Description
Michael R. Smith is an industry-leading adventure tour operator and business consultant with more than 28 years of experience designing, developing, and operating zip line canopy tours, aerial adventure parks, and traditional challenge course programs. Smith serves as the managing partner of ArborTrek Canopy Adventures (https://arbortrek.com), an award-winning zip line canopy tour and aerial adventure park operator based in northern Vermont, and President of AdventureSmith, Inc. (https://adventuresmithinc.com), a niche consultancy offering risk management consulting, staff training and development services, technical inspections, adventure program audits, and business development services to zip line and adventure tour operators. Smith holds degrees in Wilderness Leadership from Prescott College (1998) and a Masters in Training and Development from Oakland University (2004). He has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies as a business consultant, authored and published climbing guides, worked as a field instructor for the Outward Bound School, and is regularly retained as a zip line and adventure park expert witness. Smith served as a Board of Director Member for the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) from February 2014 to February 2017 and currently serves as a member of the ACCT Accreditation and Certification Committee. He is a participating member of the ASTM F24.61 sub-committee, which oversees the development and maintenance of ASTM F2959 Standard Practice for Special Requirements for Aerial Adventure Courses. He is certified as an ACCT Level II Inspector, NAARSO Level II Inspector, ACCT Approved Operation Reviewer, and Ontario TSSA Zip Line Mechanic. While Smith's work conducting inspections, training staff, and consulting have taken him to almost every U.S. state and abroad, he has been retained to investigate accidents and opine on matters in Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
