A man was left stranded on a mountain by his colleagues in a work retreat gone badly wrong

Weather conditions on the mountain made it hard, the group said, and the helicopter, “despite flying several search patterns throughout the area did not detect any sources of artificial light apart from search teams anywhere on the mountain.”

By 9 a.m. the next morning they had found nothing, and a call went out to nine further search and rescue groups statewide.

But just as those groups set out, the man regained cell service and managed to make a 911 call, Chaffee County Search and Rescue South wrote.

The man was in bad shape, saying he’d fallen more than 20 times and had ended up in a gully, unable to get up. But the call allowed the group to locate him and perform a complex rescue, they said.

“This hiker was phenomenally lucky to have regained cell service when he did, and to still have enough consciousness and wherewithal to call 911,” the post said.

In recent years, company retreats have come under increasing scrutiny for overzealous team-building exercises, some of which have pushed the limits and, at times, undermined their own purpose.

There have also been notable injuries, like when employees walked over hot coals during a 2022 retreat, and hedonistic excess, as multiple former WeWork staffers told Business Insider in 2019.

Industry experts recommend planning a mix of group activities combined with downtime and work-related sessions.