Outdoor adventures and challenging sports

Bosnia might not be the first place that springs to mind when you’re planning your ski holidays but don’t forget that the 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo. Having spent time skiing in both places we are thinking about going to one or the other again this winter so thought it would be a good time to weigh up the pros and cons of each.

The Skiing

Bosnia: OK, the skiing opportunities may not be as widely available as they are in France but they are still pretty decent. Jahorina is especially good for families as it has a nursery slope with a rope lift to hold onto which is ideal for small children can manage. Stick to the main slopes though if you are skiing without a guide as not all of the mountains have been cleared of potential land mines.

France: You know what you are getting with France – espiecally the French Alps. We thought Les Gets was great for beginners and families (they also have a few ‘magic carpets’ to help save parents arms from dragging really quite heavy boys up the slopes)

Skiing Lifts

Bosnia: Not as flash as the French ones but they do the job.

France: Some of the newer French ski lifts are not only covered but have heating!

Ski lessons

Bosnia: Learning to ski in Bosnia is definitely cheaper than learning in France – so much so that one-on-one lessons can very easily be within your budget.

France: The ski schools are brilliant if spendy and attract the top instructors.

Accommodation

Bosnia: Very good standard, all the mod cons, plenty of living space. Family friendly and not too expensive either. Can get some good hotel and transfer bargains with your ski deals too.

France: You get what you pay for – the more budget you have, the better accommodation you will get.

With the explosion in budget flights as well as the Eurostar or “Snow Train” getting away for a quick weekend of skiing is not as difficult as some may think, certainly now a lot easier than it ever was. Your ski holidays specialist will be able to offer some really great ski deals at prices that are mouth watering and make you wonder how it can be done! There are loads of ski resorts that are easily accessible form most places in the UK, but naturally if you live in the south east of England, you are that bit nearer and closer to the train operator.

Weekend deals are naturally confined to Europe and are split between some of the best resorts in France, Switzerland, or Italy. With Geneva and Sion airports being the closest to the Alpine region, you can usually be only one hour away from the resort and that weekend skiing experience.

Chamonix is only an hour from Geneva airport and your ski holiday specialist will find you lots of modestly priced accommodation with short stay bookings accepted as the norm. The terrain is varied and boasts fabulous views of peaks and glaciers incorporating the Mont Blanc Massif.

Crans-Montana in Switzerland is a wonderful sporting village and one of the top European golf tournaments take place here, knotty in the winter of course. Home of previous world downhill competitions, you can ski the course; Crans-Montana is very easy to get to either from Sion or Geneva airports. This is a wonderful sunny skiing area with excellent accommodation for weekends.

Davos is a huge ski area which is shared with Klosters, just down the valley, with some excellent long runs of up to eight miles. Easy to get to from Zurich airport and plenty of weekend rooms available.

Courmayeur is one of delightful Italy’s car free ski resorts, with fabulous pasta as only the Italians can make it, stylish shops, and lively friendly bars. The resort has a smallish ski area best for intermediates and advanced skiers but only 90 minutes from Geneva airport.

Some of the best corporate away day facilities can be found in the county of Yorkshire. Aside from being one of the most beautiful areas of countryside in the UK, team building training in Yorkshire has led the way in providing new adventure courses and outdoor pursuits that excel in their attention to team bonding and leadership training opportunities.

For example Yorkshire Corporate and Shooting Services is a company that arrange exciting team building days for those wishing to break out of the office for a day or two and experience true freedom and adventure in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. Their corporate away days include clay pigeon shooting, 4×4 off-roading, archery and even a chocolate fondue team event.

Picture your colleagues competing in an archery event in the wilds of Yorkshire, breathing the fresh air and cheering each other on. When this is compared with sitting indoors, each of your colleagues engaged separately with work at their desk, it’s obvious which one will be more beneficial. Of course work needs to be done, but providing a break from that work in the form of an outdoor adventure will kick start productivity in the work place and hugely increase your team’s morale.

