Winter Camp 2016: slopes + spas + parties + [...] = pure pleasure!

First of all, let's remember that a spontaneous photo is worth more than a thousand well-measured words. And as proof, the photos from Jasná 2016 posted on our Facebook page were viewed a lot, not only by our colleagues who missed this Winter Camp, but especially by the 101 lucky participants: https://goo.gl/VrbKXQEven so, I was randomly selected by our persuasive colleague Krisz to write a summary about this year's Winter Camp, an event that's already deeply imprinted in Qubiz's BIOS/biorhythm.I shall try to do it IT style:

Jasná, Slovakia has successfully accomplished three versions of Qubiz Winter Camp: Pre-alpha (2014), Alpha (2015) and Beta (2016). And because it is in high demand, we look forward for at least an "Open and closed beta" or "RC – Release Candidate" in 2017/2018. After that, there's a good chance the "Release to world-wide-winter (RTW)" version to be launched in Austria.

From TFS board to snowboard

Another reason for taking into account the wonderful Austrian glaciers next time could be global warming: when we embarked on buses for Jasná – in mid-February, mind you – the forecast threatened us with aqua-skiing in a genuine muddy spring camp style. Last chance to choose what to take with us from Qubiz's basement: the skis or the bikes? Never mind, we thought, Jasná was expecting us with an indoor aqua park – Tatralandia; a spectacular and rain-proof cave – Liberty; a Spa hotel with big windows facing 2000+ meters high snowy cliffs; and last but not least – a bar with fresh & tasty Slovakian beer that has fueled our thoughts of sunny days full of creaky snow... In fact, on the 4th and last day, 14 ultimate ski survivors, including three kids, enjoyed clear sky and fresh snow until noon, when we had to come back home.

No NullReferenceException*

With so many options, nobody found a minute of boredom in Jasná. Indeed, the first two days were quite cloudy, with rounds of rain in the nearby touristic town of Liptovský Mikuláš and up to the altitude of roughly 1.400 m. We also encountered a dynamic fog moving up and down the Chopok mountain with no respect to any known algorithm... But do not forget that we are Agile and well-trained to cope with clouds and clusters!So we adapted our slope-routes to fix this foggy bug. At least most of us, because there were some valid exceptions. We should call them NullReferenceException because they revealed the stubbornness and the strength of a Bull Warrior in learning to ski on the lowest slopes, where the rain had liquified the snow and their clothes, creating puddles everywhere on the ski track... So they proved again that they can work in hard conditions, earning our deepest respect. As a future gratification for them: next winter they will have the skills to go up to the higher slopes, where the views are really great and the air doesn't need Ctrl+F5... Did I mention the bar/restaurant that's sometimes placed above the clouds? Well, they have pretty good hot wine/chocolate + beer for non-skiers (you don't want to drink that bladder-filling stuff and then go on the slopes).

As a more immediate gratification though, the beginners and the more experienced skiers all had the chance to recover in the evening in a nice & hot pool with jacuzzi and sauna. This relaxing session quickly turned into swimming contests, not to mention the "washing machine-ing" challenge: how many underwater tumbles you can perform in a row. The record was an incredible 10 – but don't try this at home!*The person editing this blog post – a mere marketer with limited to no technical knowledge – has no idea whether this reference to "NullReferenceException" is funny, or if it makes sense at least, but he assumes it does.

Happy birthdays

Another perk of this year's Winter Camp was a party "on the expense" of our colleagues Alex, Ioana & Marcel, who all celebrated their birthdays in February. According to the reports, the cake was a little bit too sweet, so the partygoers had to balance it with wine and beer (don't judge). Of course, this good equilibrium lasted only up to a point – the dancing moves we captured in some of the pics show, let's say, a more freestyle approach to balance... But nobody was hurt. Anyway, happy birthday, folks!

Hospitality not hospital

Instead of a conclusion, I'd like to note the good organisation our support team managed to pull off, leaving no room for blocking issues. Another plus is that we had no "heroes" on the slopes, perhaps thanks to the cautious Timo who warned everybody to have the medical insurance flyer in the pocket "just în case you have to go directly from the ski track to the hospital"… As a result, the Qubiz Team counted just one notable fall, which caused only a minor injury anyway.

As a final thought: we tend to think of ourselves as Bruce Lee's, but this time we realised that we're more like Bruce Schneider (who is way funnier if you ask me).

Cristi H.

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