I have traveled to Africa more than 20 times and still haven’t made my way to some of the best-known safari destinations, like Kenya and Tanzania. I am sure the Great Migration is great, but I am more interested in visiting wilder, less touristed frontiers of countries like Madagascar and Ethiopia. When I met Chris Roche at the We are Africa conference a few years ago, I knew I’d found a kindred spirit. Roche, an alum of Wilderness, had just helped launch Wild Expeditions Africa, a collective of owner-run safari camps and expeditions operating in remote parts of Africa. He was surprised to learn that I’d already visited the collective’s founding properties: Lale’s Camp in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley, Camp Hwange in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, and Masoala Forest Lodge in Madagascar.

Since then, Wild Expeditions has added two additional camps, including a second four-room camp, Muddy Teak, in Hwange National Park and Karangoma in the northeastern arm of the Okavango Delta. Two years ago, Chris invited me to the Delta for the opening of Karangoma. The camp’s unique location between the waters of the Okavango and the vast northern woodlands means that it has a spectacularly diverse array of habitats, and the lack of visitors means the wildlife is, well, really wild.

It takes guts and passion to invest in these lesser known, off-the-beaten-path locations. Often the little guys go in and take the risks to see if a destination can work for tourism. If they succeed, the heavy hitters follow. I deeply admire people like Chris who are willing to lay the groundwork and support camps in these unconventional destinations. Here, he shares insights from his recent trip to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, possibilities for Angola, and the operators helping to provide an antidote to overtourism.

What inspired Wild Expeditions and how is the experience at your camps unique?
“We wanted to offer an alternative Africa experience – one that went beyond the traditional savannah safari destinations and considered less established destinations like Ethiopia and Madagascar desperately in need of conservation funding that can be generated by responsible tourism. Many businesses open where they see commercial opportunity and then think about the conservation need in the area. We look for a conservation need and then see if we can put in a viable commercial business. Camps in our collective are unpretentious. Everyone says authentic but I don’t even know what that means anymore. What we provide is a feeling of connectedness and that’s hard to market. One client said we go beyond the infinity pool and strip back the layers of luxury to take guests closer to the actual experience.

We strip back the unnecessary separation (brick and mortar for example) between the guest and nature and even between the guest and our staff. Guests should feel free to take off their shoes and get their feet dusty. Even though we offer game drives, we want people to walk on the ground rather than drive in an elaborate vehicle. We want them to hear the call of a hyena, not the whir of the AC. At day’s end, we want them sit by the fire under the stars and have conversations about conservation, culture and rural communities with our staff and other guests.

In this global epidemic of loneliness, I believe hospitality needs to have warmth, soul, and connection. A stay at one of our camps should feel like you’re being welcomed into a friend’s home. And that friend wants to share what they love. If we’re having dinner and we hear something, we’ll ask if the guests want to go find it. The other night we were on a night drive in Hwange and we spotted an aardvark and the guide had the guests lie on the ground to watch its movements. We believe flexibility and spontaneity allows for moments of serendipity and lasting memories.”

Why don’t we see bigger outfitters entering these untapped markets?
“The risk is high. The first person in has to subsidize access and you can lose a lot of money. You have to put a lot of capital into a destination, pay the school fees, build a solid infrastructure, and then gamble that people will actually come. If you succeed, everyone else follows and benefits. When someone goes in first you know it’s a labor of love.”

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These offbeat Africa destinations aren’t for everyone. Who is the right traveler for a Wild Expeditions property?
“We are not one size fits all. I think it is the traveler that has fallen in love with natural ecosystems and who wants to keep discovering new ones. They’ve seen the Big Five and trekked with the gorillas. They’ve visited the Pantanal in South America and the Outback in Australia and the cloud forests of Ecuador. I think more and more people have entered this vortex of fascination with the natural world through seeing the charismatic Big Five on safari and then graduate to the more nuanced niche experiences that we offer.

