think abseiling is perceived as a male occupation? 

Enzo: I think women don’t see it particularly as a career choice but at the same time I understand that in this world, this tradie world, [it] is really masculine.  Sometimes it can be hard for a woman to say alright “I’m going to step into this world and make it happen for me”.  [Of his colleague, Lynette] “I think it’s good that she got the courage to start in abseiling. She impress me so much”.

WCL:  It also means WAM have given her that environment in which to develop and that says a lot about them and their culture.

Enzo: I would say that WAM is really open minded.  And they give a chance to people.  And everyone is so natural.  You don’t have that hard culture of tradie.  It’s just a good place where everyone feels good and talks about everything.  Like when you arrive in the morning, there’s always small talk and it’s like a family.  It’s really great like that.

WCL: Would you recommend this as a job to a someone else who might be wondering if this is the right thing for them?

Enzo: I think so, yeah.

I think this is a shortcut to a really nice job for people [like me] who left school early and don’t know what they want to do.  I think abseiling is really nice because it’s so diverse.  There are so many different jobs through abseiling and yeah, it’s just great… The more I’m going to travel, the more I’m going to spread this thing of “Oh, you don’t know what to do?  You can do this.  It’s great”

“Always since I started climbing I try to involve as much people into climbing.  I’m going to do the same with abseiling.  Definitely”.

A hard day in the office. Photo courtesy of Enzo Fantone

WCL would like to thank Enzo for his input into this blog piece along with the contribution of images.

For some library resources on climbing, see our list below.


Gripped: the climbing magazine (Available via the online platform Libby)
Gripped offers the international world of climbing through the highest quality journalism and incredible pictures

 

 

 

Vertical life (Available via the online platform Libby)
Vertical life is a climbing magazine in Australasia.  At Vertical life we love climbing, be it beanied bouldering, clip up sport climbing, old school daddy tradding, big-wall suffering, alpine extremism, spandex clad competition climbing, desperate times call for desperate measures buildering, the lot – if it involves monkey business we will cover it

 

 

 

Climbing : from gym to crag : building skills for real rock / Lewis, S. Peter
“This work aims to help indoor climbers safely make the transition from a controlled climbing environment, which requires few technical skills and presents no objective dangers, to the outdoor environment, where the risks and rewards require a well-honed set of basic skills and awareness.” (Catalogue)

 

Climbing : training for peak performance / Soles, Clyde
“*Climbing exercises to build strength, endurance, flexibility, and aerobic fitness
*Up-to-date nutritional information to power your climbing training
*Climbing fitness tips that prepares you both mentally and physically
Climbers at all levels benefit from working to build core strength, opening the door to higher levels of achievement. This important edition in the Mountaineers Outdoor Expert series covers everything you need to improve your climbing fitness in ways that takes your performance to the next level. There is even instruction on yoga, Pilates, and herbal supplements, as well as a section on core training. Climbing: Training for Peak Performance also contains information about rehabilitation after an injury, plus several new training programs.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Climbing manual : the essential guide to rock climbing / Shepherd, Nigel
“The Haynes Climbing Manual is a thoroughly modern introduction to this growing adventure sport, written by an experienced mountain guide, photographer and author. From getting started with equipment, clothing, fitness and basic skills through to advanced techniques and coping with tricky situations, this manual is packed with ……” (Catalogue)

 

The complete book of knots & ropework / Fry, Eric C.
“This guide demonstrates, step-by-step, how to tie 95 knots, hitches, plaits, bends, rope and wire splices, sennits and decorative ropework mats that should be useful to yachtsman and other outdoor sports enthusiasts. The nature of the rope and the lay are explained and uses suggested for each knot.” (Catalogue)

 

 

The science of climbing training : an evidence-based guide to improving your climbing performance / Consuegra, Sergio
“In The Science of Climbing Training, top Spanish climbing coach Sergio Consuegra provides an evidence-based approach to training for climbing. It is designed to help us improve climbing performance, whether we’re taking the next step in our training as we work towards our project, or if we’re a coach looking to optimise our athletes’ training”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

 

If you need more information please contact the Prosearch team at the library.  We can help you find information across a range of perspectives and resources.  All enquiries are treated in confidence.

Catching flies with chopsticks (or Acquiring mastery)

Linda

“Man who catch fly with chopstick, accomplish anything.“
Mr Miyagi in The Karate Kid

via GIPHY

We all know someone who appears to have effortless mastery of a skill or talent. It may be the friend who plays the piano beautifully, the colleague who is an accomplished baker, or the old schoolmate who achieved national sporting success.

While environment and natural talent may play some part, an even larger part is not natural but the result of hours of training and practice.  As The Karate Kid‘s Mr Miyagi would assert, “Practice makes perfect”.   Sensei Miyagi however also had a role imparting his years of acquired knowledge to his young protege.  Mastery extends not just to the process of studying and practicing but also the the methods of teaching.

In his new book The real work: on the mystery of mastery, author Adam Gopnik notes masters of a skill are, for the most part, everyday people “… who are, often for the most eccentric of reasons or with the most improbably eccentric practices and teaching methods, able to impart something of what they know”.

