Humans of Bis – Bis Adventure Club
From the rainforest-covered, Indonesian archipelago island of Kalimantan, Indonesia, home of our GBU operation, has emerged a small group of Bis employees, who share a love of nature and desire for adventure.
The Bis Adventure Club formed naturally, “We all met through Bis and as we started to get to know each other more, we realised we all have the same hobby of mountaineering.” After sharing stories and experiences, they aligned schedules and decided to start planning their first mountaineering adventure.
The core hiking group includes Edi Sobrin (Project Manager), Agus Sudarta (Support Superintendent), Gamma Ariandy (Safety Supervisor) as the group chairman, Derza Wijaya Noor (Maintenance Planner) as the deputy and anyone game enough to join the crew on whatever adventure they dare to go on next.
For Agus, teamwork is not only a key success factor for the project they are working on at Bis, but connecting through this hobby has been a great way to come to know his colleagues, build respect and work better together in the workplace.
Motivating each other through health, fitness and achievement in life has been essential to maintaining good relationships inside and outside of work.
With varying experience, after warming up “tick-tock” to Mount Prau in Central Java, summiting Mount Gede in West Java was the first climb the team conquered together and remains a special day within the group. At the top they were treated to a great view of the Gede peak, as well as a field of edelweiss flowers which only grow at high altitudes in Europe and Asia. This first hike together spiked a desire to train harder and achieve more.
Just like at site, unity and good planning is key in preparing for treacherous and changing mountain conditions, as well as the unexpected. They unanimously agree though, there’s no piece of hiking kit the team needs more than a good team spirit. Derza said, “With a strong spirit and support from the team, we will reach the top.” This might mean sharing loads, delivering first aid to each other if injury occurs and keeping the group in good spirits.
Although the hikes are on a temporary hold while COVID-19 restricts travel, park openings and other protocols, the team still has many mountaineering dreams in sight. Next on the list is to hike Mount Semeru, the highest peak in Java, or one of the other seven summits in Indonesia. When travel becomes more accessible, they also hope to make it to Annapura Base Camp Trek, one of the world’s most known tracks beneath Mount Everest in Nepal.
The team is always open to new recruits. “We believe hiking is one of the activities that builds our character, mindset, humanity, and of course health and fitness. We’ve been inviting others to join us in the next journey, including members of the Bis Jakarta team and other site personnel” said Edi.
Reaching the summit is only getting the job half done, while the end of the journey is when arriving at home safely
We can’t wait to see what they achieve next!
