Guide company turns passion into growth

BOULDER — Colorado is a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts.  How each of us feeds that passion ranges from sitting in the backyard at the end of a work day to running the trails before it begins. 

All the adventures in between and including those bookends serve as the playground for Colorado Wilderness Rides and Guides (CWRAG), a Boulder-based outdoor adventure company.

Joshua Baruch, CWRAG owner, general manager, lead educator, guide and facilitator, has been nurturing his own love affair with mother nature for a lifetime.  Backpacking since the age of seven hooked him on the mountains, and the wide array of adventures since then has kept him coming back for more.

Baruch’s background includes years as a professional athlete, a rescue emergency medical technician with critical care nursing experience and owner of a mountaineering guide company. 

Since 2009, CWRAG has been focused on getting visitors and locals to immerse themselves in the great outdoors between Colorado’s Front Range and Utah.  Activities and trips include rock climbing, skiing, whitewater rafting, ziplining and backpacking.

With 45 employees working as facilitators, guides and educators and five full-time office employees, CWRAG creates and delivers outdoor activities that appeal to all ages and levels of experience.

In addition to attracting individuals and groups that are eager to dive into the outdoor adventures and educational programs that CWRAG offers, the company appeals to a greater audience with an even wider geographical offering.  Colorado Wilderness Global Travel & Tours, a brand within CWRAG, plans the logistics, food, events, transportation, permits and visas for customers wanting international adventures.  Destinations include Italy, Tanzania, Argentina and Chile.  Trips include adventures such as standing on the summit of Kilimanjaro, fly fishing outside of Tuscany and mountain biking in Patagonia’s national parks.

In 2013, CWRAG developed another brand that uses guided outdoor adventures as a catalyst for companies to bring leaders and teams together to develop new ways of doing business. 

Colorado Wilderness Corporate & Teams works with organizations to design experiential programs that fit company objectives. Areas of focus include team building, leadership development, guided adventures and community impact events.

Clients have included the Department of Defense, Google, Oracle and NREL.  “We frame around specific outcomes such as dealing with adversity in an organization, rebranding, executive leadership skills for different levels of leadership, collaboration, communication and trust,” Baruch said.  “Goals need to be to find the best in people and maximize their success.

“Trust in ourselves and in others helps people talk more and find more in common than different with each other.”

A community impact event recently brought a team together to build bikes for youth in the community.  The activity provided a cause that the group could contribute to that will keep kids in nature and engaged in healthy activities, Baruch said.

To keep the company name in circulation, CWRAG partners with hotels like Boulder’s St Julien Hotel & Spa and the Boulderado.  It also markets customized packages to local chamber of commerce organizations and convention centers.

Business growth reflects the impact CWRAG is having.  “Business has been improving yearly — we’ve been growing 20 to 30 percent annually,” Baruch said, admitting that it comes at a cost but it’s what keeps his company at the top of its game.

“This industry is about relationships, and building them takes a lot of time,” he said.  “Being service-based means that we have to have a great staff and spend over $50,000 a year on permits and insurance alone.

“You can’t cut corners on that.”

One of Baruch’s primary goals is to offer outdoor adventures that combine safety with using the outdoors to have fun while preserving it for the future.

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