Backcountry Backstory

New challenges are often chief among the reasons why people tell us they seek adventure. The thrill of overcoming obstacles, learning to get the most from our gear and ourselves. Much of this desire is rooted in self-sufficiency; in being responsible for our own outcomes.

Many of our weekend adventures are made possible through grinding it out at the office during the week. We often find ourselves facing a hard line between business and pleasure. We want more adventure. What better way to get more adventure than to start and adventure-based business?

After a quick introduction earlier this year, I found myself continuing to talk about adventure-based business with Patrick at Teton Backcountry Rentals. The conversation turned into something worth sharing. Hope you enjoy!

You’d been living in Jackson, WY, for a while. You’d fallen in love with the Tetons and lifestyle. You invited your closest friends out from Boston to experience your little slice of heaven. What happened on the gear front and how did you guys make do?

I had actually only been living in Jackson for a few months, but I had an entrepreneurial mindset and was on the hunt to fill a need and create a business for myself in Jackson. When friends visited and there was nowhere for them to rent avalanche safety gear, I made a website and started renting out my own gear.

It quickly became obvious that summertime would be a better season to focus on. I knew I needed a bit of help, financially and in terms of manpower. I started to attend local entrepreneurship meet-ups with the goal of finding a business partner.

I met Jacques Li at one of these events, and we started working together to see if we’d be a good team. A few months later he signed on and bought into the company. That first summer, we rented camping gear on a delivery basis out of my house—actually out of my bedroom. It was kind of a mess, but we made it work. We were able to buy more gear as the summer went on.

We enlisted Jacques’s friend Noah to grow and expand our website, which made a huge difference in terms of reach and who could find us. We continued to operate on a delivery basis over the winter, and prepared to move into a storefront for the summer of 2015.

We have continued to grow, and are finally in a more permanent store front. We are always trying to expand our rental offerings, including renting trucks with pop-up campers!

The idea for Teton Backcountry Rentals was born. So many of us yearn for the freedoms associated with owning a business, especially one closely related to our passions (see this magazine). We get the ideas. We see others living the dream. But ideas not backed by hard work and dedication seldom pan out. How did you go about turning your dream into a reality? What steps did you take to get the TBR ball rolling?

I knew that I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship in Jackson, and when the idea for a gear rental service came about, I decided to sink my teeth into it. For the first year, I continued to work other jobs, spinning pizzas and other odd gigs.

Getting Jacques on the team was a big part of setting us up for success. I personally work much better in a team scenario and creating a core TBR team added components of accountability that helped us grow quicker than if it were just me doing it all alone. We were confident that we could grow organically into a reliable outdoor gear rental company in Jackson. We knew it would just take time, dedication, and thoughtful planning.

This is only our third year in business, so there are still a lot of unknowns, and plenty of hard work to be done. We have a lot of room to grow and improve in the future!

tbr_storefront

Jackson Hole doesn’t seem like a very big place. What were those entrepreneur meetups like? Aside from finding a direct partner in Jacques, did you make any other useful connections? Are there any risks to going to those meetups?

The meet-ups were pretty casual. They meet the first Monday of every month at a local bar. The group is called Silicon Couloir. There was usually a featured speaker or two, and then an opportunity to network and meet people.

I got the opportunity to meet a lot of different entrepreneurs around town. More than establishing any super helpful connections relevant to TBR, it gave me insight into the possibilities that entrepreneurship allowed in Jackson. People were taking chances and pursuing ideas all across the spectrum!

The meetups sound pretty chill—and easy to remember! Same place, same time, same day of each month. How big was the group? Would you recommend our fellow adventurists look up groups like these where they live? What should they look for in a group? And are you still involved with Silicon Couloir? I wonder how your role might have evolved.

The group size range from 10 to 50 people depending on the night and who was slated to speak. I think groups like this are great for people new to a community looking to make connections and break in on the business front. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about their community and where the entrepreneurial minds are focusing.

I am still involved, but honestly I do not attend as much as I did when I first moved to town. There are definitely a couple things causing that.

During the summer, I work a lot! So when I get out of work I want to hit the trails, whether that is on the mountain bike, on foot, or in the truck to head out into the forest for a camp fire. After working for 10 hours I’m not super excited to go sit in a dark bar at 6 P.M. when it will be light out for the next 3-4 hours. I am a much more frequent attendee in the winter months when I get my exercise during the day!

tbr_teton_sunrise

Did you know you wanted to rent trucks from the get go? How did that idea take shape, and where do you see the business going overall?

