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Tough Towner – Jackson Hole, WY, May 12, 2013
February 6th, 2013
Tough Towner – Lake Placid, NY, August 24, 2013
February 6th, 2013Tough Towner – Syracuse, NY, August 31, 2013
February 6th, 2013September 14-15, 2013- New York, New Hampshire, Vermont
February 6th, 2013New Mountains, Less Driving, Same Great Team Building Event!
If you’re looking for a way to bring your team together and strengthen their working relationships with an exciting adventure of physical activity and strategy, the COINS 3 Peaks Challenge offers this and more. Compete along other teams from the construction industry to climb three peaks in New York’s Lake Placid region in only 24 hours!
Your team of 2-6 walkers has 24 hours in which to climb Morgan Mountain, Scarface Mountain, and Whiteface Mountain, all located in New York’s Lake Placid region.
Event Fact File
- Event Date: September 15-16, 2012
- Team Size: 2-6 Hikers
- Fundraising Goal: $1,000/hiker
The Mountains:
- Morgan Mountain, NY – 3,458 ft. New for 2012!
- Scarface Mountain, NY – 3,088 ft. New for 2012!
- Whiteface Mountain, NY – 4,867 ft.
New this year all three peaks are located in the Lake Placid area of New York. You team will arrive on Saturday morning to climb Morgan and Scarface Mountains and then have an early morning start on Sunday for a finish around noon at the base of Whiteface Mountain. We will celebrate your efforts on Sunday with an early afternoon lunch and reception so you can either be back home by dinner, or stay and enjoy Lake Placid!
All funds raised will go to projects supported by The COINS Foundation. The costs of this event are fully sponsored by COINS, so 100% of the funds you work so hard to raise will go directly to the chosen projects.
The aim of The COINS Foundation is building infrastructure for successful communities. In this regard, the projects focus on building and maintaining: Schools, Hospitals, and Homes.
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Tough Towner – Jackson Hole, WY, October 12, 2013
February 6th, 201325 Most Insane Sports
January 18th, 2013I saw this on Facebook from one of my friends and had to re-post it to our blog! Its amazing how social media has changed the world and the ability to learn about new sports. I think I may have heard of only 3 of the 25. Check it out!
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Get ready for some teambuilding and brainstorming—corporate group travel is heating up again
January 15th, 2013The following article is from Forbes and was posted April 4, 2012. It shows the trending resurgence and the “come-back” of the corporate retreat market. As this article was nearly a year ago, we are seeing consistent increases in inquiries and request for Grand Dynamics team building and leadership retreats in the corporate retreats. Headquartered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with offices and services world-wide, Grand Dynamics offers amazing retreat experiences at some of the finest resorts in the country including Spring Creek Ranch, The Four Seasons and Amangani.
Get ready for some teambuilding and brainstorming—corporate group travel is heating up again as companies (long skittish about the stigma known as the “AIG effect”) are slowly resuming retreats and conventions in luxury resort locations. The market for upscale working retreats had been essentially frozen for years, following public outcry about AIG’s half-million dollar retreat in 2008—taken just days after the insurance giant accepted $85 billion in federal bailouts.
ARIA Resort & Casino’s meetings wing. Photo courtesy of MGM Resorts International.
Group business travel fell off dramatically during the recession and has been slower to rebound than individual business travel, according to Joseph Bates, senior director of research at the Global Business Travel Association. But that’s changing, he says. Group travel spending went up nearly 8 percent in 2011 and is expected to continue to rise in 2012. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s back to the status quo—retreat trips are coming back smaller, shorter and with much fuller agendas than before, Bates says. “No one is really looking at resuming pre-recession extravagance,” he says. “There’s a balance.”
A recent upswing in business travel to Las Vegas is a sure sign of corporate travel’s comeback, Bates says. Companies that long avoided Las Vegas because it could be perceived as too much fun are now starting to relax a bit, he says. Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas is a popular spot for corporate groups and is seeing more visitors now. The LEED Gold-certified resort has a 300,000 square-foot meeting facility spread over three floors, as well as a business services center to cater to the companies meeting here. As for Las Vegas’ fun reputation—ARIA offers retreat attendees four pools, restaurants from Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Michael Mina, Cirque du Soleil’s VIVA Elvis show and the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Spa & Salon at ARIA.
