CORPORATE CHALLENGERGreatest Team Building Sport

THREE LAPS OF SUCCESSThe mantra of success in the

Challenge and in life

BATTLE TO DEATHPersonal story of tears,

blood and sweat

Published by Zice Travel Services Pvt. Ltd.

What’s insideiChallenger

Personal experience-1

Lap 1: Aptitude (Leadership and survival skill)

Global story of corporate challenger

Lap 2: Fitness

Personal Experience-2

Lap 3: Spirit (Teamwork and endurance)

ABOUT :Welcome aboard. Challenger Series welcomes you to the voyage.

First let me give you an idea of who we are and what we do. Zice Holidays is nation’s leading organisers of adventure sports expeditions and inter & intra-business team build-ing competitions. Our unique program of challenging mind, body and soul in an outdoor environment has helped in cre-ating high performance teams for businesses throughout the country.

The concept is tried, tested, proven and rapidly growing. Suc-cessful companies across the world today include such team building and leadership exercises as essential part of their training. With its growing popularity, several countries now host annual inter-corporate challenges involving hundreds companies and months of training.

In India, Zice Holidays is the leader in that field. With our training techniques and carefully thought out exercises, we are able to hone the very skills and qualities that make a suc-cessful business team. The Challenger events organised by us, iChallenger and Corporate Challenger, are the benchmark in outdoor team building programs.

But that doesn’t mean there is no fun. The adrenaline rush and excitement is what the Challenge is about. When you are parasailing at 500 metres from the ground or trekking at 5 degrees, excitement is bound to be a critical part.

So if you are looking for adventure of a lifetime, a dash of thrill and, in the process, improve your career and personal life, read on.

CONTACT: +91 98 10 573 291+91 98 91 925 475

w w w . z i c e h o l i d a y s . c o m

iChallengerDARE TESTTHE LIMITS?

Check the kit bag… Check the GPS… Check the batteries in the flash light. Do I know the guys I am teamed up with? How far can I paddle this bike over the hill before I fall flat on my face from exhaustion? How do I figure out directions with a compass? Can I find my way in the woods without any directions in dead of the night? I am a corporate tax attorney; how on earth am I sup-posed to build a bridge with nothing but random logs of wood?

“It was a fantastic experience,” recalls Vikram Bajaj, CEO of Inlingua.

“The passion that the activities and games generated was incredible. I think that overall the level of activity was just right and the pace never flagged. I can only say that the games gave the group hours, if not days, of animated talk much after they had ended. All in all, one couldn’t have hoped for more.”

It may be a matter of twelve hours, but iChallenger is a memory for life.

The questions just keep piling up. And there is only one way to find out the answers- Try it. iChallenger is exactly that opportunity.

iChallenger is a day-long expedition length adventure race in which teams of four compete. Each team comprised of mix of men and women from different backgrounds, races over a rugged course including hills, jungles and river streams. They participate in a wide range of challenges from trekking and jungle navigation to puzzles and engineering tasks.

“To put it simply, iChallenger is a race,” explains Anurag Mehra, director of Zice Holidays. “It’s an experience meant to push the limits and test your strengths. A challenge of mind, body and soul.”

“However, as spiritual as it sounds, iChalleneger is not a solitary journey. With seventy to hundred

participants huffing and puffing beside you, it’s also a day filled with entertainment. At the end of the day, not only do you take back the discovery of your own self, but also a story to tell.”

“First thing to remember is that iChallenger is not for everyone,” warns Anurag. “To participate, you must pass the basic physique test. As the level of iChallenger increases the qualifying test also becomes more difficult.”

The teams in iChallenger are a mix of participants put together after careful profiling by the organiser to ensure right cocktail of leadership, skills and endurance. The participants are not only expected to perform individually but also achieve coordination with in the team.

In the beginning the teams will be taken through a brief crash course

on survival, on handling equipment and on the terrain. Each one is given kit bags including several survival gadgets like torches, GPS, maps, compass etc. Teams are provided with vehicles, which, depending on the tasks, can be bus, jeeps or bicycles.

