Geico’s popular commercial released at the beginning of the new year featuring Maxwell The Pig in his newest adventure was filmed RIGHT HERE at Navitat Canopy Adventures Wrightwood, CA. We had a fantastic time working with the production crew to help them produce this hilarious commercial advertising Geico’s new mobile app. Take a gander at the commercial below and let us know what you think! Does this make you want to go ziplining at Navitat? We’re sure you will also feel a surge of “pure. adrenaline.”
Is Maxwell the world’s coolest pig? Yes, we do believe so…
Here are some photos of the production crew and the Navitat staff working together to make this commercial happen:
A Local Wrightwood Boy Scout Troop visited Navitat recently to explore the property and learn about the environment from Navitat Wrightwood’s Interpretive Programming Leader, Sean Hennessy, (yellow helmet) to complete their Science Badge. Sean talked to the eager listeners about all things science related; from the specific tree and plant species on site, to the earthquake fault line that runs through the property,to edible plants, to of course, the most interesting topic for 10-12 year old boys… SNAKES! Sean told us later that these boys already had some great knowledge about the local environment and asked intelligent questions that rivaled questions we get from our adult guests! Awesome!
The scouts were also interested in learning about Navitat’s approach to sustainability. They examined the construction of the course platforms made from cor-ten steel and the growth blocks separating the zip line cables from the trees, which ensure that the trees are able to continue to grow and stay healthy. They took note of the carefully constructed trails and the intentional reuse of wood throughout the course.
All in all, everyone had a great time and the boys can’t wait until they weigh 90 lbs and can come back and view the environment from the tops of the trees on our canopy tour!
There’s just a few days left to zip before the 2011 season ends on November 30! Book your tour now!
a winter wonderland…in november
Snow in Southern California in November? That’s right folks, and only an hour from Los Angeles at that. Navitat Wrightwood had it’s first round of snow zipping guests during the first weekend of November this year. The verdict?? They LOVED it! There’s simply nothing more beautiful than an expansive evergreen forest covered in soft, delightful, gorgeous white SNOW!
With only a little more than a week left in our 2011 season, there’s still a chance for some more guests to get in on this snow zipping action! Here are some tips for the would-be snow adventurists!
Dress WARM.. Just as if you were going skiing/snowboarding, you will be exposed to the elements and as we all know, with mother nature, you can never be too prepared. We recommend layers and thin gloves to wear under your zipline gloves. (provided by us) If the snow is going to be coming down while you zip, don’t even hesitate to wear goggles! You may look funny but it will be worth it!
Take in Your Surroundings… Sometimes the adventure itself is so exciting, people forget to take the time to really slow down and take in their surroundings. This is one of the few mountain ranges where you can see Snow Capped Peaks at the same time as you’re looking out to the Mojave Desert. Wrightwood is considered “alpine high desert” and it’s truly a unique and special place. The San Gabriels are considered the 7th most “rugged mountains in the world.” You will be flying right above this rugged land.
Have a Blast.. Yes, at times it may be a little cold, and at times you may have to wait your turn, but we guarantee that this will be an exciting adventure that you won’t soon forget. This adventure is not for the feint of heart so be proud of yourself for doing something so out of the ordinary and Enjoy Every Second!!!
We will close for the season November 30th. Don’t forget our weekday special! Enter the code NOVFUN @ checkout to receive $10 off your weekday tour. Book Online Here.
Ken Stamps, Navitat’s CEO, Does an NBC NEWS Radio Interview about Entrepreneurship!
Navitat is still a young company with the Asheville, NC location in its second operating season, and the Wrightwood, CA location in its first operating season. Despite its newness, Navitat has done extremely well as a business thus far, taking over 40,000 people safely through the Navitat courses. It has been featured in countless local news outlets and several national news outlets including USA TODAY, CNN Headline News, and The New York Times to name a few.
Several folks are interested in Navitat from a business stand point and we often get asked, “how did Navitat become so successful so quick?”
Navitat CEO, Ken Stamps, is the best person to answer this question. Ken was recently invited to interview on an NBC Southern California News Talk radio station that focuses on “Mastering the Art of Entrepreneurship”, BizNinja Radio.
Listen to Ken’s interesting and informative interview about how Navitat became a successful business so quickly.
You can listen to episode 35 on the Bizninja website here.
Ken Stamps has over 30 years of experience as a leader, manager, and entrepreneur. Ken brought his expertise to the table and along with the other Navitat partners developed a core vision for Navitat: To provide a variety of thrilling, educational, inspiring, and immersive tree-based nature experiences for guests from a broad range of ages and socio-economic backgrounds.
Navitat’s market strategy is to create a strong brand that is founded upon 5 key strengths.
• Spectacular and Diverse Sites Throughout the United States
• Highly Creative, Innovative, and Diverse Design & Programming
• Engaging and Genuine Educational Experience
• Highest Caliber Staff
• State-of-the-Art Safety Systems
The Navitat brand is supported by an organizational structure focused upon delivering operational, marketing, and financial management excellence.
Navitat Canopy Adventures and Bonsai Design Inc work together to “push the limits” of the canopy tour industry.
It would be safe to say that “innovation is our middle name” here at Navitat. We, together with our sister company and course designer/builder, Bonsai Design Inc, are always looking for new and exciting ways to add on to our already STELLAR canopy tour experience! (we think ) We look to add elements that will enhance the entire tour while of course staying true to our company mission with safety being a priority.
