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Team-Building Activity Leads To Near Disaster And Team Distrust

October 16, 2024

On August 23, the Chaffee County, Colorado, Search and Rescue department rescued a worker on an office hiking retreat to a national forest in Colorado, after 14 of his colleagues allegedly left him stranded on a 14,230-foot mountain - Mt. Shavano in central Colorado's San Isabel National Forest.

According to the rescuers' statement, a group of 15 hikers, on an office retreat, left the Blanks Cabin Trailhead at sunrise in the morning. One group completed summit attempts, and another group ascended to the saddle area of the mountain and returned from there.

Fourteen employees made it down the mountain safely but according to rescue officials, one was left to complete the summit push alone.

The lone employee made it to the summit at 11:30 a.m. but "he became disoriented," when he tried to descend and faced freezing rain and high winds, as well as cellphone signal loss. Belongings left along the mountain to mark the pathway down were allegedly removed by the colleagues.

Although a search team was deployed, the man ended up spending the night on the mountain. He was found in a gully near a drainage creek, having fallen at least 20 times. Rescuers took him to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Bill Hutchinson "Office retreat gone awry: Worker rescued after allegedly left stranded on Colorado Mountain by colleagues" https://abcnews.go.com/US/office-retreat-awry-worker-allegedly-stranded-colorado-mountain/story?id=113207945 (Aug. 29, 2024).

Commentary and Checklist

Although team-building exercises can have positive results for those you manage, the exercises must be well-planned, with safety and security in mind, and be accessible to everyone, including those with physical disabilities or age restrictions.

This retreat was obviously not well-planned. Luckily, it did not end in disaster - permanent injury or death of the abandoned employee.

As it is, there will no doubt be some substantial team-rebuilding to undertake because the trust of the abandoned colleague will have to be regained after being left alone with trail markers removed.

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