Everyone gets excited about the Galapagos. It’s a laboratory of evolution and it’s incredible, but Madagascar is next level. I think we all grew up with idea of lemurs. You can only find them in Madagascar—some 120 different species. And you can experience them in so many ecosystems. Take the sifaka. You can observe it in the dry spiny forest, the rainforest and the tsingy, each ecosystem with a different sifaka species slightly different from the last.”

What are your thoughts on the traditional sundowner ritual?
“I like a gin and tonic as much as the next person, but I find sundowners a distraction. I’d much rather be looking for wildlife.”

What about the trend of wellness in the wild?
“The wellness in the bush trend feels so ironic. Going into the bush has always been therapeutic. Wellness is not adding a cold plunge that the camp has to generate (energy-expensive) ice for. It’s walking in nature without the distraction of a screen. It’s simple.”

Can you share a bit about your newest addition, Muddy Teak?
“Muddy Teak is in the same private concession as Camp Hwange in Zimbabwe. It opened last year and is an exclusive-use camp with just four tents. This is subjective, but I believe luxury isn’t a Louis Vuitton bag. It’s the freedom of time and space and autonomy. At Muddy Teak, you’re not constrained to a schedule or itinerary. You can skip the morning game drive or decide to eat lunch out in the bush or stay up watching the animals that gather around the camp’s water hole. You are on your own schedule and don’t have to share it with anyone except who you choose.”

What should people consider when planning a wilderness-based trip to Africa?
“People have become distracted by the tents and lodges. If you want to go skiing, you don’t base your trip around the lodge. You find out if the destination has good powder in February and after that find the accommodations. Think about what you want to see and learn and how you want to experience it. Do you want to see a new species? Do you want to be removed from people? Do you want an experience that will create a closer connection to the wild? Do you want an experience that will make a difference to your life, and the lives of the community you visit? And don’t underestimate the importance of a good guide. The right guide brings a destination to life.”

What destinations in Africa are you excited about right now?
“I’m just back from Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique and it’s one of the best conservation projects on the continent. It was an absolute treat to visit. Lengue Luiana National Park in Angola will see the opening of Luiana Plains Expedition Camp later this year. That’s a 7-million-hectare corner of Angola that at the moment has around 50 lions and could have up to 3,000. That would increase the African lion population by 10% and would create another important lion conservation area. I see this as one of the most exciting scale opportunities for savannah conservation on the continent, whether for lions, giraffes, or elephants. There aren’t that many areas of that scale that aren’t densely populated. Why would Angola protect it from mining, rice irrigation, deforestation, and other threats if they don’t have a monetary incentive. Tourism has an opportunity to step up and created a different return for natural capital.”

Who do you think are the operators taking the risks and embracing the soul of safari?
“Simon Byron from Beagle Expeditions in Botswana. Edd Tucker Brown at Madagascar Classic Collection. Rubert Finch Hatton of Nomad Tanzania has an interesting new expedition camp, Charlie, in relatively new Ugalla River National Park. Machaba Safaris operate in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and they’re opening a new camp in Gabon. Expeditions Ducret runs a boat expedition on the Congo River. And in Kenya, family-owned Kalepo Camp and Campi ya Kanzi are making positive contributions, and Mohanjeet Brar at Porini Camps is taking an interesting approach to expanding the Mara ecosystem through community conservancies. Also check out Gorongosa Safaris in Mozambique. Operations like this are the overtourism antidote in Africa.”

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I’ll be the first to admit, I often overlook the natural treasures in my own backyard. I’ve traveled to far corners of the world, yet there’s so much to be explored right at home. It often takes a friend from another country to remind me of the incredible landscapes and rich cultural experiences just a short drive away. My British friend, Eliza, recently talked me into taking an RV trip around the Pacific Northwest this summer. I immediately called Sam Highley, the founder of All Roads North, a company that specializes in custom, high-end U.S. road trips. Highley is also a Brit. He relocated to New England for his wife’s job and was blown away by the diversity of the U.S. He saw an opportunity to elevate the classic, all American road trip experience and in 2014 launched All Roads North. Now based in California, Highley spends much of the year exploring the country. Here, he shares the U.S. hotel and lodge openings he’s most anticipating, how he delivers unique experiences even in the busiest national parks, and why the American South deserves more attention from travelers.

