Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th September 2012
What is the Kielder Challenge?
It is the UK’s largest outdoor team building competition which is now in its 26th year.
Competitor teams use orienteering skills to navigate a course and undertake 8 tasks (each lasting c.30 minutes) on the Saturday carefully designed to test intellect, problem-solving, communication and teamwork.
Each team constructs a bivouac shelter where they will camp out overnight (and these are scored as part of the competition) and teams will also cook their own dinner.
Sunday involves an enormous strategic task with bonus extras before the finish at The Comb. To succeed teams need to locate items and collect key information – there are 80 items in total. Bonus tasks and puzzles can also be used to boost scores.
Competitors then relax, clean-up and prepare for the prize giving and party. Music, prizes, free drinks, good company and exhilarating experiences to share with hundreds of like minded souls, a party not to be missed and hard to forget. Ultimately the best team wins – the team with the breadth brains, teamwork, innovation, strategy and stamina!
The tasks are deviously changed each year and with limited time and resources teams need to work together – communicating, leading and supporting.
What are the benefits / USPs of the Kielder Challenge?
The Challenge is not simply about practical endurance – it is about teamwork!
The Kielder Challenge is physical but, unlike many other corporate challenges, the sole focus is not on who can bike, walk, run, canoe or swim the fastest or furthest. It tests and appeals to a much wider audience – from athlete to the exercise shy intellectual and everything in between. And from Chief Executives to Office Juniors.
Your are tested on a range of skills in a fun competitive environment that requires real team work.
Awareness – you will come away surprised at what capabilities have existed – unexploited – in your workplace, your team and yourself
Communication – the importance of sharing information will be highlighted in an unforgettable, practical way
Problem solving – analysis, design & execution – the challenge requires competitors to use imagination, logic and follow through.
Leadership – motivating others – every team member will at some point have to inspire, support or drive others forward.
Teamship – bringing out the best in everyone for the good of the company
Confidence – competitors have a real sense of empowerment and achievement when they complete the challenge.
Why should I enter the Challenge?
Simple, depending on what makes you tick, one or more of the following reasons:
- It’s great fun. A unique competition and experience you can enjoy with colleagues finished with a huge party with plenty of food & drink.
- Develop and improve that will bring benefits to your career and your life.
- Enjoy a chance to meet, befriend and network with nearly 400 fellow competitors from a broad spectrum of rival companies.
- Enjoy a weekend in the outdoors in a beautiful wilderness and learn survival skills, sleep in an outdoor shelter which you have helped construct – an experience of a lifetime.
Why should my business enter?
The Kielder Challenge is primarily orientated around helping companies by improving the skills of their employee’s. “no other team-building competition is as focused on addressing the key skills and mental challenges encountered in the workplace”.
A single weekend event does not claim to resolve issues with business performance but competitors develop skills that translate into the beginnings of lasting positive impact in the workplace, these include:
- The processes and discipline for effective problems-solving.
- Leadership skills, the benefits and lasting impact of solutions created as opposed to solutions imposed.
- Motivation and stimulation of employee’s, refreshed enthusiasm that is infectious among your workforce.
- Forming strong bonds and/or overcoming past grievances with colleagues.
- Teamwork development including the when and how of two-way and one-way communication.
What equipment & clothing do I need to bring?
You ideally need the following equipment:
- Waterproof clothing.
- Warm clothing such a fleece or jumper.
- Walking boots or shoes suitable for walking long distances in rough terrain.
- A change of clothing for the party on the Sunday is popular but this can be left at the Comb.
- Walking socks
Where is Kielder and how do I get there?
Reivers at the Comb is just under an hour from Newcastle and, being in the middle of the Northumberland countryside, is best reached by driving. If you are flying or taking the train car or minibus hire is readily available and The Comb is within reasonable driving distance of Newcastle Airport or train station; Edinburgh is around 2 hours drive with an airport or Waverley train station. Also within reasonable driving distance are Carlisle station, Durham station and Teesside airport.
Where do we sleep?
As part of The Kielder Challenge each team constructs and is marked on a bivouac they construct on the Saturday. The materials are standard for every team and supplied. You therefore sleep in your creation on the Saturday night under the vast tapestry of Northumberland starlight where the light pollution is so low they built an observatory to study it!
Travelling on the Friday night is preferable given the early start on the Saturday morning. There are a limited number of rooms at the Comb (at an additional charge), plus a variety of hotels and B&B’s in the surrounding area and we can provide information on this.
For those keen to get in the spirit of the event teams are welcome to camp at The Comb where there is plenty of room. Many teams choose to stay locally on the Friday night but also the Sunday night to allow them to maximize their enjoyment of the post event Sunday party.
Are there showers and toilets?
There are toilets at the Comb at the beginning and end of the event. The Comb has a certain number of showers which are made available to competitors on the Sunday to freshen up. The shower numbers are limited and therefore they are allocated to specific teams and some good humour and patience is requested as is the spirit of the whole event.
Do I have to be very fit?
The Kielder Challenge has physical aspect to as it involves orienteering over the moors and forest. A certain level of fitness is it required but this it is rarely a major consideration to be able to take part. All shapes, sizes and ages enter with the winning team being the one which displays a wide range of attributes including intellect, problem-solving, strategic marshalling of resources, teamwork as well as physical skill.
Is it an endurance event?
No, there is a physical element to navigating the course and to achieving some of the tasks. The Challenge really seeks to test and develop a wider range of skills than endurance and to be the fittest team does in no way guarantee success. We have looked hard but we have not found another corporate competition which tests on so many fronts. We leave pure endurance testing to others.
Is it dangerous?
The Kielder Challenge is not dangerous but as with many outdoor activities it can be if competitors are sensible.
We have experienced marshals adjudicating throughout, with an air ambulance on standby and North Tyne Fell Rescue team members on each site in case of an accident. They have all the medical equipment and are fully trained in first-aid.
There is no inherent danger and a team during a task attempts something the marshals construe as potentially dangerous they have the discretion to intervene. In 25 years the injury toll has been minimal and generally constrained to turned ankles.