We thought it would be a great idea to push the team boundaries and escape our comfort zones by taking the day to go White Water Rafting.
An early morning start was called for and we set out on the two-hour long journey down to Bala, Wales. Going down in four cars it was inevitable that some of us were going to arrive late, never imagining it would be because half of the roads were closed due to the Sky Ride bike race and that Natalie’s car would end up participating!
Luckily, even with the diversions, everyone made the check in on time only to realise that the first challenge wasn’t going to be the rafting itself but getting the wetsuits on. This on its own ended up to be a bit of a team building exercise with everyone helping each other out or should I say in to them!
Eventually suited and booted in our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets we set off on the bus to the top of the river ready for the all important safety talk which succeeded in making us all the more nervous for what we were about to do.
Armed with paddles we set out in two rafts, split by picking random numbers rather than what would have been a more sensible way of choosing to split us by ability, age and experience.
The first run down was going far too well until raft one got stuck. Raft two looked on in horror/amusement, as raft one ended up re-enacting a scene from Titanic and getting stuck on a rock which I’m sure looking back on it wasn’t as big as it seemed and was probably more like a pebble than an iceberg. Luckily we managed to rescue the situation with some nifty rafting moves.
Confidence was building in everyone as both teams were trying to make the rafts go faster and hit the waves with more force with each run down. All until on run three when we had an epic fail from Clare who tumbled head first into the river in not such a Lady like manner I might add, all captured on video that has already been on a loop around the studio.
By the end of the final run everyone was left exhausted and not looking our best but who cared, it had been an amazing experience.
After all that excitement the day was finished off with a meal in a quirky little teashop in the middle of the quaint village of Bala before setting off on a sleepy ride home.
Well done the team of AsOne for putting yourselves out there and special commendations for the ladies who were deeply disappointed there were no sockets for hairdryers and straighteners in the changing rooms. Maybe we can consider a spa break next time but when you have adventure junkies for bosses then it seems unlikely.
Get an insight to our white water rafting skills and mishaps in this fantastic video compilation.
