DMC's Boston office recently hosted their annual Yearly Office Event, or YOE, in the mountains of New Hampshire. After last year's trip at the Cape, attendees changed it up this year with hiking, swimming, stargazing, and bonding time. The experience was a choose-your-own-adventure of sorts that started in Boston Harbor and ended at the top of Mount Washington.
Hello Boston Harbor
For our first night in Boston, we made plans to explore Boston Harbor on a sailboat. Our group of five boarded the Winter, a large racing sailboat, and set out at a brisk pace.
When we were clear of shore, we put some muscle into the lines and lifted our sails headed toward Spectacle Island. As we sailed beneath a bright blue sky half-filled with fluffy clouds, planes lifting off from nearby Logan airport joined the seagulls soaring overhead.
Our most experienced sailor and captain, Dan, taught us how to tack the sails. It took some teamwork and flexing our muscles, but we managed without tipping the boat over.
It wasn't long before we dropped our anchor near Spectacle Island to enjoy some snacks and locally-brewed cider, beer, and wine as the boat rocked back and forth in the waves.
When the sun began to set, we lifted our anchor and set sail for the harbor once again. The sky was lit up in an incredible range of golden colors as the night rolled in. We capped off a great day by heading back to the office for camp-in with a no shortage of deep fried treats.
New Hampshire Bound
As DMC has grown, we've gotten creative with locations and housing to accommodate the number of people attending Yearly Office Events. This year, we booked three houses in Mittersille Alpine Resort just outside Franconia, NH. Each house took turns hosting meals and game nights.
Given the location and time of year, it felt reminiscent of summer camp where everyone spends the day getting sweaty, comes home smelling of deeps woods bug spray or sun screen, and rinses off just in time to scarf down dinner before catching another amazing sunset.
Rock Climbing
Day one in New Hampshire was mostly dedicated to rock climbing. We were lucky to have some experienced lead climbers with us who set up ropes for less experienced adventurers to climb on. Climbing outside was a big change from climbing in an indoor gym, however, the biggest differences between indoor and outdoor climbing can be boiled down to just a few important details:
- Bugs
- Climbing Holds
Indoor climbing is gloriously free of mosquitos, but the view is lacking. Although gyms will build routes with holds they install, searching out a hold you can trust on a real rock face offers an added challenge. You might have hints left in chalk showing you what a previous climber tried, but an outdoor climb is a lot more open to interpretation the further you make it up.
After conquering the rock, we escaped nagging mosquitos and cooled sore muscles in a nearby creek before heading back to our alpine village.
Hiking the White Mountains
Over the next few days, we broke into groups of various sizes for hikes of all sizes. Some trails were a modest mile or two, while others stretched on for more than 10 miles and were aimed at conquering Mount Washington's peak.
Our Favorite YOE Moments
Having formerly worked in the Boston office, one of my favorite parts of the YOE was just getting back to Boston for a few days. Working at my old desk, seeing the DMCers I used to see every day, and meeting a few new ones. New Hampshire was beautiful! I had a blast hiking, rock climbing, and swimming in the lake. - Ryan Landwehr
I really enjoyed seeing Boston from the harbor when we went sailing. The view from the New Hampshire house also was great while I got a little knitting done. I had never been to New Hampshire so it was neat to see a little of the state and nice to have real maple syrup everywhere. - Anne Patterson
I think my favorite part about going to the Whites was that everyone could do as much or as little as they wanted. You could do multiple difficult hikes and reach the tallest point in New Hampshire or you could sit in the serenity of the mountains and just wait for the beautiful sunset. - Phil Schaffer
My favorite moment was probably when they sent out a lifeguard to keep an eye on me since I had been swimming for 45+ minutes at the end of the roped area in Echo Lake. - Frank May
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