"I can honestly say that this was one of the best
courses I have ever been on during my career in BT to date. The whole
experience from start to finish was a challenge and brought me out of my
comfort zone to face openly and honestly where my weaknesses and
development opportunities lie."
"I felt inspired to achieve some of the loftier goals I have - which I
think about, but haven't taken much action towards achieving them."
Contact John
Expedition
News
Namibia 2012: The
Land that God Made in Anger
The Branberg Mountains -
situated in the heart of the Namibian desert
- threw every challenge it could at us and
lived up to its notorious reputation: at
2.600 metres high with temperatures in the
40's and rucksacks loaded with 35/40 kilos –
the weight of a typical under-counter family
fridge – it posed a challenge to the team
that bordered on 'impossible'. The team of 6
business leaders with a leadership team of
mountain and medical specialists took on the
challenge with courage and determination.
Over a period of 5 days, they toiled
together to cross the mountain range up a
route that had rarely been visited. Their
resilience was to be tested to the full and
the expedition medic had his work cut out to
keep the guys in one piece so that they
could complete the challenge and return in
one piece to safely.
At one of the toughest stage, the team struggled to find a way
throughout giant boulders blocking the gorge which was their
escape route off the mountain. Fortunately, the British Mountain
Guide – Harold Edwards – was able to move into action. With
slick rope work, he was able to bring his many years of mountain
experience to the problem and lower the team to safety before
abseiling off a block to escape himself. Just as they thought
their troubles were over, a leopard sprung out in front of them
from the track that they were following and narrowly missed
taking one of the team to an early grave.
The team were euphoric on attaining their goal and amazed about
how much adventure you can cram into one week. Their survival
was testament to great team work and an utter determination as a
team to succeed.
A great example of a high performance team in action.
In the words of one of the team - "I loved every minute of
the expedition. I’m still struggling to find the right word(s)
to describe the experience. Hike , trek, climb,
expedition…….none of them impart the extreme nature of the
experience that we all shared. People at work ask the same
questions: “what was it like and would you do it again?” My
answers are simple: “it was everything I’d hoped it would be,
only much, much harder” and “yes, I’d do it again in a
heartbeat.”