In 1995, two active and highly motivated people met while volunteering and working full-time at the CVJM (YMCA). Both shared the desire to support young people in their development and enable them to make full use of their potential. Teacher in training Uwe Roth and youth officer Andrea Hoffman found adventure education to be the most suitable technique. They were both passionate about the subject and soon after, one of the first professionally built and award-winning experiential education projects in Germany, the Outdoorpark of CVJM Karlsruhe, was created. Not only did they develop educational programmes in the course of this project, but they also built the first climbing tower and a high and low ropes course. With the expertise from this social project, they founded the company ZIP powered by spirit in 1999. The “Zentrum für interaktive Projekte” (meaning centre for interactive projects, short ZIP) still carries out team trainings, incentives, events and adventure educational training – now under the name “ZIP-Team • erleben und entwickeln“.
In addition, Uwe Roth also developed and installed climbing walls and climbing towers for schools, as well as high ropes courses and low ropes courses for social institutions. The idea for AquaCross – a ropes course for swimming pools – emerged from a discussion about improving the services offered by Europabad Karlsruhe. The first installation of its kind was revealed in Karlsruhe in 2010. Further installations throughout Europe and patents, also outside Europe, followed. The worldwide distribution of NinjaCross started in 2020.
The visionary and experiential educator Uwe Roth has become an expert manufacturer of challenge courses, who invests all his ideas, experience and energy into the company. Under his guidance, extraordinary and challenging facilities, which provide valuable educational experiences, are being created.