I had no idea I wanted to rent trucks when I started the business. When I incorporated TBR, I had no idea I even wanted to rent summer camping gear. Everything has evolved from the original idea of renting winter backcountry safety equipment. Summer gear rentals became obvious very quickly once I got to know Jackson and its local economy a bit better.

Last summer I bought a Phoenix Pop Up camper for my Toyota Tacoma because I was sick of getting rained and snowed on while I was car camping. I wanted a winter-ready solution. I loved the concept and ease of having a solid weather-proof camp always attached to my truck.

After experiencing it for a couple months I was totally sold and starting thinking how I could incorporate this into the business. No one else in Jackson was renting rigs like this, so I decided I would give it a try and work towards having another rig to rent for summer 2016. We are booking up for this summer, so with any luck hopefully we can have another option to add to the fleet for next year! The goal is to keep growing!

Curious: how many of your customers, trucks, snowboards, etc., are first timers vs. experts? For example, how many people have overlanding rigs at home but flew in and rented from you? Like, how many people have what you offer, but get it from TBR. Why is that?

The majority of people who rent from us are pretty much first-timers. We definitely get customers that are experienced campers and mountaineers who do not want to travel with their bulky gear, but the majority of our customers are excited to try something new, and we help them do that. A lot of people fly into Jackson. We specialize in full outfitting so people don’t need to fly with gear- just their personal clothing and footwear!

We have not had any renters yet that have their own overland rigs. Most people are either interested in testing it out with dreams of owning one in the future, or just people who are really enticed by the opportunity to camp in this gorgeous ecosystem with the convenience and luxury of truck camper.

phoenix_popup_tbr_exterior phoenix_popup_interior_tbr

It sounds like you’ve long been the winter sports kinda guy. When you say the summer gear became pretty obvious, how so? Were you getting inquiries for items you didn’t stock? Did you find yourself looking for something to do in the “off season?” I’m curious how you discovered the need and adapted the business.

Winter sports, specifically snowboarding and splitboarding are my biggest passions. I try to spend as many days as possible on the snow every year. When winter sports people think of Jackson Hole, they obviously think skiing at this famous resort, but it turns out that summertime in Jackson is about four times as busy due to the national park traffic.

If anything, wintertime is the “offseason” in Jackson, and I love it! Jackson acts as a portal for both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, as well as all the other fun summer activities that draw people to the area like rafting, biking, fishing.

Another big factor that affects the shear numbers in Jackson between the two main seasons are just general demographics. It costs a whole lot of money to fly a family out to Wyoming, pay for them to stay in a hotel, and then pay for a $130 lift ticket for each person, each day. Coming on a camping trip through the national parks can be much more affordable, and so the summer inherently attracts a wider range of visitors.

A lot of these visitors want to camp, but not all of them have the appropriate gear. Either they just don’t own it, are new to it, or are flying in and do not want to carry it. We quickly realized that there were some gaps in the offerings that local outfitters were bringing to the table, so we decided to enter the market with the goal of being able to completely outfit car-campers, backpackers, and mountaineers.

I’m going to assume the shortest truck rental so far has been one, maybe two nights. How long has the longest rental been? Toyota trucks are known for their toughness and reliability. How well have they held up to so much use?

The longest rental has been four days. So far, the trucks are holding up great.

There have obviously been some kinks where renters are not accustomed to the troubleshooting involved with using any type of camper or RV. Nothing crazy has happened, and everything has provided a good learning experience for us.

The biggest thing I have learned is to never assume what people already know! I think I’ll be better suited to answer this question at the end of September! We are still in the early phases of this rental program, but it is already obvious that we should be trying to expand for next summer.

tbr_foursome_tetons tbr_couple_mountains

Looking ahead to that summer 2017 expansion, what are you considering sure-things? What’s in the all-depends category? And what does that depend on?

We will definitely be expanding our rental fleet with the goal to add a new adventure vehicle. There are still some things up in the air with that, in the sense that I am unsure of what vehicle we want to add. We could certainly add another Toyota truck and keep that going, but it is tempting to mix it up a bit and outfit a 4×4 Sprinter van!

We also have the goal of opening another small rental shop located in West Yellowstone, Montana. That whole plan is very much up in the air, but we will certainly have a more definitive direction by September. This definitely depends on how strong the summer finishes and if we can find a suitable location for our seasonal needs up there.

What advice would you offer any of our fellow adventurists looking to start their own businesses?

I’ve learned that running your own business is not something to be taken lightly. You are always on call and always have something that needs attention.

