Photo by Leah Villalobos Have you ever had one of those mornings when you wake up and the sun is shining on the beautiful, snow-capped mountains of the North Shore, and you think, “I wish I was going up there today instead of going to work?” Well, lucky for the SFS team, we got to do just that on our Snowshoe Adventure Staff Retreat on February 23rd.
Photo by Leah Villalobos Our day started out at the office with everyone checking emails and wrapping up a few priorities, and then we met up with our carpools and headed for the Grouse Mountain Skyride. After navigating an unexpected detour we all arrived and gathered our tickets for the journey up to the top of mountain. For anyone who hasn’t been up grouse before, the Skyride (which is the largest aerial tramway system in North America) is definitely part of the adventure.
Photo by Leah Villalobos Once at the top we were greeted by our two guides for the day, John and Phil, and we headed up to the snowshoe hut to get fitted for snowshoes. Foot gear secured, we trekked around the Blue Grouse loop which took us up past the grizzly bear den to a lovely viewpoint, and back down over a small lake to our starting point.
Photo by Leah Villalobos Since we were a bit behind schedule we all returned our snowshoes as quickly as possible and headed to Altitudes Bistro for a delicious fondue feast. We started with hot broth and cheese fondues accompanied by an assortment of seafood, veggies, and bread, and finished up with chocolate fondue paired with fruit, marshmallow and mini cinnamon pastries. It was all AMAZING!
Photo by Leah Villalobos Overall, our staff retreat was an fantastic day of fun, fresh air and food which allowed us all to make personal connections and bond in a setting outside of the office. A special thanks to May-Lee and Allison for helping organize everything!
