There is nothing like an excellent outdoor team-building experience to bolster morale and improve performance. Unless, of course, your team abandons one member of your crew on a mountain and leaves them to die. That could potentially negate the very positive effects intended by the exercise.
Last August, co-workers left a Colorado man alone atop Mount Shavano during an office retreat. Disoriented and without guidance markers – which the group of 14 who had proceeded without him removed as they descended – he faced a harrowing night alone in worsening weather. Attempts to rejoin the trail were unsuccessful due to high winds and freezing rain. Ultimately, the hiker was rescued after he regained cell service and contacted 911.
This was really team-building at its finest. Instead of “See you at the top,” it was “Good luck, see you at the bottom!”
The man, dressed in all black (not the smartest choice for hiking in the wilderness), had reportedly reached the summit around 11:30 AM, and “became disoriented” on the climb back down. At one point, he pinged his geographic location to the group with a “pin drop,” and they told him “His route was wrong and to climb back up the slope to regain the trail.”
A trail, it should again be noted, for which they had removed all markers.
He reached the trail at about 3:50 PM and sent another pin drop. A sudden storm with high winds and freezing rain further disoriented him and he lost cell service due to the storm. Colorado Search & Rescue workers were notified of a missing hiker around 9:00 PM that night.
That’s over 5 hours from his last communication. The guy must be a total jerk, or his co-workers are total jerks. I’m not sure which. But I do know that there are total jerks somewhere in this story. And I also suspect the annual company holiday party will be more awkward than usual this year.
The search and rescue folks assembled two search teams and deployed a drone, but worsening weather conditions through the night prevented them from finding anything. That, and wearing black in a blizzard was his obvious fashion faux pas. But who needs survival training when you have GPS and questionable colleagues?
Ultimately, the man regained cell service the next morning and called 911, leading to his eventual rescue. He told rescuers he had fallen 20 times in the night and could not get up after the last fall.
Sounds like a good ad for “Life Alert.”
Rescuers found the man in a remote ravine that was not part of the primary search area. They said regaining cell service and having the wherewithal to call 911 likely saved his life.
We have no idea who these people were, but I can certainly see why their employer thought this gaggle of nudniks might need a team-building exercise. I suggest that they consider something slightly less risky, like Laser Tag, for the next one. It will be much easier to locate a co-worker abandoned in the exercise, and people would be far less likely to die. Unless, of course, this group of people work for a defense contractor. If that is the case, all bets are off.