These teams are then put through a series of different tasks aimed at challenging their team work, leadership skills and physical fitness. For the next twelve hours, the teams will climb hills, cross jungles and rivers, solving intricate puzzles to reach the finish line.

At the end of the day, the participants will go home. But they can never forget the experience they had, the friends they made. Zice Holidays maintains a social networking website and organises regular reunions, specifically to keep this spirit alive.

to t

hepersonal experience

Witness challengeOut of suits and into the jungle

Sun is setting down at the horizon. The team is worn out and yet determined to finish out. The sweat drips on their faces as the tension mounts. Fifteen pair of eyes fixed on blazing fire as they wait for the final completion of their daunting task- making a cup of tea.

It may sound easy, but the team has put in better part of hour trying to achieve it. “All we were given was a tea bag and one tin cup, and then we were left in this jungle,” says Manoj Madhu, leader for the team. “We had to find fire and burning wood and then somehow light a fire. It was… believe me, not easy. ”

Manoj and his team is part of a one-seventy-five-participant intra-company Corporate Challenger sponsored by their company.

In past twelve hours, Manoj and his colleagues have gone through several team building and leadership exercises, at the Zice camp in Dehradun. team building and leadership exercises, at the Zice camp in Dehradun.

“We have been through treasure hunting, trekking, jungle navigation and now this,” Manoj says pointing at the boiling tea. “Trust me, it sounds a lot of fun, but it was difficult.”

“When I heard about this trip, I was really sceptical. It sounded a little childish, not something a serious corporate should be looking at,” Manoj says as he throws another wood stick in the fire. “But now I can see how smart idea this whole expedition was. Most of the guys here are used to working twelve

straight hours, everyday. A life like that leaves out little for fun. We have to squeeze in as much we can when we can. This trip achieved that perfectly.”

When the day had begun, hundred and seventy five employees of Manoj’s company were divided into teams of fifteen members each. Each team was given a single gypsy to pile on and embark on a hunt for clues in a fifty acre field full of rough terrain. These clues were to lead them to their destination inside the jungle and further instructions.

“No doubt it was a lot of fun driving around trying to find clues. But any clue can mean several different things. The difficult part was not finding the clue but coming to a consensus among the group what the clue meant.”

corporatechallenger

SYNERGISINGWORLD CLASS TEAMS

“I don’t know whether that is true or not, but this is surely a lot of fun,”jokes Paras Jha, another member of Red Team, from behind.

Fifteen teams racing for the flag at the finish line, through the desert of Jaisalmer. They have known each other for a long time, as colleagues in conference rooms and nodded at each other at office parties. But now they are helping each oth-er, supporting each other on their shoulders. There is an unspoken friendship between them, which is now much deeper than the casual office acquain-tance.

Corporate Challenger is unique outdoor team-building and leadership development program de-veloped by Zice Holidays. Aimed at developing high performance business

teams, Corporate Chal-lenger allows companies to improve communica-tion between their em-ployees, collaborative and cooperative capacities of their teams and focused leadership skills of their managers.

“It’s about team dynamics and conflict resolution,” says Sunil Ataum Singh, leader of the Red Team. “In a situation where teamwork is crucial and consensus is required, you can not possibly achieve results without under-standing these concepts. I know it sounds like board room jargon, but that is exactly what is happening here.”

“Mind, body and soul,” is the often repeated mantra of Zice Holidays Corporate Challenger and iChallenger. The Challenge is meant to engage every aspect of the participant and mind is the most critical one.

Corporate houses and personal life, both demand aptitude. But so does the Challenge. It is not a coincidence that phrases like “survival skills” and “leadership” are part of jargon in both corporate world and adventure sports.

“The Challenge makes sure to hone and develop maximum potential of any participant,” says Ravi Dabbiroo, director, Zice Holidays. “In iChallenger, you can be expected to break codes, build bridges, solve puzzles or figure out the shortest way out of the jungle.”

