Grab your stilettos, we're going hiking!
Daníel Þór Valsson posing in stilettos at the top of Móskarðshnjúkar. He surely must have won the weekly competition for the best photograph.
The competition is on! The staff at the IT company Orgio have turned their competition into an art form. The stilettos are a must, not exactly for the hike itself, but for the photograph at the top. Let's see what exactly is going on in the IT company these days, when they are not working in front of their computer screen, but building a team and toning up in the great outdoors.
The topman for the job
Haraldur Örn Ólafsson is famous in Iceland for having climbed the seven biggest summits in the world. Now he is putting his experience to good use and is opening the world of hiking to the workforce in the IT company Origo. The challenge spans six weeks and every week a group of people from Origo get to the top of one mountain. Before each hike, Ólafsson gives a lecture on the necessities for the hike and all safety issues. The staff of Origo can bring their families or friends to the hike.
This picture is taken when the staff went to Reykjadalur, close to Hveragerði. Ljósmynd/Aðsend
Get healthy and recycle as well
"Origo is very environmental-friendly in its mission and we put our two cents in when it comes to sustainable development. In that spirit, we decided to start a market where our staff can sell or buy used hiking gear in order to give it a longer lifespan. That way everybody should be able to find their outdoors clothing for the summer,” says Birta Aradóttir who is the project manager for Community Responsibility in the company.
"It turned out to be a great idea to start the recycling market. That way the challenge is not only good for the wellbeing of the staff but also an opportunity to recycle and be responsible in environmental matters," says Birta.
A competitive group
The staff is having a great time with this challenge and the latest fun factor is photography, but each week the most original photograph taken from the top of the week’s mountain is rewarded. The result has been that many people who were not really into hiking before are now a part of the group. They are getting to know the mountains in the vicinity of Reykjavik and improving their stamina one mountain at a time. Each week there are rewards for the best team of the week and outstanding hikers get rewarded. At the end of the challenge the group spends a day together, going to the last mountain of the challenge. After the hike the barbeque is fired up and everybody has a good time.
A hike up Móskarðhnjúkar was one of the weekly challenges. Ljósmynd/Aðsend
"The interest in the challenge has been better than we ever hoped for. We started last year to keep up morale during Covid. It was an instant hit and it turned out that the staff is extremely competitive and also very interested in outdoors activities so we decided to do it again this year," says Eva Demireva, who a specialist in human resources at Orgigo.