Yorkshire corporate events such as these really help to promote a feeling of teamwork among your work peers and it encourages them to trust and respect each other. Leisure and fun should be a part of everybody’s life because they have such benefits for the body and mind. Engaging in corporate entertainment of this kind will help to sharpen your workforce and maximise their potential.

Whatever your budget there is sure to be an adventure centre that can cater to your corporate away day needs. Currently the popularity of teambuilding days is growing. This is not surprising when face-to-face communication is at an all time low thanks to technology.

This has resulted in businesses having to work harder than ever to create and maintain good working relationships and a strong bond between employees. A recent study found that up to 80% of organisations in the UK spend money regularly on corporate away days and teambuilding games and exercises.

Teams who participate in these team bonding tasks see a noticeable improvement in performance, the same study revealed. The importance of committed teams who pull together has been recognised by companies and teambuilding exercises prove to be the easiest way of achieving a united and bonded team.

Across the UK a large selection of different activities are available, all designed to encourage team bonding and working together. Included in this are rock climbing, hiking, camping, mountain biking and adventure ropes. Completing these tasks outside of the office environment breaks people’s link with minor worries and the hierarchy of the office so that different level staff can get to know each other.

Arranging a company away day can be a basis for teambuilding and developing leadership skills, bringing people together who usually work in different branches but most importantly building the unity of the company integrating new staff and increasing motivation.

Venturing out onto an adventure rope course has in recent years become, as unlikely as it sounds, a corporate phenomenon. People in business environments have begun taking up the challenge of the outdoor pursuit in order to stimulate team building and improve social cohesion among their colleagues. Although at first glance the idea of blue-collar office workers swinging Tarzan-like through the trees of the New Forest seems somewhat silly, it’s easy to see why adventure corporate away days have become such a hit.

Team building is by no means a new concept. For years employers have devised ways for their employees to get to know each other better in order that they can learn to work together more efficiently. As well as employee efficiency, team building is extremely important for improving morale. Any employer will much prefer a team of workers who are enthusiastic and get along with each other rather than a group of individuals who don’t quite fit together. When employees enjoy their work, they will be a more productive and useful work-force.

The words ‘team building’ used to conjure up images of sulky office workers forced to bond with each other by engaging in silly games, but this has been radically revolutionised now that adventure days have arrived on the scene. Now, instead of grudgingly shaking the hand of your colleague in an awkward effort to get to know them, you could be helping them across a crevasse in England’s rugged countryside, and this is surely a vast improvement.

Confidence is a valuable commodity in the business world and is often considered vital for success, not to mention essential for accomplishing some of the most basic tasks that face employees every workday. It doesn’t matter how much ability an employee might have, without the confidence to use it, it is sure to be wasted.

However, confidence can ebb due to any number of factors, some in the workplace. New management, being passed over for promotion – there are any number of confidence issues that can affect an employee. And, due to the high stress web of interpersonal relationships that exist in any office, what strikes one employee can affect others. Thus, a drop in overall confidence can occur without warning, weakening the bonds between employees, and between employees and management.

When employee confidence ebbs, the best bet for getting it back up to acceptable levels is to schedule a corporate away day or activity day. And the best way to go about that is to book time at any one of the UK’s many adventure centres. Confidence can be revived through even the simplest outdoor activity, and the more arduous pursuits, such as mountain biking, rock climbing, and backpacking are proven to increase the confidence levels of their participants exponentially.

Teambuilding games are another form of confidence booster, especially in the form of win-win games. Win-win games, as one could expect, are games in which each participant wins. The games are designed solely to boost the confidence and initiative of each player and make them sure of themselves once more.

An ice-breaker game is a type of group-dynamic exercise or teambuilding game, used most often by individuals participating in a corporate away day. Such away days, or activity days, are a must in order to maintain a high-level of productivity and strong employee morale in the world of business. As such, frequent activity days, or as they’re sometimes called corporate away days, are scheduled for groups of employees. A corporate away day will see the participants engaging in a series of outdoor activities and group dynamic games such as ice-breaker games.

Group dynamic games, or teambuilding games, are experiential education exercises. They help build relationships within a group, as well as teach individuals how a group dynamic functions. For this reason, they are especially useful to corporate interests, due to the high value most businesses place on teamwork, communication and initiative among their employees.