“It takes a lot of innovation to navigate your way around a

thousand feet hill, especially if you grew up in city and don’t even know where north is,” points out Ravi.

“It is not just intelligence that it tested in Corporate Challenger,” comments Derrik Paul, a participant of March ’07 Corporate Challenger. “It’s also the leadership. I used to be a very shy person, before I spent those three days in Shivpuri. In the beginning, I wasn’t even speaking much to anyone. By the end of the Challenger, I was surprised to find myself leading the team through rafting race across the river. It was truly exceptional. It has improves my confidence incredibly.”

How they are important in Corporate Challenger and adventure sports in general. How you are tested for your aptitude in these things etc. One page should be enough, with image dominating it. I am happy with 250-300 words. If I can get more I will be happier, though.

The treasure hunt led the teams to six mile long navigation task with nothing to guide them but a compass and a map. It was after several of such activities that the team reached to task boiling a cup of tea.

Now sitting around the fire, the team members are taking a break and telling horror stories to each other. Manoj hunches at a distance discussing the next task with the instructor, who has been with them as a mute observer all along.

As the VP of his company, Manoj is no stranger to leadership. But still he found his role challenging. “Leadership is not just being the boss. It’s also about knowing strengths of each of your team members and using it effectively,” Manoj says philosophically as he walks back to the team. “For example, none of us knew how to build a fire without a match. It was only Sonali who could figure it out,” he says pointing to one of the junior most team member.

“We have learned to engage each other on a far more effective level than we could have in office conference room. I have seen the kind of teamwork here that would make any manager proud,” he announces to the team, with pride.

The tea finally boils. There is only one cup and it is unanimously awarded to Sonali for her efforts. The task is over. And the instructor calls it a day. There are two more days to go. But tonight there will be party around fire, to celebrate, not the victory of one team over another, but the experience itself.

ESSENTIALLY, WE BREAK DOWN THE EXPERIENCE INTO THREE THINGS, “APTITUDE, FITNESS AND SPIRIT.” THE KEYWORDS CAN CHANGE, MAY BE “MIND, BODY AND SOUL.” OR SOMETHING ELSE.

LAP 1: APTITUDE (LEADERSHIP AND SKILLS)

GLOBAL STORY OF CORPORATE CHALLENGER.

December 2007, Sydney, Australia: Team of four from IBM takes the cup after four days of back-break-ing challenges of biking, trekking and mountaineering. “It was the single most challenging experience of my life, but also most liberating,” said Clarke Kent, the leader of IBM Team.

July, 2008, Marseilles, France: Team Ford from US takes the Challenger 2008 Cup. Their tasks included navigating through rough terrain, building a trebuchet and swimming across one kilometre channel. “It was a team effort, and we couldn’t have done it without tapping maxi-mum potential out of each team member in the field they were most skilled.”

December 2007, Sydney, Australia: Team of four from IBM takes the cup after four days of back-break-ing challenges of biking, trekking and mountaineering. “It was the single most challenging experience of my life, but also most liberating,” said Clarke Kent, the leader of IBM Team.

ESSENTIALLY, WE BREAK DOWN THE EXPERIENCE INTO THREE THINGS, “APTITUDE, FITNESS AND SPIRIT.” THE KEYWORDS CAN CHANGE, MAY BE “MIND, BODY AND SOUL.” OR SOMETHING ELSE.

personal experience

BATTLE TO DEATH The sweat, blood

and tearsAfter three forty-five minutes of mountain biking, Devyani is on the verge of total exhaustion. Her right elbow is red from the bruise she got when she fell, ten minutes back. But she can not stop to take a break. Her competition already has a lead of fifteen minutes which she has to cover.

Devyani is the last one from her team in the relay race of mountain biking. Her team has lost fifteen minutes because of a wrong turn her team-mate had taken and now it is up to her to cover the gap. “We had worked so hard for past three days. There was no way I could let the team come second, after all those efforts,” Devyani says looking back.

