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

Hi Zach, how does your business help the community?
We created Mountain Freedom Coins with the idea of promoting veterans to venture outdoors for the benefits of mental health. We have been able to meet and partner with some amazing like minded veterans to help us promote our push of veteran suicide awareness. Our ambassador Matt Greiner (@22peaksproject) climbed 22 14ers this past summer inviting veterans to join him through his meetup group. We brewed a Mountain Freedom beer with Peak View Brewing and are making a donation to Rule One Adventure who is an amazing non-profit that helps veterans and first responders get outdoors. We live in such an amazing state with so many different options for outdoor activities that we hope we can get people outdoors and chase their own Mountain Freedom.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My background was special operations in the military. I’ve used that same drive that I had to use during my selection and schools to make it on a team to be successful in business. I’ve learned that no entrepreneur has all the answers, and that is okay. It is a never ending process of learning and not to let that be the reason you don’t pursue your passion. We want others to get outside and pursue their OWN Mountain Freedom, whatever that may be.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would have to go to Red Rocks, Roxborough, the Manitou Incline, and hopefully they would be acclimated to climb a 14er by the end of their week. Some of our favorite spots to eat and drink are Peak View Brewing Company and Pho95 in South Glenn. The area is filled with so many amazing places to go adventuring and is filled with so many amazing small businesses for people to support.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout would definitely be to my fiancé Corinne Hancock. During the pandemic I had to have surgery on my left bicep and became very depressed. She really pushed me to get outside and we started going on several small local hikes. Corinne planned our DeCaLiBron Loop (Mount Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross) the weekend after I was cleared from the doctor to no longer be in a sling. Once we completed them, we wanted a way to commemorate this accomplishment besides our cardboard sign. We came up with the idea of Summit Challenge Coins on Mount Bross. Challenge coins are something that we were both very familiar with due to my military background, and her work overseas with medical aid. These coins recognize an achievement and create a community of goal minded individuals. Less than a week later we were working with local Colorado companies Crown Trophy and Ouray Sportswear and putting our plan into action.

Website: https://www.MountainFreedomCoins.co

Instagram: @mountainfreedomcoins

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-zahachi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MountainFreedomCoins

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.