Meet Chris Case | Professional Guide and Writer

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

Hi Chris, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve had a diverse range of professions, from neuroscience researcher to magazine editor to operations director in the travel industry. Throughout my various careers, one thing had always stayed the same: someone else was in charge. For a long time, I was fine with that. But as I grew older and wiser, I repeatedly found myself doubting the decisions that were being made above me that greatly impacted my job, my stress, and my satisfaction. So I decided to create my own company in order to execute my own vision, rather than someone else’s.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Alter Exploration crafts challenging, transformative cycling journeys in some of the world’s most stunning destinations. It is a reflection of my personal philosophy on life, which in itself is captured by a simple mantra: Transformation begins where comfort ends.

This mantra isn’t meant to be intimidating. On the contrary, it should be thrilling. For many people, everyday life is filled with convenience, monotony, and a lack of time spent in nature. Alter Exploration facilitates the opposite: challenging, invigorating, life-altering experiences in the natural world. I think that’s what sets us apart from other tour companies, which tend to focus on pampering people.

I don’t want to break people, but I firmly believe that challenge creates better human beings, by giving people opportunities to hone humility through challenge and the freedom to test their limits while respecting their absolutes.

It took a long time for me to decide that my philosophy would resonate with a certain select portion of society. It’s not easy to convince people to pay money to be challenged like this. But once one person does it, and benefits from the experience, they spread the word that this is something life-enhancing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d tell my friend to bring their bike and their trail running or hiking shoes, and a backpack full of snacks, because we’re heading into the mountains. We’d ride all of the many backroads and gravel trails in and around Boulder’s foothills, exploring the old mining towns like Gold Hill and Ward. That’s where we’d find genuine experiences with hard-working locals who do what they do in the place that they do it, simply because they love the outdoors, the mountains, the tranquility, and the peacefulness.

After our daily adventures, we’d visit some of the restaurants and breweries that make Boulder famous in both the endurance sports world and the craft brewing world. Places like Skratch Labs cafe and Avery Brewing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My father created his own business over 50 years ago. He still works there today, not because he needs to but because he loves to. For a long time I didn’t recognize what he had created for himself, the autonomy that comes with being a small business owner. But eventually I came to my senses, I considered whether to take the leap, and he was there to comfort me (if not encourage me) to go for it.

Website: https://alterexploration.com

Instagram: @alterexploration and @chrisjustincase

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjustincase

Image Credits
All photos by Chris Case