Add some winter magic to your team-building, like we did with Phadia

La Thuile

Not many tourists are aware of its existence: La Thuile is the only town in the valley by the same name and it is also the furthermost western point of the region of Valle d’Aosta. With Mont Blanc on one side and the peak known as Testa del Rutor on the other, this quaint little village a mere mile away from the French border is the ideal place to go if you want to experience nature at her best. Beautiful snowy slopes, forests and glaciers make it a favourite spot for hikers and skiers. Val d’Aosta is one of the many multilingual regions of Italy and you are likely to come across french speakers or to hear puzzling conversations in the local patois.

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Snowshoeing

Skiing and snowboarding are great, but not exactly everyone’s cup of tea. It takes training to become a passably proficient skier and it can be frustrating for those who excel at this sport to have to be confined to the easier slopes so that others can brave them without running risks. This, of course, makes skiing a poor choice when it comes to team-building sports, unless your team happens to share a passion and an advanced level of mastery of it. Snowshoeing, on the other hand, is pure, unadulterated fun for everyone. If you can walk, you can hike. If you can hike, you can snowshoe. The gear is paramount: it is, in fact, what makes this sport a perfect fit for almost anyone. The special, tennis-racket-shaped shoes that allow even children and grandparents to tread safely on powdery snow guarantee safety and comfort. Of course, it takes a certain amount of energy to proceed on snowy terrain, but it is easier to endure the physical effort if a mug of hot chocolate and a hearty meal are waiting at the end of the trail

Our team-building project for Phadia

The snowshoe hiking trail was the core of our project, but we had much more in store for the 7 teams who took part in our team-building incentive trip. We wanted to focus on problem solving and creative thinking in a complex situation: if there is one thing a mountain has in common with your average workplace, is the condition of not having the faintest idea where you are standing at any given time and having to find your way around an unfamiliar, extreme and potentially hostile environment. For this reason, orienteering was among the first activities that we decided to schedule, as it helps improve both problem solving and leadership skills. We also took our teams to an archery range, where they got a chance to practice. We added a blindfolded archery session, which, of course, required careful preparation so that it could be made safe and fun for all parties involved. Since we wanted our project to be an exercise in quick thinking and decision making with limited resources, as well as creative problem solving, we added two more tasks for our contestants to complete. Before the end of their trail, participants were asked to construct a stretcher, on which a team-member could be carried. The task had to be completed with materials sourced on site, as well as the limited supplies that had been provided. Finally, teams were given 5 matches each and asked to light a self-sustaining fire. It might seem easy to start a fire with matches, but remember that everything else had to be sorted out on site, which included finding usable, dry kindle on a snowy mountain. Our guests’ physical labour was rewarded with a lovely dinner, with mulled wine and pub quiz in a quaint mountain cottage at the end of the trail.

Treat your team to an incentive trip to Italian winter wonderland!