Our newest course element at Navitat Wrightwood is called the True Blue Auto Belay Device. There are 3 rappelling experiences on our course, (where one must lower themselves from the trees by descending on ropes) the last of which is the final course element aside from the hike out. As of this past weekend, on the third rappel, instead of rappelling via the Deus Device that is used for the first 2 rappels, our guests can choose to leap off the last platform while attached to the True Blue Auto Belay. This allows for almost a 10 foot free fall before the device catches you and lowers you slowly to the ground. It’s a perfect way to end the tour as by this time, guests have learned to trust the equipment and can truly enjoy this awesome new element.
Since our canopy tour lasts 3.5-4 hours, it is necessary for us to have 2 water stations along the way to make sure our guests stay hydrated. Although hydration is GREAT, it does mean that we have to provide cups to drink out of. We needed a solution for minimizing environmental impact and decided that using 100% Compostable Cups made from Corn would help. However, even though the cups are biodegradable, we realized to truly minimize our impact, we needed to be composting them as well. It didn’t take long for us to find a local farmer to gladly accept our corn cups for composting. Moonstruck Farms, in nearby Phelan, CA, provides the community with all kinds of great local farm fresh food! They were thrilled to use our corn cups for Composting and we were thrilled to have a place to take them!!!!
We pride ourselves on being ENTIRELY tree-based and are proud to win this award! We absolutely LOVE the towering, sweet smelling, Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pines, the citrus tasting White Firs, the magnificent Sugar Pines with their loooong pinecones, the wise looking Cedars, and the color changing, deciduous, lower elevation Oaks and Maples that all make up our property. Who wouldn’t want to swing among all these beauties??
And fast you will go! on our zip lines you can reach speeds up to 55 mph all while traversing from one tall tree to another! We absolutely are thrilled to accept this honor as well.
I stay busy with: Managing daily operations of the Wrightwood site, which can include anything from general course maintenance, to maintaining relationships within our tight-knit community, to training canopy guides on the course, to making sure our fleet of Mercedez-Benz Unimog’s are running strong, to insuring that our guests receive the premier canopy tour experience,….it’s all a day in the life!
I love my job because: I get the opportunity to work alongside some awesomely experienced outdoor professionals and be intimately involved with pushing the envelope of such an exciting industry. I thrive on the sporadic schedule that the responsibilities of my job may demand of me on any given day – I continue to choose this any day, over a job that might be the same routine every single day in a row. One minute I might be talking to guests in the welcome center about our interpretive program and the next I may be zipping through the course evaluating the guides and insuring the quality of our program is top notch. I find it much more satisfying and natural for me to be in a fast-paced environment where I’m often handed challenges that require creativity and being ‘quick on the toes’ to overcome.
I think that what makes Navitat different is: the level of thought and preparation that goes into just about everything we do! From the documentation and policies that directly affect our guest’s experience, to the level of detail in craftsmanship that our builder puts into constructing our courses, to the depth of knowledge that our guides facilitate the nature immersion experience from, to the type of equipment and emergency training we have, all the way to the simple fact that you will find our employees are a ‘team’ of people who are truly passionate about what we do! I think all of our guests can see that we are really excited to share our vision with them.
My favorite experience while working in this industry would have to be: the honor and responsibility of taking care of the public and insuring that best practice along with optimal safety measures are exercised. As an EMT, and the first responder for numerous life-threatening emergencies in the past, I’ve always acknowledged the extent of the potential risks involved with anything ‘outdoors’ and especially in the arena of our industry. It’s deeply fulfilling to be able to bring those skills and experiences to Navitat and share that level of commitment to customer service in the canopy tour environment. The type of training and learning opportunities I’m continually exposed to in this industry are both rewarding and humbling. The single most important risk management piece that I’ve learned along the way is to honestly assess your abilities and limitations so that you prevent an incident before you are forced to respond to an incident. “Know what you don’t know.”
My favorite element of the Navitat Wrightwood Course is: the level of sustained height through the course and the high exposure when traversing through Buford Canyon. The placement of the platforms being perched so high, offers our guests an elevated experience of flying like a hawk and perhaps a new “zoomed-out” perspective to better appreciate our immense 300 acre site! Growing up in southern California, I’ve always been a big fan of Red-tail Hawks. I was so excited when we learned that these impressive birds of prey live on our site and what an incredible educational opportunity that provided for wildlife viewing to our guests!
If you turned on my ipod right now, you would probably hear: Explosions in the Sky, Wilco, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Blitzen Trapper, Radiohead, and Mason Jennings.
Something most people don’t know about me is: I spent a year away from the canopy tour industry working in the hospital world as a Hyperbaric Tech facilitating pressurized oxygen therapy and advanced wound care for patients who suffered from diabetic wounds, pressure ulcers, and amputations, at the Northwest Medical Center in Tucson, AZ.
You never know what to expect with The Conan O’Brien show! They are infamous for coming up with creative and hilarious sketch ideas. So when Team Coco asked us if they could zip actors dressed as famous authors reading passages from their works, we couldn’t possibly say “no”! As usual, they succeeded in being funny and we had the BEST time taking them through our course!
It is of utmost importance to Navitat that we’re fully prepared for any and all incidents that could potentially occur on our course.
This Co-Ops Training took place at Navitat Wrightwood on August 17th, 18th, and 19th of the 2011 season. The personnel included the management team of Navitat Wrightwood and many of the surrounding FIRE/EMS agencies likely to respond in the event of an incident. Many different stations and staff shifts attended from LA County Fire, San Bernardino County Fire, and LA County Sheriff Search and Rescue. Specialists from SB Co. Technical Rescue Teams and LA Co. USAR teams gave constructive input and encouraging feedback to the existing practices of Navitat. Over 60 rescue professionals from these agencies were involved with the training over the 3 days. Here’s what they had to say after the debrief.
