Moran Plant: Response from Ice Factor to Petra Cliffs

Ice Factor Response to Mike Anderson’s Press Release

I’m frustrated, saddened and disappointed at the tone and content of Mike Anderson’s Press Release regarding the Moran Plant.

Given the content of our last communication, I am also surprised that he is now so apparently diametrically opposed to a project he gave his tacit support and approval to, a mere 3 months ago, when he wrote
“ .. Can you please make sure the necessary folks in City Hall know that I have nothing to give, and that as it stands today, I am not involved in this project. Perhaps the future will bring a new opportunity for me, if it does not then please know that I wish you total success here in Burlington. Cheers, Mike Anderson, M.Ed > > Owner, The Petra Cliffs Group”

This communiqué makes it clear that we parted on the best of terms. Mike from Petra Cliffs and Chris Bacon owner of Northern Lights LLC opted to develop a rope course project at the Inn at Essex, rather than the major project at the Moran Plant. My business partner and friend, Phil McCully and I, not only supported their decision making, but we were absolutely fulcrum to negotiating the deal at Essex for the site they are now building.

There are a number of erroneous points made in Mike’s press release, chiefly:

Basis of Partnership

At my first meeting with Mike, I explained that as a fellow climbing business owner, I would as a matter of courtesy expect to be informed if a new business was considering opening on my doorstep. During that discussion I highlighted our plans:

• World class rock climbing facilities – free-form rock climbing walls (making use of the superb height) in the Moran Plant, top out boulders, via-ferrata courses, beginner’s areas, kid’s club sections, ‘trad.’ lead routes, multi-pitch stances with approx 55 ropes.
• World class indoor ice climbing – water ice, neve (frozen snow), arêtes, gullies, chock-stone obstacles, overhangs, slabs, high level mountaineering ridges, multi-pitch stances and belay zones with approx 30 ropes.
• Café – featuring fresh food and coffee, snacks and soft drinks
• Restaurant – with great views over the lake
• Mountaineering Orientated Bar – museum items and old climbing equipment
• Indoor/Outdoor High Level Aerial Adrenaline Course – multiple elements on a fixed rail system to allow maximum age range participation
• Summer Camp and structured junior activity programmes.
• Showers, Changing areas and general ‘chill out zones’.
• Corporate Team Building & Development Programmes
• Outdoor Instruction/Guiding
• Festive Ice Rink, operating a Glycol Cooled, winter rink aimed at families.

Mike explained that he had limited resources and clearly a project of this size/magnitude would take a great deal of investment, something he would find difficult. My answer, was unequivocal – we have already raised the finance, we have Trey Pecor working with us and the support of TD Bank North et al– I did not want to get into a ‘street fight’, rather, I’d like him to consider being a partner. Ice Factor has built up a considerable asset base, worth nearly $9 million, which would provide the security for borrowing. In the absence of finance I would work to broker a deal based on the value of his business, and give him dollar equity for every stable dollar of turnover.

This was an extremely generous offer- Ice Factor would provide the expertise, the asset base, the finance, the marketing and he would have authority and board level approval in Burlington. My chief concern was that Mike would now be part of a team, rather than sole owner and could he make that transition? Mike explained that he was not really a climber and his focus is on corporate team work / rope course developments. We then discussed Mike running the corporate development side of the business, and getting the resources he needed to make that grow, whilst we appointed an expert to run the climbing operations.

Mike was copied in on every email, and my partner Phil would call on him on average once a week. Far from decisions being made in his absence, Mike found his time to be too pressing to be involved in the ‘leg work’ stages of making the Moran vision a reality.

Pricing
Mike is wholly erroneous with regards to the pricing. The pricing structures he intimates are taken out of context and are from the Northern Lights business plan.
Ice Factor pricing strategy is predicated on a premium price for a premium service, which in turn allows us to discount the facility to those less well off. For the record our proposed pricing structure for competent, regular climbers is

. Rock Walls Ice Walls Kids Club
Adults 15 25 n/a
Students 13 20 n/a
Junior 10 15 8.50

These prices correlate closely / favourably with any climbing gym in the US, including Petra Cliffs. We do propose to charge premium prices for private instruction and private guiding, but those prices will be dictated by providing world class staff and equipment.
My staff and I all climb to a high standard and have operated as guides, instructors and expedition leaders across the world, climbing in the worlds most demanding and famous locations. Thus, when someone hires an Ice Factor instructor, they will get the same level of input and professionalism on an indoor junior rock class as they would on the Alps, The Himalaya, Greenland, Norway, The Andes, the Rockies or a crag session at Bolton Quarry, Lake Willoughby or the Notch.

Staffing
Again, I feel Mike has been disingenuous with this point. I made it clear that we would happily decant all of his staff from Petra Cliffs to the new and enhanced facilities in the Moran. However, the bulk of Ice Factor instructors operate at a significantly higher level than those in a provincial gym, consequently, there would need to be a dedicated training and staff development plan put into place, the same as we operate in other facilities. The Ice Factor has an impeccable safety record, driven by our exemplary levels of staff competence and ongoing commitment to their development. As part of this staff development, I suggested I would bring over the Ice Factor Chief Instructor and Centre Manager for the initial stages of training the staff in Burlington. This would offer my existing staff an excellent career development opportunity and provide the staff in Burlington with world class levels of training and instruction, with the opportunity for them to visit Scotland and gain invaluable climbing/mountaineering experience. Cross fertilization of core competencies.

There is an issue in the US and Canada over guiding and instruction standards which have yet to be formally ratified across borders/states. This means there is some confusion. In Europe this process has been hammered out since 1865. There is a clear, unequivocal pathway –Climbing Wall Supervisor, Single Pitch Award, Mountain Leader Summer, Mountain Leader Winter, Mountaineering Instructor Award, Mountaineering Instructor Certificate – staff can then chose whether they wish to focus on guiding (where they take responsibility for the client and lead them – as is the case across most of the Alps) or Instruct, where the onus is the same, but is predicated on teaching and knowledge transfer.

Given the clarity of the UK/European model in comparison to any other standard in the world, I proposed to use this within the framework of the American Guides Association Standards. The outcome was the same – we would take keen climbers/instructors of any standard and if they were employed by Ice Factor, would constantly work to refine and
enhance their skill set through internal/external training, a very obvious basis for any world class facility.

Why Burlington?
The Ice Factor is un-ashamedly open for all. I do not ascribe to the inverted snobbery of ‘climbing gyms only for climbers’. We have some of the world’s top climbers at the Ice Factor, climbing along side a mum, dad and two kids, whilst grandma and grandpa look on from the comfort of a great cafe.

This makes for a fantastic atmosphere. The rationale for Burlington was simple; it is a simply beautiful city, within one of the most educated and passionate outdoor states, with a large collegiate population base visited by millions of visitors each year. It is a perfect location for Ice Factor. We have made the business very successful, by behaving in an honourable way, by building world class facilities supported by passionate and committed, highly qualified staff. That makes for a compelling argument and one that has proven superbly popular wherever the Ice Factor banner flies. I hope to loft our banner within the Moran Plant and would urge you to vote ‘YES’ at the forthcoming ballot.

Kind Regards
Jamie Smith
Managing Director
The Ice Factor
Ice..Rock..Snow…Air
– Pure Adventure
–
www.ice-factor.co.uk
Tel +44(0) 1855 831 100
Jamie@ice-factor.co.uk