Looking to schedule an employee excursion to increase morale at the office? Want it to take place somewhere unforgettable and have it be a truly one-of-a-kind outdoor adventure experience? If so, then the solution is simple: take a Grand Canyon white water rafting trip down the mighty Colorado River. When people think about visiting the Grand Canyon, they think about family vacations or spring break trips with friends. However, it’s also a fantastic working retreat for companies that want to reward their devoted employees and have them participate in team-building exercises. Grand Canyon white water rafting excursions are thrilling, enjoyable, and naturally, nothing short of extraordinary.
Grand Canyon river raft trips down a stretch of the Colorado River provide individuals the opportunity to experience otherwise inaccessible areas of the national park. Guided raft trips down the river are great for big groups of friends, families or, as it were, employees working on team-building exercises. Aside from the actual thrill of rafting one of the world’s wildest rivers through the geological wonder that is the Grand Canyon, guided group trips with a commercial outfitter stand out for some other reasons as well:
- Commercial outfitters take care of every preliminary step, including obtaining all permits; and gathering all boat, safety, cooking, waste removal and sleeping gear. Plus, they manage all the food and fresh water you’ll need for your trip.
- Every member in your group needs to bring just a couple things, including a small bag of personal items including essential clothing and toiletries, and other items like a digital camera, sunglasses, protective hat, medications, etc.
- Their guides serve as raft navigators, cooks, storytellers, hike leaders, resident conservationists, and all-around river experts
Your employees need not be expert river dogs to go on a Colorado River rafting trip. However, everyone needs to be in good health with no serious physical impairments, and should be able to handle severe temperatures and be capable of hiking over tough terrain.
Assuming a company team-building adventure entails at least one overnight, here’s what you should expect from a typical day on the water:
- Wake up, eat breakfast and break down the camp
- Load up the rafts and head out for several hours of amazing whitewater rafting; several mammoth rapids like Lava Falls and Crystal, await you!
- A few stops along the way for a picturesque side hike a ways up the canyon
- Break for lunch (one of the hikes probably will happen at this time), and head out again
- Venture to the next camping area before the sun goes down, do the “duffel shuffle” (unloading the rafts), make camp, eat dinner, and be entertained by your guide’s incredible story-telling skills
- Hit the hay, wake up, and do it all over again
If a trip like this sounds too good to pass up, employers shouldn’t hesitate to contact a professional Colorado River whitewater rafting outfitter. Apart from the obvious benefits of hiring an outfitter as listed above, trying to obtain a private-use permit for Colorado River raft trips can be a disappointing experience, because it’s based on a lottery system. Going it alone also means you’ll need to put everything together yourself – permits, load-in and load-out transport, boats, food, water, sleeping gear, etc. Save yourself a lot of time, money and frustration and employ a professional to do all of this for your group, but be sure to plan well in advance because the spots fill up fast.
On a trip like this, your employees’ intelligence, expertise and teamwork will be put to the ultimate test. The harsh, unbridled reality of Mother nature will expose any leaks in the boat, so to speak, and it will quickly become evident that only via trust and teamwork will the adventure be a success.
Reproduction permitted only if all active links are maintained and byline is preserved, and/or your byline is omitted. 2012 All Rights Reserved.