How has All Roads North evolved over the years? Have you seen a shift in what travelers are looking for in a road trip?
“When we launched, we were creating itineraries that linked five-star properties. So we’d draw a line from Amangiri in Utah to Dunton Hot Springs in Colorado to Amangani in Wyoming. But there are so many interesting places in between. We’ve taken great care and time to find small, family run B&Bs and boutique lodges that we can pair with those higher-end stays. We have found that people want properties that have character and personality. Even luxury properties can start to feel cookie cutter, replicated multiple times across a brand. Travelers want more than luxury bells and whistles within four walls. They are looking for a journey…and experience. For example, we just had one client book a luxury ranch vacation but they paired it with a truly wild pack trip. Those kinds of itineraries are becoming more common.”

How often are you on the road seeking out new experiences and lodges?
“Every year we try to bite off a couple of recce trips. I just got back from Vermejo, Ted Turner’s reserve in New Mexico. We really try to look beyond the obvious. It’s the place, but also the people, we get excited about and often it’s the story behind a property that makes it right for our clients.”

Amangiri really proved that you can do luxury in the U.S. in a remote, wilderness setting. What new or forthcoming five-star properties are you excited about?
“Amangiri is still the leader in singular destination properties. They really set the bar. Utah’s luxury lodging options are about to explode. Abercrombie & Kent has plans for A&K Sanctuary in Moab, Utah and Six Senses has announced Camp Korongo, an Amangiri-esque property in Kanab, Utah. It’s exciting to see some of the big, high-end brands coming to the U.S. for the first time like One & Only, which recently opened in Big Sky, Montana.

I’m also seeing more high-end ranch stays. Legacy family ranches are being sold to financiers and tech money and these new owners are transforming the propertie into high-end guest ranches. I was really impressed by Alpine Falls Ranch in western Montana and hedge fund manager Louis Bacon recently took over Trinchera Ranch in Colorado and there is an incredible conservation story behind that property.”

Is the glamping trend here to stay? How do you weave it into your itineraries?
“It’s not going away and for the right client, especially families, a few nights glamping with an outfit like Under Canvas can be a fun option. And sometimes it’s the best option. Under Canvas has been really good at choosing national park-adjacent locations, like West Yellowstone, where there aren’t alternative accommodations. I see more and more clients want a little roughing it in the middle of their trip and then they like to end with a luxury stay. You really feel you earned it.”

What part of the U.S. are you getting the most requests for this year?
“If you had asked me pre-pandemic, I would have said the Southwest. But now, cowboy culture is in the zeitgeist with celebrities wearing cowboy hats and Beyoncé doing her country album and its fed into travel. The American West, particularly Montana and Wyoming, are in high demand.”

How do you escape the crowds in the heavy hitter parks, like Yellowstone and Yosemite or do you steer them to lesser known parks?
“If we have clients visiting Wyoming or Montana for the first time, they’re going to want to see Yellowstone. Most visitors don’t leave the trailheads, so you don’t need to go far to find some solitude. Of course first timers will want to see Old Faithful, but we contrast that experience with something really one-of-a-kind. We have a wonderful network of great guides. For example, in Yellowstone, we work with a woman who owns a team of llamas and takes people into the backcountry. And we encourage our clients to go a bit further afield, so if they visit Jackson Hole, we might also suggest they travel to Sheridan, Wyoming.”

I think many Americans think of the U.S. road trip as a D.I.Y vacation. How do you convince travelers of the value add they can get by working with you?
“Beyond logistics and great accommodations, we add value through our on-the-ground relationships, which we’ve spent over a decade fostering. In the West and Southwest, we facilitate experiences that create a deeper connection with the outdoors, like having a naturalist accompany our clients in Yellowstone National Park, for example. In New England, we send our clients to the small guy making goat cheese at an organic farm in Vermont’s Mad River Valley.”

