There's a moment, somewhere on Striding Edge, when the conversation changes. The small talk stops. The phones are long gone. What's left is the mountain, the wind, and the people beside you β and that's exactly when the real work begins.
Fire Events Β· Hiking Conferences
There's a moment, somewhere on Striding Edge, when the conversation changes. The small talk stops. The phones are long gone. What's left is the mountain, the wind, and the people beside you β and that's exactly when the real work begins.
Last weekend I headed up Helvellyn β England's third highest peak β via Striding Edge and back down Swirral Edge, with Simon and Rhian from the SimplyHealth events team. It was one of those days that reminds you exactly why you do this work.
Cloudless sky. Warm sun on the summit. The kind of Lake District day you spend the other 364 days of the year hoping for.
An old partnership, a new face
I've known Simon for years β we've worked together on hiking conferences for Denplan and other clients over a long stretch of time. There's a particular ease that comes with that kind of shared history: you know how each other operates, you trust the process, and you get straight to the good stuff.
Rhian is new to Simon's team at SimplyHealth, which made this day work on multiple levels. She's very much at home in the outdoors β an experienced hiker who took Striding Edge in her stride β so the mountain wasn't the challenge. The opportunity was something more valuable: the chance for Simon and Rhian to get to know each other properly, away from the noise of the office, in a setting that naturally brings out the real person.
That's something I see consistently with new team members on days like this. A shared mountain experience fast-tracks connection in a way that months of meetings rarely manage.
The edge changes things
Striding Edge is one of those places that strips away pretence very efficiently. It's not reckless or dangerous if you're prepared and well-led, but it demands focus, commitment, and trust. You navigate it together β picking lines, checking in, offering a hand or a word at the moments it counts.
The summit rewarded us well. Warm in the sun, with that sharp edge of wind that keeps you honest at altitude β the kind of weather that makes everything feel vivid and real. We stood on the plateau at 950 metres and took a moment. Not for Instagram. To breathe, to look out across the full sweep of the Lake District, and to appreciate what we'd done together to get there.
A chance encounter on the way up
One of the things I love about the mountain world is how small it can feel. On the way up we crossed paths with Rhys Jones β founder of Campfire Wild Adventures and Monix Adventures, and someone I've known for the best part of 25 years. We're both part of Hampshire Scout Expeditions, a connection that goes back a long way and still means a great deal to both of us.
Rhys lives in Glenridding, right at the foot of Helvellyn, which makes running into him on that slope about as likely as bumping into your neighbour at the end of their road. A brief stop, a proper catch-up, and then onwards β but a good reminder of the network of people who've built their lives and their work around these places and what they offer.
"By the time you reach the summit of Helvellyn, something has shifted. The conversations are more honest, more open. The hierarchy has flattened in the best possible way. People have seen each other under pressure and come through together. That's not team building. That's team forging."
β Stuart James Rose, Fire Events
Why this matters for your team
Time in nature is one of the most powerful tools available to teams and leaders. Not a nice-to-have bolt-on, but a genuine catalyst for the things that matter in modern organisations: trust, communication, resilience, purpose.
Our Hiking Conferences combine the physical reality of a mountain day with professional development β structured facilitation, leadership conversations, and reflection woven into the experience rather than bolted on afterwards. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland: we bring the same depth of facilitation to every landscape.
Simon and Rhian came down off Swirral Edge with clear heads and β I suspect β a slightly different sense of what they can do together. That's the point. That's always the point.
Ready to take your team somewhere that matters?
Fire Events Hiking Conferences are available across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each experience is fully facilitated and tailored to your team's goals.
> From the comforts of the hotel meeting room to the wide open spaces of the countryside.
> What does your team need after three very uncertain years?
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