The St. Regis Monarch Beach. Photo courtesy of Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
A longtime corporate travel destination, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., currently owes 60 percent of its business to corporate trips, according to Meredith Whatley, the resort’s marketing coordinator. While the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star property hosts meetings, trade shows and conventions, small corporate retreats are currently on the rise, she says. These working retreats include meetings, of course, but also entail creative brainstorming and teambuilding activities (think cooking classes, golf tournaments and rock climbing) on the 3,000-acre resort.
The increasing luxury travel trend is even being seen at resorts that have made the news. Set in the coastal bluffs of Dana Point, Calif., The St. Regis Monarch Beach (the site of the much-maligned AIG meeting) is drawing increasing numbers of small-scale retreats for product launches or general workplace education, according toBrad Doell, director of sales and marketing at the hotel. The Five-Star resort is well-suited for doing business, with indoor and outdoor reception space—terraces rim the high-tech boardrooms and ballrooms—and a 24-hour staffed business center offering secretarial services. If meetings end early enough, corporate travelers can head for the oceanfront golf course, Michael Mina’s Stonehill Tavern or the Five-Star spa—perks are back, after all. —By Sarah White
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The Tough Towner Media Contest captures the moments of the first inaugural Jackson Hole Obstacle Course Race
October 30th, 2012The inaugural Tough Towner took place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on October 20th, 2012. This event was comprised of 25 obstacles located in 5 primary locations over 4 miles throughout the town of Jackson.
If you took one of these photos below send your name and email to info at granddynamics.com because, YOU WON! Claim your gifts from Grand Dynamics, D&D Camera Corral, Mountain Khaki, Stio, Studio X, Bubbas, Dragon Lady T’s and more!
Thank you for all those who have submitted photos and media. If you have some great pictures please SHARE THEM with us! Email them to us, post on the Grand Dynamics Facebook page, etc. We would like to have a great archive of photos to get people excited about the next one!
Which, by the way, a Spring Tough Towner is in the works!
Stay tuned and get on our email list if you aren’t already!
Here are some of out favorite and best photos from the first Tough Towner!
But first, a HUGE THANK-YOU to our sponsors.
Tough Towner Obstacles and Sponsors
FThe Olympus TG-810 Tough 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom goes to…
Best Overall Action Photo: by Jack Wiley Photography
Overcoming Obstacles and Racing to the Finish
This graphic depiction of an epic race between Dale Hoyt and Chris Betsinger, for second and third place, tells the tale perfectly. Overcoming obstacles, the two battled all the way to the finish line where the winners came in one second apart. The ultimate finish!
Mr. Mayor meets Tuffy
Mayor Mark Barron meets Tuffy and offers words of inspiration to Tough Towners as he kicks off the Fun Class of the inaugural Jackson Hole event! Clearly Tuffy is very excited. Thank you Mr. Mayor and the Town of Jackson for support of the Tough Towner!
“Let’s Get Tough” – The Ultimate Mountain Warm-Up intro to the Tough Towner!
Featuring Stephen “Disco” Koch
Video by Caren Ware – Itz About Time
We’re from the Future
Out of Terror Tunnel and into the future comes Alex Carr, the Quintessential Jacksonite. Photo: Marshall White
Zombie Bees created quite the BUZZ!
Best Team Photo by Jarad Spackman. Who can forget the Zombie Bees?! Great fun and buzzing energy from all the ladies throughout the day. Would you rather be the bee or the flower?
-Reaching New Heights-
Tough Towner 4 Year Old and Sister traverse the Save the Males monkey bars en route to being the youngest person to complete the course!
Who was the Toughest Towner? This guy
#1 SAM FAIRLEIGH – Sam overcame obstacles and ran away with the lead, coming in at 33:33, more than 4 minutes faster than the second place finisher! Nice work Sam!
