Viristar, in collaboration with the Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA), led a webinar on outdoor safety for nature centers.  The session was attended by 56 participants from more than 20 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, representing organizations including Onondaga County Parks, Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, Stratford Ecological Center, Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, … Read more

Viristar is pleased to participate in the 2026 Outdoor Forum for South East Asian Schools (OFFSEAS), to be held April 25–26, 2026, at Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As part of its engagement, Viristar will deliver a pre-conference training, facilitate two workshop sessions and be represented in the exhibition hall, contributing to the … Read more

We’re pleased to introduce Samanta Chu, a member of the Accreditation Council for the Adventure Safety Accreditation. Samanta Chu, Director of Wilderness Medical Associates International – Brasil, brings decades of experience in outdoor, experiential and adventure programs. She teaches wilderness medicine internationally, has served as Technical Director with the São Paulo State Mountaineering Federation and … Read more

In September 2021, six-year-old Wongel Estifanos plunged to her death down a 33-meter vertical shaft carved into the solid rock of Iron Mountain, during a Colorado adventure park “Haunted Mine Drop” experience gone terribly wrong.

A jury recently awarded her family $205 million, finding the adventure park ride manufacturer and operator liable for her death.

Viristar delivered a three-hour workshop on the science of safety to the 2025 Mountain Adventure Skills Training cohort at College of the Rockies in Fernie, British Columbia. Viristar has provided a workshop as part of this course since 2021. The session, Adventure Tourism and the Science of Risk Management, was part of the program’s three-credit … Read more

We are proud to introduce Adventure Safety Accreditation Council member Lisette Gachanja. Lisette is an experiential trainer and adventure therapist with Urbanite Camps in Kenya. Lisette co-founded Urbanite Camps, which provides outdoor education programs for schools, corporate training and development, youth camps and adventure therapy.  She has also worked with corporate training, youth and adventure … Read more

Viristar recently joined OSAC, previously known as the Overseas Security Advisory Council, as an organizational member, to improve the safety and security of Viristar’s international operations, and to contribute resources and insights to the global security community. OSAC is a partnership between the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the private sector … Read more

Suzanne Rees had embarked on the adventure of a lifetime—a 60-night cruise circling around Australia aboard a cruise ship, where fares for the voyage can cost more than $80,000. But on a stop at Lizard Island, a remote island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the 80-year-old was left behind by the cruise ship. It was … Read more

Viristar is a new member of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) as an industry partner. We are pleased to join a global community of professionals dedicated to advancing the adventure travel industry. What is the Adventure Travel Trade Association? The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) brings together a global community of more than 35,000 … Read more

On September 26, 2024, a school group was on an overnight field trip to the Howell Nature Center in Michigan USA, when a tree fell where a student group was learning how to make a fire. A 12-year-old boy was hit on the head by the falling tree. He was transported by helicopter to a … Read more

Viristar is pleased to present a webinar as part of the ANCA CONNECTS series hosted by the Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA), where our Director, Jeff Baierlein, will lead a discussion on risk management for nature centers. Nature centers offer valuable learning experiences in the out-of-doors, but these experiences are not without risk. How … Read more

Editor’s note: for a detailed list of resources to support development of adventure safety regulation in Iceland, click here. On a sunny day in August 2024, a mass of collapsing ice fatally injured a tourist on a group tour of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier in Iceland, and seriously injured his partner. The incident led to calls … Read more