The ability to learn or master a skill is important in the workplace, but so too is the ability to impart knowledge to others.

In the process of researching his book, Gopnik studied magicians, undertook art lessons, learned to drive, informally apprenticed himself to his mother in order to learn to bake bread, sought instruction from a Muay Thai boxer (despite professed lack of sporting prowess), and took up ballroom dancing with his daughter.  Throughout all this, Gopnik examines the process by which we learn, master, and teach  new skills.

Even though we may not think of ourselves as masters of a skill set or task, years of practice mean that for many in our workplaces, we know much more than we think we do.

The real work : on the mystery of mastery / Gopnik, Adam
“In The Real Work-the term magicians use for the accumulated craft that makes for a great trick-Gopnik becomes a dedicated student of several masters of their craft: a classical painter, a boxer, a dancing instructor, a driving instructor, and others. Rejecting self-help bromides and bullet points, he nevertheless shows that the top people in any field share a set of common qualities and methods. For one, their mastery is always a process of breaking down and building up-of identifying and perfecting the small constituent parts of a skill and the combining them for an overall effect greater than the sum of those parts. For another, mastery almost always involves intentional imperfection-as in music, where vibrato, a way of not quite landing on the right note, carries maximum expressiveness. Gopnik’s simplest and most invigorating lesson, however, is that we are surrounded by mastery. Far from rare, mastery is commonplace, if we only know where to look: from the parent who can whip up a professional strudel to the social worker who-in one of the most personally revealing passages Gopnik has ever written-helps him master his own demons. Spirited and profound, The Real Work will help you understand how mastery can happen in your own life-and, significantly, why each of us relentlessly seeks to better ourselves in the first place”–Publisher’s description.” (Catalogue)

You can hear Gopnik’s RNZ interview Why mastery is better than being a master here and watch his Youtube The Real Work – How We Learn & Master New Skills

 

Want to learn more?  Try these titles from Wellington City Libraries collections.

Range : why generalists triumph in a specialized world / Epstein, David J.
“What’s the most effective path to success in any domain? It’s not what you think. Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule. David Epstein examined the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields–especially those that are complex and unpredictable–generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They’re also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see. Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, [this book] makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. Failing a test is the best way to learn. Frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. The most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.”–Dust jacket.” (Catalogue)
Also available in EAudiobook Overdrive format and EBook Overdrive

Peak : secrets from the new science of expertise / Ericsson, K. Anders
“Almost all of us have the seeds of excellence within us– it’s just a question of nurturing them by reducing expertise to a discrete series of attainable practices. Ericsson and Pool introduce an incredibly powerful approach to learning that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring a skill, and offer invaluable, often counterintuitive, advice on setting goals, getting feedback, identifying patterns, and motivating yourself.” (Catalogue)

 

Micromastery : learn small, learn fast, and find the hidden path to happiness / Twigger, Robert
“We read that we must be passionate about only one thing, that 10,000 hours of hard practice is needed to achieve mastery. But in fact most successful people, including Nobel prize winners, nurture multiple areas of knowledge and activity that feed their central subject. Whether it’s making a perfect souffle, dancing a tango or lighting a fire, when we take the time to cultivate small and quantifiable areas of expertise, we change everything. We become faster and more fearless learners, spot more creative opportunities, improve our brain health and boost our happiness. We see knowledge itself completely differently. The skills acquired in painting a door flawlessly or growing delicious chillies will unexpectedly transform your life. So start small. Start specific. But start – and you’ll be on the path to mastery.” (Catalogue)

Mastery / Greene, Robert
“The #1 New York Times-bestseller from the author of The 48 Laws of Power Each one of us has within us the potential to be a Master. Learn the secrets of the field you have chosen, submit to a rigorous apprenticeship, absorb the hidden knowledge possessed by those with years of experience, surge past competitors to surpass them in brilliance, and explode established patterns from within. Study the behaviors of Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci and the nine contemporary Masters interviewed for this book. The bestseller author of The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, and The 33 Strategies of War, Robert Greene has spent a lifetime studying the laws of power. Now, he shares the secret path to greatness. With this seminal text as a guide, readers will learn how to unlock the passion within and become masters.” (Catalogue) Available in EAudiobook Libby format only

Interviews with the masters : a companion to Robert Greene’s mastery / Greene, Robert
“A companion to Robert Greene’s Mastery. More than 20,000 hours of research and thought went into Mastery. In a departure from his previous works, Robert Greene interviewed nine contemporary masters, including tech guru Paul Graham, animal rights advocate Temple Grandin, and boxing trainer Freddie Roach, to get their perspective on their paths to greatness. Those interviews are now available to readers for the first time. Interviews with the Masters presents more than 700 pages of revealing insight directly from these contemporary Masters; from how they learn and think, to how they put it all together and create. ” (Adapted from Catalogue). EBook Libby format only

If you need more information please contact the Prosearch team at the library.  We can help you find information across a range of perspectives and resources.  All enquiries are treated in confidence.