Ditching work and learning fun from each other with ice, snow, and meringue

Our February team retreat took place at a hotel straight out of a Wes Anderson movie, with its quirky decor and vibrant color palette. As we made our way from far and wide to SilverStar Mountain Resort, we were greeted with fluffy, white snow that started to descend. Three flew in: Maria from Greece, Avvai from Mexico, and Chris from Victoria, while the others carpooled from Kamloops, Salmon Arm, and Revelstoke. When it starts “nuking” snow, its causes great delight from those about to go shred the slopes. It is less joyous for those trying to see more than a foot in front of them on the road. Yet, in true Canadian fashion we all weathered the storm and made it safely to our destination.

The next morning we woke to blue skies and much excitement. Maria had been living in Revelstoke when we hired her but due to visa requirements she was forced to move back to Greece for 6 months while she awaited visa approval. As a result, most people on the team were meeting her in person for the first time. As a remote team that values human connection, any opportunity to be together in person is valuable, but these "firsts" are especially meaningful. As an extra special treat, Maria brought with her, all the way from Greece, gift bags of olive oil and olive oil soap from her family's olive farm!

For our retreats we usually try to coordinate a bit of work, a bit of play, and a bit of relaxation. For this retreat our work block was scheduled for first thing on Day One. The plan was to break up into small teams and brainstorm a pitch for a product that we believed our company should try to build. After a slow start, after wandering into town to grab breakfast from a café in the village, we finally sat down to get to work. However, we soon realized we needed to get going again to make it down the hill in time for our booking at the curling club. We could have pushed back our leisure activities to prioritize work initiatives yet we chose to honour our booking and temporarily set aside productivity. Work and growth are important but there is more than one way in which we improve as a team.

As a diverse team with varied backgrounds, we have many unique skills to share. Given our small size we often assume multiple roles within a relatively flat hierarchy. This retreat was all about spicing up that dynamic even further. We created opportunities for everyone to switch roles and teach each other. It was a refreshing, invigorating change!

Andrew, the newest member of our team, is an expert curler. In fact, ask anyone on our team and they will say that Andrew is proficient in most sports. He took the first lead. He organized a curling lesson for us at the Vernon Curling Club. We spent two hours gliding, sweeping, and stumbling our way along the ice. We learnt that curling ice is not flat, it purposely has pebbles which surprisingly allows the stones to slide more easily along the surface. Andrew’s family also came down from Salmon Arm to help out so when we split into teams to play a few matches we had his brother and mother as additional leaders for the other teams. We were incredibly grateful for that additional assistance!

Second up was the Little Robot team. They’d formed a racquetball league a few months ago and wanted to share the joy they’ve found in the sport with the rest of the team. Steve got us all our own sweatbands so what we lacked in skill we definitely made up for in style!

We had 1.5hrs and two courts so we rotated through various 1-1 match ups. We had a great diversity of skill across the team but no shortage of laughter. Afterwards we sat down at the adjourning pub for some hearty grub to replenish from all the hard work!

Amidst the sprawling slopes of SilverStar Mountain Resort, on Day Two, we embarked on a day of skiing. Some of us had to rent, some were on snowboards, and some on skis. We started the day in small groups as needs and comforts permitted. Our goal being to meet up at some point for a few runs. This, however, proved a bit trickier than anticipated given the wide slope network. We navigated our way up and down the lifts from front to back and side to side and miraculously, without planning, we all ended up at the bottom of the Comet Express chair near the end of the day and managed to get one group lap in before turning in for the day.

After a full-day out on the slopes of few of us went to soak our weary bones in the steaming hot tubs while at the same time Jonathan, having brought all his tools from home, embarked on an educational journey teaching Avvai how to make Crème Brûlée in a sous-vide. To further their culinary prowess they also whipped up, by hand, some meringue from the leftover egg whites which we caramelized and set atop of cookies.

On the final day, we only had the morning before check-out. So that morning, we had a breakfast fitting only to a chalet on a mountain in winter. Avvai made us Mexican Hot Chocolate! She’d brought up from Mexico the cocoa, cayenne, cane sugar, and a molinillo, a wooden Mexican whisk specifically for frothing and whipping up Mexican Hot Chocolate. In preparation, she’d asked her Spanish teacher back in Mexico City to teach her the process.

This retreat was infused with the spirit of collaboration and discovery. As we went our separate ways we were left with the lasting feeling of joy found in coming together as a team.