What part of the U.S. do you think is most underrated?
“For me, it’s the South. I think it is so under-the-radar and so interesting. There’s less luxury infrastructure, but the nature and culture is fascinating. We just finished curated a trip to Louisiana that included New Orleans, but we also got the clients out on boats in the bayou and they experienced a crawfish boil.”

There is nothing like the freedom of backcountry skiing. But playing in the mountains comes with a responsibility. I’m still feeling rattled from the February 17 avalanche in Lake Tahoe, California that left nine skiers dead. Many news outlets covered the tragedy, but I think the The Atlantic’s coverage, which included insights from Cody Townsend, a professional backcountry skier who happened to be skiing the west shore of Lake Tahoe that day, was particularly well reported. I grew up by the ocean and know how to read it well. When I moved to the mountains over a decade ago, I was completely ignorant. When a friend pointed up to a peak and said, “that’s going to slide any day now.” All I saw was a pretty snow-crowned mountain. Not danger.

When I first started taking guided backcountry trips, I didn’t have the confidence to question my guides even when I felt nervous about snow conditions or a route we were taking. I’ve since taken my AIRE Level 1 avalanche training with excellent instructor Jayson Simons-Jones of Lotus Alpine Adventures and appreciated that he encouraged us to question his decisions. Even with more snow safety education under my belt, I still feel uncertain at times in the backcountry.

Jeff Banks, an IFMGA-certified mountain guide based in Crested Butte, Colo. developed the free app, AspectAvy, to remove the guesswork from decision making. Here, Banks talks about this season’s snowpack in the American West, common heuristic traps, and the importance of having a plan before you head out into the backcountry.

What inspired you to develop AspectAvy?
“This app was over a decade in the making and is now in its third season. I have spent most of my life in the backcountry—30 years, 100 days a year—and have done the guide training and mentorship. It’s not enough. This idea came to me after a guiding accident in Sulden, Italy. Other guides and skiers had traversed the same steep face for days, but when my group crossed the slope, it caused a slide that carried us nearly 1,800 feet. We were lucky we all walked away. But it was a serious reminder that even professionals do not make the right decision 100% of the time.

I have lost 15 friends and colleagues to avalanches—all of them were pros who got it wrong. When we ask professionals, they tell us they get it wrong on average twice a year and trigger a large, destructive avalanche and they got lucky and weren’t hurt or worse. I wanted to create an app where you don’t rely on your judgement or intuition. This app gives you a stop or go decision.”

How does the technology work?
“The app uses combines data from every U.S. avalanche center, real-time weather, and user observations to algorithmically map avalanche risk onto high-resolution LiDAR (light detection and ranging) terrain. This data is used to estimate the safety of a slope on a given day based on three variables: slope angles, the forecasted avalanche danger, and the presence of old snow problems. Our algorithm overlays terrain on topographic maps. Green means ‘go’ and red means ‘no-go’.”

The app makes it easy to create a tour plan before you head out. The saying goes, ‘failing to plan is planning to fail.’ Hope is not a plan. the days of just going out to a backcountry area to see what looks good are over. Today, we can screen out over 90% of risk before leaving the house. Any time there is an incident, like Lake Tahoe, it shouldn’t be called an accident, it should be called a tragedy because it is a situation that is preventable.”

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This has been a bizarre winter in the West. How would you describe the snowpack?
“Dog poopy. It’s the equivalent of skid marks on your tighty whities. We’re in the running for one of the driest winters on record. The old snow problem is really pronounced. And when we do get a rare snowstorm everything is super tender. Conditions are super unpredictable. It’s a shit sandwich out there. I would encourage people to stay away from those deadly aspects and elevations clearly marked in the avalanche forecast. In a season like this, moderate danger becomes scary moderate so be extra cautious.”

What are some of the common causes for bad decision making in the mountains?
“Ian McCammon is considered the godfather of human factors in avalanche education. He applies the FACETS acronym (Familiarity, Acceptance, Consistency, Expert Halo, Tracks, Social facilitation) to six psychological traps in avalanche safety. The expert halo is a big one. When you hire an expert, you think you shift the risk and nothing can go wrong. But like in any other profession, guides can make mistakes. Then there’s the social factor. If everyone else is doing it, why not go along. If everyone is already heading into the field, you don’t want to be the one holding them back so you can spend five minutes looking at the app.