On the flip side of that, with the right mindset and entrepreneurial spirit, you can shape your schedule and life around what is most important to you, and if everything goes as planned, create a career for yourself that makes you excited to get out of bed everyday.

Understand the realities of what truly committing to your business will mean, learn as much as you can from people who have come before you, and jump in head first!

view_mountain_lake_tetons_tbr

Adventure is where you find it.

And you can find it just about everywhere. It can be as complex as a global expedition or downsizing the family into an RV. And it can be as simple as taking a different route to work or trying a new restaurant.

For some, the call of adventure is something they cannot leave for the weekends. Their passion for the great outdoors runs wild. When the opportunity to make a living helping others better enjoy their adventures comes around, it can be irresistible. It’s one of the reasons we started Adventurist Life. And it’s why stories like those of Patrick and the Teton Backcountry Rentals team resonate with us.

Have you started your own adventure-based business? Would you like to? Get in touch and tells us more!

Why Do We Seek Adventure?

Who am I to talk?

I posed the following to the American Adventurist community:

If adventure is a sliding scale of “looking for trouble/challenges/obstacles,” why do you seek it out? In other words, if the journey is the destination, why would you set a course for such a challenging destination?

This is a sampling of what they had to say. It was all awesome. These are our people. Adventurists like us.

NOTE: All images used on this post are stock photos from Pixabay selected to give you an idea what kind of photography we’re after for your article submissions. (Yes. This is your adventure magazine. You are invited to pitch us stories. Ping us for more information.)

Hard to say why

Malamute: It’s hard to say why. It just seems a compulsion at times—a natural draw. For others, they don’t understand why some seek adventure. I don’t know if I can really describe the why part for me.

Why don’t you?

9_woods_time_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116 2_forest_pixabay_2000_cc0_071116 9_tent_time_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

 

Jesse: There are so many reasons.

Both Debbie and I grew up in the small logging town of Colville,WA. Her father ran a logging company and she would often go out with him on jobs while growing up, spending a lot of time exploring the outdoors. My father, on the other hand, was a forester working for the state in the same town, then in his retirement as an interpretive guide for several national parks over the years. While I didn’t go out with him on the job, we did spend a lot of time outdoors hiking and camping. Through our fathers we both learned a love of the outdoors and adventure.

Fast forward 30 years after leaving town, we both work in the tech industry and spend our weekdays driving desks, our kids have all moved out, and we live in suburbia. So now we spend our weekends and vacations seeking both the outdoor adventures we had as kids and at the same time seeing the places we’ve always dreamed of. Not only outdoors, but most of it.

Growing up, I would often mention how I wanted to go somewhere or do something. My father would simply respond with “So, why don’t you?” With that question, the unobtainable became plans, then became attainable, then became action, then became reality.

I guess it all boils down to escape, adventure, exploration, inspiration, and curiosity.

International bribery & corruption

view of a small town, church

Phoenix: I work in international bribery and corruption. My day job is dry, my family life is fairly active, but not too many surprises. I realize I should thank God and my wife for the lack of surprises in this category.

I live in a 21st century Mayberry. Yes we actually have annual block parties. If I don’t put some challenges in my life, I’m not challenged. Who wants to live a life that doesn’t involve learning new things, having experiences outside the norm, or stretching your capabilities? All of these things help to make my life fuller, and better prepared to handle surprises.

The pure sense of living

4_afghanistan_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116 4_cliff_straight_up_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

Buckwilk: There was a time when life was an adventure every day. Early man lived a serious adventure just in order to survive. For me, that adrenaline rush has been an important part of my life. When undertaking a risk my senses peak, my attention heightens, my brain fires. I can feel the blood in my veins, the call on my body. A big part of adventure is fear and all that entails. Facing and overcoming fear is an absolute blast. Very little in life compares.

I remember the first time I jumped from a slick, took fire, buried my face as far as it would go in the mud. Prayed that if I got out of this alive I would… Maybe you know the drill? The pure sense of living, of breathing, of surviving made my life exciting. Lived it for 5 tours in C.A. Chased that feeling ever since.

Found it on big walls in Yosemite, waves on the north shore, cliff jumping at Squaw Valley. Hang gliding the face at Heavenly Valley, diving out of airplanes, driving most every trail in the Sierra with some of the best folks ever. Wheels under and one in front of you, friends and family along, adventure shared, what’s not to love?

Escape

5_like_minds_beach_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

RoamingRobertsons: In a word, escape.

I get plenty of interaction everyday with a wide variety of people but many are self-centered jackholes. I look for adventure for relaxation and to escape the jackholes. Think of the obstacles as barriers for those people. The more obstacles, whether physical barrier or something as simple as cellular service, the more likely I am to find peace.