Take a bite of the Sandpit Sandwich!
Served up by the Jackson Hole Community School.
Feel the Fever!
Campana Style!
Tough Karma?
Local Jacksonite Stewart Soleman works through the Karma Krawl by Inversion Yoga: Photo by Jonathan Krosby Best Tuffy Sighting! As you can see he gets excited seeing people crawl through the mud!
Mountain Chicken says, “More Cowbell!”
This Crazy Chicken deserved the More Cowbell Award! Nice work Eric Carr in the Mountain Khaki chicken suit! Photo by Caren Ware
A Tough Team
What a fun team! Caren Ware, our official race timer, spreads her wings with a few of the Grand Dynamics Tough Towner team and volunteers. Thank you to ALL our outstanding staff and volunteers!
And the Best Video goes to:
Jackson Hole Adventure Video: The Tough Towner!
Overcome Your Obstacles!
Experience the Tough Towner!
Coming Again Spring 2012!
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What is the Tough Towner obstacle course race in Jackson Hole?
October 25th, 2012Here is the answer! Check out this SHORT POWER PACKED Video about the Tough Towner Jackson Hole: The Ultimate Community Obstacle Course Race. The design of this event is based on a community engagement model that also combines adventure, fun and teamwork. More about that later. For now, enjoy this awesome video produced by JH Adventure Video!
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Tough Towner Team Division Results (controversy incuded)
October 25th, 2012Hi Everyone!
Here are the Tough Towner Jackson Hole Obstacle Course Race team results for the fast and fun classes. I want to point out a few things about the team divisons of the Tough Towner, because there was a mis-print in the JH News and Guide about the results of the Team Division.
The JH News stated that the winner was Inversion Yoga team, which is incorrect. Here’s why. Simply stated, the inversion Yoga team AND the Fire Rescue teams had overall very fast team times, and the fastest if you were to take the average combined time of the individual team members on that team. However their teammates did not stay together or finish together. While it is important to celebrate and recognize their time, those teams did not win based on our criteria. And yes, we realize that this is the first year and perhaps this could have been etched in stone before the race and placed on a tablet somewhere near the starting line, but we did post an answer to that FAQ on our web-site.
Per our Frequently Asked Question about teams PRIOR to the race, the Grand Dynamics Tough Towner web site CLEARLY STATES:
“For this event, we are defining the winning team as a group of 4 or more people. Which means, for the team category, the fastest team of 4 or more participants who register as a team, and start and finish together, will win the Tough Towner Team division.” KEY WORDS HERE ARE START AND FINISH TOGETHER.
And when we asked TUFFY, (which without a doubt Tuffy has the final call) he said that the most important part of the TEAM DIVISION is doing the course as a team! Team concepts such as helping each other, sticking together and finishing together are important aspects of being a winning team, and not just individual performance as a collective group, which Inversion Yoga team would have won if this was the criteria, which it wasn’t.
Therefore, based on THIS CRITERIA, we want to state clearly that the winning team for the Tough Towner, as announced at the award ceremony, is team MUDSLINGER. CONGRATULATIONS TEAM MUDSLINGER!
And for that matter, Congratulations to ALL TOUGH TOWNER TEAMS! Let’s take this all with a grain of salt, people! Remember that this is the first Tough Towner Jackson event, and the purpose is to have fun, challenge each other and build community. Of course a little controversy is to be expected somewhere, but lets keep the eye on the prize!
43:18 43:19 43:19 ( 43:20) ( 43:20) = 2:09:56
RYAN BURKE, JARAD SPACKMAN, JESSE ROY, BRANDON SPACKMAN, CHRISTIAN BECKWITH
This winning team includes TWO MAIN SPONSOR REPRESENTATIVES, Jarad Spackman who headed up Take the Plunge obstacle entrance into the Rodeo Grounds, as well as JESSE ROY of Couloir Construction, who built the majority of the walls in the Course.
Below are the Team Results for overall timing for the remainder of teams. The times indicate whether they were together at the finish or not. Here are the TEAM TIMES!