And then there are other factors like if you’re tired or the weather gets bad and you’re cold and uncomfortable—that can all influence decision making. It’s easy to look at the Tahoe incident and say, ‘oh my god, what were they thinking.’ But when you’re out in the field and it’s snowing four inches an hour and the wind is blowing 40-plus miles per hour you understand how choices are made. And when that foot-and-a-half of fresh powder on a 40-degree slope looks really good you find a way to rationalize skiing it in the moment.”

Does AspectAvy map all of the U.S.? What about Europe and Canada?
“The U.S. is a leader in LiDAR mapping. Canada and Europe aren’t quite there. We have most of the lower 48 mapped and are hoping to add parts of Alaska next year.”

YOUR DAILY DOSE OF STOKE
TUNE IN: Day One of YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke Goes Live Tuesday on Red Bull TV

Last winter, I had the privilege of being on the slopes to watch the world’s top all-mountain snowboarders compete in the YETI Natural Selection Revelstoke event. The brainchild of pro snowboarder Travis Rice, NST is pushing the boundaries of the sport (check out the story I wrote for Bloomberg Pursuits about NST’s expansion). I highly recommend making a trip to Revvy to catch the action live.

The event takes place in the Montana Bowl and there’s a rowdy spectator’s area. The course includes 600 feet of cliff drops, more than 70 features. I’m still thinking about Elena Hights ballsy cliff drop from last year’s event. Day one kicks off today. I can’t make it this year as I’m headed out on a backcountry hut trip (and yes, I’ll be using AspectAvy), but you can watch live and for free on Red Bull TV.

What is luxury? It’s such a personal question. But over the years I think the answer has collectively shifted from something material to an experience that’s emotional and often deep in nature. As outdoor spaces become more congested, finding a slice of paradise away from the crowds feels priceless. And more tour operators and travel designers are realizing that people don’t just want to be immersed in the wilderness, they want to interact with the mountains or the ocean in a way that pushes their physical limits, be it backcountry skiing, or in the ocean freediving or surfing.

Last year, I reported a story for Elite Traveler magazine that examined why wing-foiling is luxury travel’s new high-adrenaline fix. I shared the piece on Instagram with a caption reflecting on how editors at luxury magazines once balked at covering action sports, let alone a niche one like foiling. Even Pulitzer Prize-winning writer William Finnegan, a longtime staff writer at the New Yorker, has admitted he kept his love of surfing secret for years, fearing that he’d be stereotyped as a Spicoli. Wow have times changed.

That post resonated with Felippe Dal Piero, founder of MahaloXP, a high-touch, uber-exclusive curator of surf trips in far-flung corners of the globe. When it comes to executing logistically complicated strike missions, discovering untouched waves, and fostering the ultimate partnerships, like luxury charter Kudanil Explorer, he’s your man. After reading my article, Felippe reached out and we instantly connected over our shared passion for ocean adventures. Here, he shares his thoughts on wave pools, what it means to be a surfer, and surfing’s last frontier.

Where and when did you learn to surf and did you always know it would be a career?
“I learned to surf in Brazil, where I was born and raised. I still live there part of the year. I’m half Italian and my wife is from Germany so we also spend time in Portugal when we aren’t traveling. Surfing was always a love, but it wasn’t always my focus. I earned a degree in international relations and from there I took a leap of faith and started looking into what surf could provide in terms of a career. Early on I started surf coaching and worked with professional athletes. The competitive surf world is one little blip of what surfing represents. I decided that I could take the knowledge I acquired from traveling with the pros and do something unique.

For the last 10 years I dedicated myself to finding remote areas of the globe where you could surf with fewer crowds. That was the light. I could enter the luxury space and design trips to locations that required more logistics and resources. MahaloXP goes beyond conventional routes and specializes in delivering hand-picked locations with a full team of coaches, jet ski drivers, a water safety team. We only do 10 to 12 trips a year and I’m very particular about who we work with.”