Ice-breaker games are particularly useful in this regard. They emphasize employees’ relaxation around one another and instil a social camaraderie among the members of the group. These are important qualities for creating a cohesive unit out of a group of diverse individuals.

An adventure centre is the most common site of for teambuilding games, as it can provide numerous outlets for both indoor and outdoor pursuits. Adventure courses are designed with such group dynamic games in mind in many cases, with adventure activities such as kayaking, rock climbing and adventure ropes that play into the teambuilding aspects that corporate away days are centred on.

Adventure holidays can take many forms. When planning a holiday or activity day, the sky is the limit as far as the outdoor pursuits you can take part in. So why not go all out and make it either as exciting or as leisurely as possible?

Overlanding is a great way to liven up a dull life. This outdoor activity combines camping and biking into one leisurely physical activity. In overlanding, the journey is the thing, and the destination is often secondary.

Great for groups or individuals, overlanding is great for both family days out as well as a corporate away day.  As adventure holidays go, overlanding is a great experience. It can be for a weekend or for much longer, depending on the length of your holiday. It demands cooperation, communication and initiative from potential backpackers, making it one of the more exciting forms of outdoor teambuilding games out there.

There are several notable professional adventure centres that cater to those who desire to experience the outdoor thrill of overlanding. Specially designed overlanding adventure courses provide the customer with the full experience with maximum safety procedures in place to ensure that you enjoy every minute of your experience. A trained and courteous staff will be on hand to see that you get the experience you want as opposed to wanting for experience.

Whether you’re looking to get your kids out and about on an activity day away from school, or you’re looking to get your employees revved up about teambuilding games on a corporate retreat, overlanding is the ideal outdoor activity for you!

An adventure centre offers a multitude of opportunities for those looking for a day (or days) full of activities and outdoor pursuits. Whether you’re looking for a safe and regulated environment for family activities or someplace capable of providing the exact type of teambuilding games you’re looking for in order to make your corporate away day a success, an adventure centre will suit your requirements.

Offering an eclectic and diverse series of outdoor activities and indoor pursuits, an adventure centre has opportunities specifically tailored for individuals, families, groups and companies.

The heart of an adventure centre is often the adventure course. A centre may have more than one course, consisting of everything from adventure ropes to adventure rock climbing, with experienced and professional staff on hand to ensure that everything goes the way it should. The adventure courses are often designed to help you learn new skills and become proficient in a variety of activities, especially those having to do with the outdoors.

There are also a number of teambuilding games available for those interested in those skills. Teambuilding games are utilised by families and corporate groups alike in order to strengthen relationships and in the case of the latter, boost workplace morale and increase communication and initiative. Trust falls, rock climbing, rope courses and gorge walking are just a few of the activities that are offered as teambuilding games.

An adventure centre can be just what you’re looking for, in the event that what you’re looking for involves plenty of fresh air, outdoor activities and good fun!

There are numerous skills that businesses require their employees to learn. If an employee, or group of employees, is not displaying these skills to the level required by their employers, they may be in for a corporate away day, or activity day, in their immediate future.

Most corporate away days, or activity days, consist of teambuilding games in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, usually somewhere quite far away from the hectic pace and hustle and bustle of the city. Whether it is increasing communication among members of your staff, breaking the ice or increasing productivity, a series of indoor and outdoor activities can help you accomplish it.

Outdoor activities and pursuits are also encouraged. Nature is the best classroom, and it provides plenty of opportunities to work on the necessities. An adventure centre is perfect for this kind of thing and can often be booked well in advance and catered to your needs and expectations.

One of the skills worked on in such an environment is that of decision making. Decision making is an important factor in any business, and if it is lacking, things do not flow as smoothly as they ought. Therefore, special emphasis will be placed on activities that allow participants to either learn new, or work on already existing, decision making skills through a variety of teambuilding games.

Regardless of what you choose, a successful corporate away day should include a diverse selection of teambuilding games and exercises, in order to fully hone your employees into a successful and well-rounded team.