For past three days, Devyani and thirty others have gone through a race that has tested their endurance to limit. They have gone through miles of Ladakh’s rough terrain, competing with each other and themselves to prove something

only they can understand. They have climbed mountains and sailed through rough rivers, parasailed and trekked along dangerous roads, all through a shivering temperature of 8 degree C. There is not a single one among them, who is not exhausted and battered. Yet through sheer willpower, every one of them is trying to win the race.

“I am amazed,” says Vinay Pathak, Zice Holidays land-based sports expert, who has been monitoring the race. “I had thought at least some of them would drop out, but not a single one has looked back.”

Devyani Srivastva is a HR manager at IT firm in Delhi. This was her first experience of Level 2 iChallenger. “I had expected that iChallenger will be a little difficult when I signed up, but this is hardly what I had expected.”

“When we started out, the idea of a race seemed a little silly,” Devyani smiles. “I mean, I have grown up and

lived my all life in Delhi. For me, places like Ladakh are meant to be for nice vacation, scenic mountains etc. Not gruesome battles. But somehow, by the end of it, I simply could not lose. I had to finish the race.”

“It wasn’t just the excitement that hypnotized me, it was the team. Three days ago, none of us knew each other and now we are bonded.” Indeed, Devyani and her three team mates have spent last seventy two hours together, helped each other in overcoming insurmountable difficulties. “After you have been through together what we have gone through, you can’t be strangers anymore.”

Despite her efforts, despite the furious paddling in the last minutes, Devyani came second in the race. “I knew that there was no way I could cover the gap. They had a long lead. Why then did I try so hard? Because there was no way, I could let my team down by not trying my best.”

The core of the Challenge is to create high performance teams that produce results. The head to head competition and dependence on teamwork is geared towards imparting the participants with gaining the quintessential spirit that is needed for success not only at the Challenge but also in businesses and personal life.

The open competition with immediate results catalyses teams to multiply their performance and tap potential of every individual member to the maximum. But it also begets trust. The friendly rivalry leads to not only better communication between the participants but also personal friendships that can make any business team more effective.

However, there lies another aspect to it, of personal discovery. The tough physical challenges and need of sheer willpower to overcome them allows participants to push through the limit.

“In those three days, the most important part for me was that last one hour,” recalls Manish Mittal, participant of Corporate Challenger, April ’08. “In that last hour where I simply could not go any further, I climbed that last hundred feet of the mountain by sheer determination and morale support of my team mates. I discovered that reserve of strength that I never knew existed. I have never forgotten that reserve, ever since.”

To take part in a Challenger event, you need to be fit and healthy. The Challenge is not meant for professional athletes but there is a certain level of fitness essential to qualify for the Challenge. The organisers may take physical test to ensure that all the participants are fit to enter the Challenge. The higher the level of the Challenge, the tougher the test will be.

The Challenge, in itself, is meant to inspire fitness. There will be several tasks included in the program that would require heavy cardio-vascular activity or physical activity. Many individuals and companies use Challenger events as an incentive to get really fit. The fitter you are the more you can enjoy the Challenge.

“Today physical fitness has become a vanishing commodity in urban life,” says Dr Vinod Patney, medical adviser for Zice Holidays. “With busy corporate lives nobody has time for health. Every one knows it, but no one does anything about it. There is simply not enough tangible incentive to push people outside the house or pull them inside the gym. Its like smoking, you know its bad for you, but you can’t resist.”

“That is the Challenge comes in. When you can see seventy people out in the open performing physical activity, with that sense of competition in you, you become aware of your own fitness. It is a great inducement for people to come in terms with their own health requirements.”

LAP 2: FITNESS

LAP 3: SPIRIT (LEADERSHIP AND ENDURANCE)

www.zicehol idays.comCONTACT : +91 98 10 573 291 | +91 98 91 925 475