A lot of people think you have to be an expert to book a luxury surf trip. What levels of surfers do you cater to?
“We deliver for all levels from families to groups of pros. I typically get two types of clients. There are the surf obsessed, no down days clients. I cannot fail them. I use whatever resources necessary—speed boats, sea planes—to deliver them waves. Then there are clients who like to surf but they love the ocean, and they want to kite surf, snorkel, foil, do some land excursions. I cater to them both.

Our trips are great for intermediates who can catch waves by themselves, but who want to get away from the crowds and not have to fight for waves. My background is in coaching, and I have a beautiful connection with the ocean and can feel all of the pulses it throws at you.

My expertise is matching people with their expectations of the ocean. I take the role of head coach on trips and sit in the line-up with clients to ensure progression. I have people who call and say, ‘Felippe, I learned to surf two years ago, I can catch waves, and I want to improve my rail-to-rail game.’ I have others who are still learning in white water.”

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You spend a good part of the year scouting locations. What destinations are you most excited about?
“Finding the right locations is very tricky. They have to tick so many boxes: logistics, safety, accommodations, and of course we need good waves. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. I’ll never have guests sleep in a shack but maybe we don’t have AC. Most clients are ok with that. They understand the luxury isn’t about the villa or resort. They are stoked when I bring a little bit of adventure to a trip.

We do work with a handful of resorts, and some guests do a combo and will stay at a resort but still have a boat to chase waves. I’ve chartered yachts to take guests to the Seychelles and Maldives and I work a lot with NIHI Sumba, which is right in front of one of my all-time favorite waves. I’ve also been doing some secretive missions to east and central Sumba.

Norway is exotic. It’s one of the most picturesque places for exploration. People don’t see it as a surf destination. It’s not for everyone. It’s very different from a tropical destination…so out of context surfing with snow-capped peaks in the distance. A good friend is the founder of Unstad Arctic Surf. I have a project to surf the bay there under the Northern Lights, kind of what like Chris Burkard did.

I have been mapping of few spots in Africa around Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. The waves are really good, but the destinations are still a little bit rustic and raw and lack luxury infrastructure. They’re not for everyone but for a real surfer, they’re special. And I think the next frontier is West Papua. Right now, that for me is a surf paradise.”

Do you worry wave pools will ruin the soul of surfing?
“I think they are a great tool for training. I was just at Surf Abu Dhabi with clients. They want to go to the Mentawai Islands, and the surf pool is a good warm up space. They can work on skills. We can do video analysis between sessions to fix mistakes. The pool can be amazing tool for progression.

If I had the choice to do a boat trip to the Mentawais or surf a wave pool, hands down I’d choose the ocean. But the pool complements what we do in the ocean. A lot of new surfers are landlocked and don’t have the chance to get in the ocean that much. That said, it’s still a transition to go from the pool to the ocean. It’s absurdly humbling. To catch a wave in the ocean, even with a coach, well, it’s not the easiest thing. Learning to read the conditions takes years.”

Strike missions are your expertise. How do you pull those off?
“Strike missions used to be hard-core. If Indo was pumping pro surfers would jump on a flight immediately so they could score high-consequence, hollow waves. I plan strike missions for a very niche clientele. They might want to surf big open faces at Pavones. Basically, they tell me what they want, and I deliver it very last minute. When you charter a yacht, it makes it much easier to chase the waves.

Most strike missions are 10 to 14 days. And they can involve different levels of skill. We get a lot of families—mom, dad, kids. The location really isn’t impacted by the skill level. The Mentawais, for example, are a mecca for advanced surfers, but in March and April you can also find places that are protected for beginners and intermediate surfers. The yacht has two tenders so some people can go score barrels and others can go ride glassy, peeling waves on soft tops.”

A lot of people love the surf lifestyle, but what does it mean to be a surfer?
“I remember being in Bali in 2000 and everyone I came across had the same mission: to score waves. Suddenly Chanel and Louis Vuitton were picking up on the lifestyle of surfing. Brands realized that surfers exemplified well-being and a healthy lifestyle. That image has exploded. You now see tech guys buying beach-front villas in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica to tap into the energy. No harm on that. I appreciate that everyone is interested in this lifestyle.