It also appears much of the good stuff to see takes some effort to get to it. As a result, when I encounter people, they tend to be like-minded, reasonable people seeking the same thing as I and appreciating the same things as I. Thus, whether I am alone or at an organized event of like-minded individuals, I can escape nonetheless.

Overcoming obstacles

6_obstacles_truck_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

4x4x4doors: For the same reasons one plays a board game.

There is self-satisfaction in confronting the obstacle, analyzing the alternatives and finding one that allows you to get to the next piece of the adventure with the knowledge of the latest challenge overcome. Unlike a RPG, you’re dealing with real life-sized playing pieces and characters.

What if?

bike_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116 canoe_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116 cliff_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

Dean: For the sake of the new. Exploring new places. Seeing new things. Accumulating new experiences. Meeting new people. Developing new skills. None of those things can happen from the safety of home.

We live in a commercially driven consumeristic society that is hell bent on the accumulation of monetary wealth. Maybe it’s the philosopher or the poet inside me, but I think there’s more to life than stuff and that the measure of a man has nothing to do with the size of his bank account. Consequently too many people become rooted in their location and question the sanity of those without roots. I’ve lived in a lot of places, that variety has added to the breadth and depth of my experiences and knowledge. It’s shaped me into who I am. The more I travel the more I grow. I’m not lost, I’m exploring. I’m discovering. I’m discovering just as much about myself as I am the world around me.

Far too often we sit and wonder ‘what if?’ I got tired of that. I realized I was growing more uncomfortable with my complacency (see above) than I was fearing the unknown. I decided that I wanted to seek out those ‘what if’ moments and answer them. What lies down that dusty old road? Let’s find out. What if I take a month long trip down the coast? Let’s find out. What lies just over that horizon…

8_the_view_L_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116 8_the_view_R_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

It’s personal

Dave: I think adventure means different things to different people. It’s personal.

For me, I love extremes of terrain and climate and weather. I love a physical challenge (thus my military career) as well as an intellectual challenge. I flog my truck across vast landscapes challenging it and myself as I search out new places – and revisit old ones again and again because they speak to me. And when it sucks because the terrain is rough or there is weather, I feel alive.

Adventure is sharing these challenges with friends and seeing the light in their eyes as they see these places for the first time, when I see that they too feel the passion, the mania, that I have for these extremes of clime and place.

Adventure is many things to me. A new trail, a new vista, a hidden oasis. Something as improbable as finding Koi fish in a hidden pond near Death Valley where they should not be, or millions of flowers in a barren desert.

Adventure is a feeling. It’s an addiction. It’s when you zig when you should have zagged only to find out that you’ve just stumbled upon the perfect campsite or viewpoint and now your entire schedule and the weekend’s priorities have been rearranged because this new place requires it. It requires you to stay, to grok all that it is, to linger and drink it in. To abide.

Adventure is getting hammered by an unexpected storm and saying to yourself in a panic “Oh shit, we’re not prepared,” and then jury-rigging a way to get through it with a smile, looking back on the hilarity of your predicament and the way everyone came together with pride.

Adventure happens. Seek it. Embrace it. Because when you’re not having any adventures, life has no flavor. The ensuing ennui is unbearable, driving us up and out there once more to get our fix.

That’s what Adventure means to me.

It’s all been said

9_solitude_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

TheCelt: It’s all been said. It’s all that’s been said in the post[s] above.

I don’t really like a lot of people A-holes, jerks, you get the point. I’ve grown up as a military kid going here and there, and I’ve grown very tired and sick of the city life. I want to be far away from it. The time we (son & me) spend in the mountains is pure it’s uncluttered with the noise. It’s pure bliss I can see my boy is in his elements out in the woods. My adventure is family time as I work out of town most of the time, weeks and months at a time home every weekend it’s time for my family.

Time is running out

RAX: You only have so many years. Why not see everything you can in that time?

McDowra: To experience a freedom that most never will have a clue about.

Team Balls Out: New places and the great escape!

Chase the horizon

10_chase_the_horizon_2000_pixabay_cc0_071116

RoamingTimber: To escape, to run for the horizon, to see the vast expanses, the open spaces, the places where the earth still rules man, where survival rests on my own skills, where life exists in each moment as it happens, where the air is pure, the water cold and clear, to live.

“What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.” – George Mallory 1922

goin camping: I just want to see what’s over that hill or around that corner.

Kevin probably said it best

Kevin: Because it is there.

See all the responses in the original thread on American Adventurist forums.