Gravity Haus is an opportunity to change the status quo. It’s an answer to the life balance that we’re all looking for, myself included. Gravity Haus provides a path and the tools for us to live, work, and have incredible experiences in the mountains. Gravity Haus is also providing me with a meaningful professional challenge. As the leader behind Haus Quiver, I have found a near perfect match for my eclectic professional career journey and skillset. Though never having previously worked in hospitality, I enjoy the challenge of walking a line of successfully implementing our gear subscription program, while supporting and even creating experiences—two tasks that are sometimes at odds—with our Haus Quiver gear.
First and foremost, Gravity Haus as an employer allows me to live and work (and participate) in mountain communities and even live in one. Ironically, Haus Quiver ranks third for amenities that enable and elevate my modern adventure lifestyle. I’d say Dryland ranks first—I’m a busy guy between running this program and trying to set an example and show a path to a couple of teenage boys (my boys), so I need to do my best to stay fit, so that when I have the chance to get out, I can keep up and have more fun doing the outdoor activities I love (skiing (all types) and mountain biking). Second comes Starter Haus – having a place to go work, when you live in a small house and work remote is invaluable. I can keep going, but all of Gravity Haus’ opportunities are so dialed, I get to pick the gear we have, so a lot of it is stuff I want to experience, but I also love our coffee and where and how we get it into a Gravity Haus member’s cup… and the fried chicken sandwich at Cabin Juice is, well, let’s just say I’m glad I don’t work out of that location—I’d need to spend way more time in Dryland.
Create powerful moments? Anytime I’ve attended a Gravity Haus event, whether curated or a JoinMe style meet up, I’ve had a powerful moment. Most are centered on feeling a connection with a real community.
Keep Growing? Gravity Haus is doing things that have never been done before. The program that I work on is one of them—Subscription Gear Access—I feel like we’re performing small miracles on a monthly basis, while trying to keep the wheels on and execute (the hard 90% of the equation) the program to the concept’s vision in between. Both ends of this spectrum require me to grow, and be humbled, on a near-daily basis.
Bring Others along? Before I arrived there wasn’t really a Haus Quiver team. We have a team now in every location that we run Haus Quiver. I couldn’t execute the Haus Quiver vision without them and any success we have is due to their buy-in and hard work (remember execution is 90% and these are the people executing on a daily basis). So I have these young people that I’ve asked to step up and lead Haus Quiver at each of our properties—which is not an easy job—I’m asking them to learn and grow at the same pace I do and I’m doing my best to give them the space to succeed and fail—as safely as we can in this day and age. I believe in the short time we’ve worked on this, our people have risen to the challenge and are learning skills that will kick off a new chapter in their personal careers. I hope we can keep them with us for a long time, but the good ones are going to go on to do great things.
Be “All-In” + Go the Distance? I was all in when I took this job. I knew a number of people had tried and failed or given up. I believe my unique skill set and experience should be our best shot at success, that said, it has been ‘ALL-IN’ yes, all caps. This fall while setting up our new winter Quiver, a teammate and I worked for two and a half months without only a day off each, nearly 100 full on ALL-IN days on. The effort allowed us to pull off our first ever Gravity Haus owned winter Haus Quiver fleet, which has been a smashing success since. Going the distance is going to require planning and balance; but there will surely be some more ultra-sprints in my future.
Leave it Better than You Found it? Haus Quiver has a framework now that should allow future leaders to plug in seamlessly, of course there is always room for iteration and improvement, but there is a foundation here that will allow that.
Ultimately, though, I have interest in seeing Gravity Haus lead on big issues, like sustainability, mountain town economics, and creating a more diverse community. I was able to attend MT2030 with our partner Rossignol last fall, and it had an impact on me. I was an environmental studies major and attending this sustainability conference both showed me a path I could have taken, but also a path that I might be able to champion at some point at a place like Gravity Haus. Just last night, I attended a panel discussion at the 2023 Blister Summit on mountain town sustainability and one of the Gunnison county commissioner said, I have to paraphrase, that “we need to find a way to allow people the experience of our wild lands and mountain communities, while convincing them that they don’t need to own a piece of it.” This resonated. At the core, Gravity Haus is a part of the solution to this issue.
I’m leading a larger team and working a program with the most moving parts that I’ve ever experienced in my career. It’s a new experience and my biggest professional challenge to date.
Due to Gravity Haus’ partnership with Dave and Matt’s vans my family experienced van life for a few weeks this past summer. We camped everywhere from high mountain lakes to an Ihop parking lot.
For sure my family. My wife and I just got back from a weeklong ski touring trip outside of Revelstoke, BC and my boys are big mountain comp skiers. I’m trying to really soak up the time with them right now. They’re already better than me, but I can still keep up (barely). The goal is to keep doing it as long as I can, and hopefully, they’ll still have a day for dad once they’re not dependent on us for food and shelter….
My best day ever is outside all-day; on snow in the winter or bike trails in the summer. Cathy and I just strung six best days ever together in BC. Up before first light, 30 minutes of yoga/stretching, incredible breakfast, on the skin track by 8:45, back at 4:30 after pow turns all day; appies, gourmet dinner, buckets-because there’s no running water in some of these backcountry lodges, and bed x6.
Being able to stay outside all day takes some prep, so Dryland is an integral part of being ready to have my best day ever.
Best days also/always start with coffee, and while the very best days start before Unravel is open, my ‘weekly best day’ might start with a quick stop for a coffee at Gravity Haus Winter Park on my way up to the pass for a half day ski tour. And if it’s a work day, the chances are good I end up back there for lunch and to finish the day at Starter Haus.
