Courtesy Horizons Consulting
Team building takes many forms in West Virginia’s outdoors.
“We use a range of activities here at the resort,” said Nicole Green, the conference services manager for Canaan Valley Resort, “including geocaching, scavenger hunts and paint ball.”
Refereed battles among coworkers can be held on a dedicated paintball field. Or competitors can race, three at a time, to the top of a climbing tower.
For more serious climbers, there’s Seneca Rocks 45 minutes south of the resort.
Nearby, at the Nelson Rocks Outdoor Center, climbers take to a via ferrata, an “iron road” of rungs and safety cables permanently installed in rock fins that jut 280 feet into the air.
Although Chris Smith, director of program operations there, describes via ferrata as “rock climbing for beginners,” it’s not for the faint of heart.
Via ferrata is popular in Europe, but West Virginia’s is only one of two in this country.
Martin Brennan of Horizons Consulting has used the climbing apparatus for team building
“This is physical and mental and emotional,” said Brennan. “It gets people out of their comfort zones. People begin to support each other. People learn that you can be both vulnerable and a leader at the same time.”
The Outdoor Center also offers a less intense three-hour treetop Canopy Tour with a series of 12 zip lines, three sky bridges and a 40-foot rappel down a tree at the end.
877-435-4842
www.nelsonrocks.org