Being a surfer is about more than just standing up on a wave. It is such a beautiful lifestyle. The sport starts with respect. My mission with my clients is to sit with them in the line-up and help them understand that if they took a wave, then the next wave you share. I lead billionaires around the globe, and I see a transformation when they appreciate the connection to the ocean. They’re a bit more humble and start to live more in the moment and appreciate the simple moments.

After a life of surfing, you appreciate nature and are very connected to your surroundings and care for the environment. You realize luxury is watching the sunrise, a good day of surfing, grilling lobsters under a starry sky.”

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I can’t think of a more fitting first interview for The Type 2 Traveler than Jim Deters, co-founder of the hotel-membership club brand, Gravity Haus. I interviewed Jim about his novel concept back in 2020, shortly after the brand’s debut hotel opened in Breckenridge, Colorado. My piece in Bloomberg Pursuits questioned the financial viability of what sounded like a Soho House for snow bunnies. After reading my story, Jim called me and thanked me for raising some important questions and concerns. He took them to heart and went on to launch a portfolio of boutique hotels and clubhouses that is genuinely trying to democratize the mountains.

I live in Colorado and have easy access to a large portion of the Gravity Haus portfolio, and I can honestly say they are some of my favorite places to stay, and the hotels I most often recommend to friends who are visiting. The restaurant menus nail the balance of indulgent and healthy. The gyms are athlete-worthy, and most have the latest recovery modalities like cold plunges and Normatec compression boots. The staff are down-to-earth and plug you into the local scene. Hotel rooms come in an assortment of configurations that make it easy to travel solo or with a group of friends. Plus, rates average $300 a night, so they won’t break the bank.

And as the brand expands West (its first international property opens today in Revelstoke, British Columbia) there’s even more reason to consider a membership, which includes perks like discounts on hotel rooms (and Gravity Haus partner hotels in cool spots like Crested Butte and Costa Rica), meals, and the latest gear demos, access to fitness facilities and co-working spaces, and invites to membership events like full-moon skins and mountain biking expeditions. Here, Jim dishes on the genesis of Gravity Haus, his definition of adventure, and his vision for the brand’s evolution.

What inspired you to launch Gravity Haus?
“Gravity Haus started like a lot of entrepreneurial pursuits — very personal. Alicia, my wife, and I were raising our three kids in Colorado, and we wanted to give them a foundational set of values that included love for movement, time outdoors, and wellness as a way of life. We wanted them to value experiences over things. Our weekends were spent skiing, hiking, biking, chasing powder and summits, and teaching them to respect nature. Gravity Haus is the manifestation of this lifestyle.

If we were looking for a community of like-minded adventure enthusiasts, I thought, there must be others. What if there were a social club for modern adventurers? Not a club in the traditional sense. In fact, in the early days, we called “club” a four-letter word. We wanted a community, not a club. We wanted to galvanize a group of people so they could find their tribe: whether it was a dawn patrol skinning friend, an après ski partner, a yoga buddy, or others who wanted a healthy rhythm of balancing work and living a purpose-driven life. We believed there were thousands of people like us — families, athletes, entrepreneurs, adventure seekers — who craved connection over pretension, shared purpose over status, and access to the outdoors as a cornerstone of their lives. And we were right.”

How did you come up with the name Gravity Haus?
“The name was inspired while on a Spring trip to Costa Rica with our family before the Breckenridge opening in 2019. Alicia and I were brainstorming ideas while on a hike, and we wanted a name that was playful, yet edgy, and had the underpinnings of the brand: gravity. Gravity is the ever-present natural force making all these sports possible: surfing, skiing, working with it, and working against it — that’s type 2 part — always and ever present is gravity.”

