As I am flying home, staring out the airplane window at the snowcapped mountains of Utah, I cannot help but feel incredibly grateful for the unforgettable experience I had in Park City over the past three days. The trip was short, but the memories will last a lifetime and I owe a giant thank you to Columbia for allowing me to join such an adventurous and fun-loving group of people for the first #OmniGames!
Columbia #Omniten and the #OmniGames
I suppose I should begin my recap by giving you guys a little background information on the #OmniGames! Beginning in the spring of 2012, Columbia selected a group of 10 people who “love adventure as much as Columbia,” and brought them on an action-packed trip to test Columbia gear and provide feedback to the company while they had a blast in the great outdoors. This was the start of the #Omniten team! In the winter of 2012, another group of 10 was selected, followed by two additional groups of 10 in the spring and winter of 2013.
I was thrilled when I received the email from Columbia inviting me to be part of the 2013 spring #Omniten team, but I could not attend the kickoff trip in August of this year, so I missed out on the initial fun. Late in the fall this year, every member of the #Omniten team – past and present – received an email from Columbia, inviting all of us on a mystery trip for the first #OmniGames. Going into the trip, we didn’t know anything and were given little more than a brief packing list before we headed to Utah to meet up in Park City at the Hyatt Escala Lodge.
Once we arrived, we were outfitted in warm Columbia gear and more and more information began to leak as #Omniten members exchanged information and discussed rumors to try to piece together what the next few days in Park City would entail.
On Thursday morning everything finally became clear as Daniel, the social marketing manager for Columbia, filled all of us in!
#OmniGames Events
When a list of #OmniGames events popped up on the television screen, none of us knew quite what to make of it.
As Daniel began to explain the events, everything started to come together and you could feel the excitement among the #Omniten members begin to rise. Each event promised outdoor adventure with a competitive edge.
Day one included the following events:
- Snowmobile Drive-By
- Dog Days of Winter
- Hot Chocolate Run
- Our House
- Needle In An Avalanche
At first we all assumed we’d be competing in teams based on our previous #Omniten groups, but Columbia surprised all of us when they told us we’d be competing in pairs. One person from a winter #Omniten team would be paired with a spring #Omniten member and teams were selected randomly as a member from a winter #Omniten team picked a spring #Omniten team member’s name out of a hat.
And the prize for the top five teams? An action-packed trip to Jordan with Columbia to test gear in April!
As I waited to hear my name called, time passed and Rebecca, a spring #Omniten team member from 2012, and I realized we were the final two names remaining in the hat.
We ended up being paired together, which put us at a slight disadvantage since all other teams had a winter #Omniten member with experience in skiing and winter-related outdoor sports. Honestly, this didn’t bother me at all since I was a little nervous going into the games and just wanted a teammate who was there to have a blast and not worry too much about winning. Rebecca was the perfect partner and we had a lot of fun competing together and supporting each other during all of the events. We dubbed ourselves Team Florifornia since I flew in from Florida and Rebecca is from California.
Teams were then divided up into sub groups to rotate through every event. We were pumped to be paired with Heidi and Anne, another female-only team, and Andrew and Erika.
It was officially time for the #OmniGames to begin!!!
#OmniGames Day One recap to be continued…
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