August 2008 2Paths Team Event
Well, this is officially my first blog ever! It feels a bit weird putting my thoughts out there for all to see.
Anyhow, gotta get with the wave of the future, or present, or whatever…
So, having just started working at 2Paths in July, I was pretty excited when I heard we were going to have a summer team event. When I listened to everyone’s ideas for a perfect team activity, I started to get a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. Things like hang-gliding, white-water rafting, rock climbing and mountain biking were suggested. Now these activities might seem average to you, but you have to understand that we have a pretty active team of people here at 2Paths who just love to be outdoors and on the go. We aren’t talking a bunch of beginner enthusiasts going out for a day of fun; instead we have a health mix of beginners, pros and those who will do just about anything.
Initially the plan was to head up to Squamish for a half day of rock climbing up a real mountain, however, despite weeks of sunny weather, we were in for rain on our planned event day. And the following day ended up being the day of the huge rock slide on the Sea to Sky highway which closed the highway for several days. So, being the flexible, easy-going group that we are (really?), we decided to head indoors to the Edge climbing centre in North Vancouver. After some initial confusion and delays, we were all outfitted to go climbing.
Now, I have never climbed indoors or outdoors, so I had no idea what to expect. A couple of days earlier, I’d learned that the word “belay” meant having someone hold your rope as you climb up and I’d also heard about “auto-belaying” which we were supposed to do. After watching a few people head up the wall (including a very talented 8 or 9 year old next to me), I gave it a go. I have to say it was actually easier than I expected provided I used my whole body and stayed close to the wall. Jumping down got to be fun on the auto-balays after a couple of tries. The team broke off into smaller groups with some of the more experienced climbers belaying for others. Some of the team also decided to go without any equipment on the steeper cliff faces using just their strength and some soft mattresses below. It was a pretty relaxed, quiet team event but we all got a chance to chill out away from work, and while we were only there a few hours, it seemed like we’d been there all day. Time actually slowed down for a while. Amazing!
Once we’d all headed up the walls a number of times and got our fill of climbing and sore arms, some of the team headed back to the office and the rest of us headed to the nearby Pemberton Pub for some cool beer and appies. For me, this part of the day was the best as I really got a chance to hang out and get to know the people on our team better. Plus the beer and food was pretty good too!
I’m not sure exactly what we’ll be doing for our next team event but I do hope that the planning goes smoothly and that the weather works for us and that we have more opportunity to do something ‘active’ as well as time to hang out and socialize. I’m in for anything provided there is a beginner version, except for maybe hang-gliding.
Tags: social