Can you give us a snapshot of the portfolio?
“As of February 1, 2026, we have 10 destinations. We have concentrated our focus on building one of the most iconic sets of mountain destinations in the West: Breckenridge, Vail, Winter Park, Steamboat, Moab, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, Truckee-Tahoe, and, announcing this month… Revelstoke! Our first international destination is in British Columbia, Canada. We also opened a Denver Clubhaus for our large base of Denver members, which has some of the best fitness programming and instructors, and co-working. In the future, we will be looking to add more destinations in the West as well as surfing destinations to our portfolio.”

Why the hotel/membership club combo?
“The membership club component was important for two reasons. First, we wanted the property and amenities — the fitness, recovery, and co-working — to be important and grounded in the locals’ lifestyle and use. So, the “club” has relevance and authenticity to the local market and is community driven. The second reason was to enable an even larger community, starting with those in the Denver-Boulder metro area, to have a getaway to Breckenridge, Vail, Winter Park, Steamboat, and Moab. We wanted to make living an outdoor lifestyle easier. For many, second home ownership in the mountains is out of reach, and other short-term rental options are unpredictable, and don’t come with world-class fitness, co-working, and recovery amenities. As we have scaled, and the modern adventurer becomes more mobile and willing to seek new destinations, we want to become the lifestyle membership with a global community and a global network of amazing destinations.”

How has membership grown since the launch in 2019?
“Our membership growth has been organic, and member driven. We started in Breckenridge with a couple of hundred local members and, as we added locations, the community and the value proposition have grown to thousands of members. There is a large concentration of membership in Colorado, with the proximity of drive-to destinations. We are also seeing growth in marketing in Texas, Florida, New York, California, driven by the increased interest in wellness-focused outdoor destinations as well as the ability to chase snow in multiple destinations with multi-resort passes.”

How do you feel the membership component connects guests with locals?
“Like you, I want to travel to where the locals hang out. Anywhere in the world I travel, I try hard not be a ‘tourist,’ I want to have as ‘authentically accelerated’ an experience as possible. I used accelerated, because it’s difficult to truly experience a place unless you stay for weeks or months or visit 7 times or more. We are working to deliver that ‘I am living like a local’ kinda feeling at our hotels by being the very place where hundreds of locals train, do yoga, host meetings, and work every day. There are opportunities for engagement, but probably the most likely and most uniquely Gravity Haus experience is when a local member hosts an event that a visiting member or guests join — a moonlight skin, a meditation event, and AI investing strategies meet-up — all took place in the past week at Gravity Haus Vail.”

What is the DNA of a Gravity Haus property?
“Spending time outside, usually doing something physical, with new friends or old, is at the very core of our brand. The moments and relationships created by spending time outside doing something physical are the most powerful and memorable moments of my life. We try to recreate this for our members and guests at every property. Gravity Haus is in the experience and community business. Yes, we run beautiful hotels, spas, and amazing restaurants, but we ultimately are connecting and supporting meaningful friendships and connections with others and nature.”

How do you define adventure?
“At the core, adventure to me is a mindset of curiosity and growth. Craving novelty and new experiences is the mindset of the ‘modern adventurer.’ It’s being curious, stepping toward the unknown, saying yes to effort and discomfort, and surrounding yourself with others who push you forward.

Adventure is your first heli-trip with a group of like-minded ‘strangers’ that become your best friends after the trip.

Adventure is learning to surf at 50.

Adventure is leading a climb, launching a business, joining a backcountry group you’ve never met, or walking into a room and finding your people.

If it expands you — physically, mentally, emotionally — it’s adventure.”

What other brands do you admire?
“I love Halfdays. The branding and connection this season are inspiring and impressive. I think they are building something very cool.”

What destinations are on your travel list this year?
“I will be chasing snow with my Gravity Haus membership, always on the lookout for new locations. Revelstoke is on the list this season. I will also be in the Alps — Chamonix and Zermatt — and make a spring pilgrimage to our partner hotel, the Gilded Iguana, in Nosara, Costa Rica.”

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TRIP ALERT!

Heli-ski trips tend to book out months, if not a year in advance. Western Canada is having an all-time winter and my friends at Great Bear Heli Skiing in British Columbia just let me know they have two spots open February 20-27, and a few others later in the season. Email them and drop my name.

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