An employee-run, multi-day backpacking trip has become a hot ticket at McKinsey

In 2025, 65 McKinsey colleagues hiked Patagonia.

This year, 100 are headed to the Peaks of the Balkans.

Alex Harman Alex Harman started an unofficial hiking retreat, drawing McKinsey employees from around the world.

Trips involve backpacking across places like Kilimanjaro, Patagonia, and the Peaks of the Balkans.

The trips, which raise money for charity, help the attendees to unplug and connect with colleagues.

Alex Harman was on the last stretch of his trek to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania when he stopped on a steep part of the mountain.

He had gone to bed at 3 p.m. the day before and set his alarm for midnight to start hiking early.

Now the sun was coming up, so he stopped to have a snack and take in the view, alongside around 30 of his McKinsey colleagues , before continuing on to the summit.

"The top was great," he said, "but that moment there where we all stopped and just watched the sunrise was very cool." Harman, an AI product manager at McKinsey based in London, co-founded Mind Over Mountains, an employee-run initiative that gathers colleagues from around the world for a multi-day backpacking trip while raising money for charity.

It started with the Kilimanjaro trip in 2023 and continued with about 65 colleagues on a trek through Patagonia in 2025.

This year, 100 McKinsey employees are heading to the Peaks of the Balkans in September for an eight-day hike spanning about 62 miles, or 100 km, all coinciding with the elite management consulting firm's 100-year anniversary.

The first two trips were to Kilimanjaro and Patagonia.

Alex Harman The trips bring together McKinsey colleagues of all ages, experience levels, and roles, ranging from senior partners to entry-level analysts.

Anyone from the firm's 40,000-person workforce can sign up.