Meet Eric Ross

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Ross and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
This is the second business I’ve started – the first was about ten years ago and is still going well, but that job is in geospatial analytics and keeps me tied to a desk. The business I recently started requires me to be in the field – outdoors and often in beautiful places like the Colorado high country and Moab, UT. This new gig also brings me back to teaching. In my previous careers there has always been a teaching or training component, whether it was new kitchen staff during my restaurant days; or as a firearms and driving instructor and field training officer during my law enforcement career; or as adjunct faculty teaching GIS, cartography, mapping and map analysis, urban studies, and planning at CU Denver and Regis University. Now I’m not only in the field, but working directly with students and clients on practical skills – how to prepare for, drive safely, navigate, and recover while driving on 4WD trails.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve had the benefit of an uncommon life experience: a nontraditional family, all of whom have been supportive, but also required me to adopt responsibility at a young age; a nontraditional education that resulted in college at age 38 after two successful careers and radically shifting gears from food and law by acquiring degrees in geography, urban studies, planning, and GIS; and a marriage that has been a bedrock for both of us for going on 35 years. I got my first job when I was 14 and worked summers through high school. After high school I opted to work full time and travel rather than go to college. That work ethic and travel experience shaped my world view, and is where I learned perseverance and the relative value of things, people, and experiences. I made my fair share of mistakes along the way, and with them some key lessons: the harder the decision, the more likely the difficult path will yield the greatest reward; say yes more often than no and embrace the unknown; and we can’t do it alone – surround your self with people you support and who will support you (and sometimes that support is telling you when you’re doing it wrong!) All of this infuses my training philosophy and my goal is to make others successful by showing them the way, letting them develop their skills and experience, and being a guide along the way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh my! So many options, but lets assume they want a little city and a little country. They would stay at our house and we would spend some quality time on the back porch enjoying the yard and gardens and watching the cat prowl among them. When my wife isn’t preparing one her delicious meals, we will hit Pupusas Paradise, Little India, Welton Street Cafe, and maybe Bastien’s. If we end up in the mountains, we’ll hit Smokin Yard’s BBQ in Idaho Springs or Slow Groovin BBQ in Marble. If we want a little art we will go to the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art – one of Denver’s hidden gems. If the timing and the weather are right we’ll make a trip NE to the Wild Animal Sanctuary out by Hudson – another hidden gem. If we want a little musics we might hit a jazz concert at Denver City Park or one of the shows at the pavilion in Belmar Park. If we decide to hit a 4WD trail we might consider making the trek to The San Juans, but if we want to stick closer to home for a day trip my go-to favorite is Red Cone north of 285. We might stop at the Sasquatch outpost in Bailey and at the beef jerky shack in Grant on the way up, and at JJ Madwells or The Shaggy Sheep if we come back the same way. Hall Valley north of 285 is beautiful and Red Cone is a somewhat challenging and intimidating 4WD trail that ends up on top of Red Cone above Webster pass with beautiful 360 degree views and the option to drop down Montezuma Basin into Montezuma and Loveland Pass, or return to 285 on Handcart Gulch. Having lived here 54 out of the last 56 years there is so much more – Hanging Lake, Lake Agnes, Lizard Lake, the Central Valley, Central Rockies, oh my!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This could and should be a long list! Most recently I need to credit an organization I’ve volunteered for the last 8+ years – Colorado 4×4 Rescue & Recovery. This is an all volunteer nonprofit that provides rescue and recovery services free of charge to those who have gotten stuck, damaged, or crashed on Colorado 4WD trails. Our volunteers use personally owned vehicles, their own gear, and our time and fuel, while also paying to become professionally trained in off-road recovery. I joined this organization after meeting one of the founders – Matt Radder – at a 4WD Customer Appreciation event at ToyTec Lifts in north Denver. It was the perfect intersection of my previous public safety career and 4WD skills, and provided a ready excuse to use and share my experience to help others. I’ll add to that list Colorado FJ Cruisers and my friend James Buff who has helped me find opportunities, including co-directing the annual Rocky Mountain Toyota Roundup along with Kathy Locke and Adam Durazo; ToyTec Lifts and Hugo Huerta and the generous use of their shop to teach classes; and all of the trainers I’ve had the privilege to learn from and work with – Bill Burke, Chris Nelson, Matt Balazs, Chris Cole, Bryan Lott, Kevin Burden, Daniel Markofsky, and Joel German to name a few.

Website: https://www.sierramechanica.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ross-murp-gisp-5b999b44/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088864480791

Other: https://youtu.be/ZAm_ju-pvMg?si=PLjUsAFLoktEIKqY

https://youtu.be/mE1X9xXjhgc?si=qlNdM3NTyKEBd1NZ

Image Credits
Kathy Locke, Hugo Huerta, Eric Ross, Thomas Hartman, Nena Barlow