The TEAM Results – Fast Division
—————————————————————————-
1. INVERSION YOGA
33:33 39:59 40:19 ( 40:48) ( 44:50) = 1:53:51
SAM FAIRLEIGH, KATIE STEINBERG, MAREIKE FITZ, CASEY WILSON, MARY HOELSCHER
2. FIRE RESCUE
37:44 41:28 41:37 ( 51:22) ( 51:24) = 2:00:49
CHRIS BETSINGER, KEVIN SALYS, ZAC ELDRIDGE, ANDY ZIMMERMAN, TYLER DUNN
3. BRUISERS
40:36 44:32 44:33 = 2:09:41
JOSH GRIFFITH, HANNAH MEIER, BREE BUCKLEY
4. MUDSLINGER
43:18 43:19 43:19 ( 43:20) ( 43:20) = 2:09:56
RYAN BURKE, JARAD SPACKMAN, JESSE ROY, BRANDON SPACKMAN, CHRISTIAN
BECKWITH
5. TEAM BRECHEEN FITZGERALDS
45:28 45:29 53:17 ( 53:38) = 2:24:14
SAWYER GORDON, ERIC BRECHEEN, LUKE BRECHEEN, KATHY WATKINS
6. JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE
47:31 47:31 50:32 = 2:25:34
BENJAMIN GRAHAM, MILLER RESOR, MIKE KOSHMRL
The TEAM Results – Fun Division
—————————————————————————-
1. YEE HAW NATION
43:54 43:54 43:54 ( 43:54) ( 43:55) = 2:11:42
BRAD DICLEEY, CHRIS DICKEY, STEWART SOLEMAN, MICHELLE WMITH, ELLEN
TRAYLOR
2. WOLF PACK
43:55 44:29 47:53 = 2:16:17
MATTHEW TOMLINSON, ALLEN BOYER, TREVER SWINK
3. JACKALOPES
50:51 50:52 50:53 = 2:32:36
JACK DOORNBOS, PAULA CURRIE, SARAH DOORNBOS
4. JACKSON HOLE COMMUNITY SCHOOL
51:20 51:20 51:22 = 2:34:02
DAVID TORAN, CHERYL KATZ, TOM BRESNEHAN
5. ZOMBIE BEE
55:27 55:28 55:28 ( 56:40) ( 56:41) = 2:46:23
STEPHANIE SPACKMAN, CAMERON BARKER, ERIN GUERTIN, JILL LEITHER, MAIRE HERRON
6. STATE FARM ANIMALS
58:05 59:57 59:58 ( 59:59) (1:00:00) = 2:58:00
GRACE BROWN, KATIE MURPHY, ALLI WEBB, MEGAN RUMSEY, SAVIAN WADSWORTH
7. THE BIRD
1:01:06 1:01:07 1:01:13 (1:01:13) (1:01:14) = 3:03:26
SPAUDING, SPAUDING, DAN QUARK, SPAULDING, SPAULDING
8. ST. JOHN’S MEDICAL CENTER
1:01:14 1:01:14 1:01:14 (1:01:14) (1:02:09) = 3:03:42
JASON IRVINE, KELLY SCHROEDER, KRISTEN IRVINE, LUKE GANNON, HARRY SHIPP
9. TEAM TURBO
1:04:13 1:05:21 1:05:27 (1:05:28) = 3:15:01
TANYA MCNEEL, DANIELLE MCKENZIE, DAWN MANFREDI, HOPE RAY
10. MOUNTAIN KHAKIS CHICKEN DINNA
1:06:00 1:06:01 1:06:01 (1:06:01) = 3:18:02
ALYSON OVERBEY, TOBAY DETERMAN, ALEX CARR, ERIC CARR
11. FLYING B’S
1:08:12 1:08:12 1:13:06 = 3:29:30
TARA OSTERHOUT, LESLI POEHLER, CANDICE TRAUGHBER
Congratulations to all those awesome teams!
Tim Walther
Tough Towner Course Director
Grand Dynamics International
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