This interview is part of evoTrip’s storytelling series, taking a closer look behind the scenes with a few of our favorite tour operator partners around the world. Western Spirit has created epic bike trips in the American West for decades. We chatted with Ashley Korenblat, CEO, and Kate Pearce, Sales Manager. Here’s what they had to say about the passion behind what they do, the impact of Covid, his vision for sustainable travel, and learning to build his own bike racks in all of this unexpected spare time.
Tell us about yourself. What led you to create an adventure travel company, and what's your passion behind it? (Answer – Ashley Korenblat, Western Spirit CEO)
Right out of business school I worked on Wall Street and I spent every weekend dragging my bike or my skis out of the city. Then I lucked into a job running a bike factory called Merlin Metalworks. We made titanium bikes and we couldn’t make them fast enough, but every afternoon we did a ride and those rides were magic. There was no time to stress or worry or even think. Riding through a natural landscape requires concentration and the experience frees you of all your worries and concerns. What better way to spend a vacation than mountain biking for several days without a care in the world! Our work to design new trips at Western Spirit has given me the chance to visit nearly every National Park and National Forest in the country. In America we are blessed with some amazing public lands and you need to get out there and see them all. Especially now when we have so many challenges. Our backcountry trips are naturally socially distant and the few changes we have had to make in our operations are totally worth the trouble!
Would you please share with us how COVID-19 has impacted you and the Western Spirit team? (Answer – Kate Pearce, Western Spirit Sales Manager)
Covid-19 has played a huge role in how we operate. Running a travel company in the face of a pandemic wasn’t quite something on our radar when we kicked off our 2020 season. With a large amount of uncertainty surrounding travel, we have been doing our best to stay positive, and look towards the future when things can return to some sense of normalcy. However, in the midst of it all, times were tough. Luckily our staff is a pretty tight knit group so we have been able to support each other through all of this.
What challenges has COVID presented for you? (Answer – Kate Pearce)
COVID has presented a number of challenges, while we do pride ourselves on our ability to act quickly and work through difficult moments (as backcountry mtb guides) this definitely takes the cake. From quickly restructuring our office operations so our team can work at home, to going through every point of our multi-day trips and talking through which procedures need to be changed.
Through all of this there has been continual uncertainty and changing our operations has been a moving target. It has seemed as if once we have a good handle on things, we get thrown for another loop – however we have been fortunate enough to have a quick thinking team who is ready to adapt. I would say the pace at which we are facing changes has been a huge challenge in itself.
Are there any new hobbies or interests that you and your team are pursuing during these times? (Answer – Kate Pearce)
I would say that as a team we could have checked off all the boxes of the standard quarantine activities… Of course we took every opportunity to get out for a ride in our amazing backyard in Moab. Feeling a bit nervous about the risks associated with mountain biking during the peak times, I took up trail running. Beyond that folks baked bread, made pies, tackled new cooking projects like homemade pasta, and got our gardens started for said cooking projects, one staff member began building a house, and one built a fountain for his yard. So, although we definitely missed riding with our incredible clients, we really had no problem keeping busy.
What opportunities has COVID presented for you? (Answer – Kate Pearce)
Covid-19 has resulted in some new opportunities for us! We took the down time this spring to tackle a number of much needed maintenance projects back at our shop and office and get things really dialed in for the season ahead, so that felt good!
It also seems that as things settle down more and more folks are in fact interested in going on bike trips. It has been awesome to introduce the multi-day bike trip to some families and to go through the trip selection and planning process with different groups of people who are new customers. We have a number of first-time clients who we are thrilled to ride with! It seems that summer camps and big international trips have been cancelled and people are turning to outdoor adventures. We’re excited to see what that looks like for the remainder of the season and coming years!
What positive impact do you see in the future as a result of COVID? (Answer – Kate Pearce)
One major positive that I see as a result of Covid-19 is hopefully more compassion and understanding among people on this planet. We felt so fortunate that when we had to cancel a number of our trips our customers were understanding and easily rescheduled for a different trip later in the season, or even next year.
Also, it’s clear that being outdoors is one of the safest places you can be, so we are excited to see more folks getting out into our public lands and exploring on bikes, foot, or whatever. Hopefully that sticks too!
What are you most looking forward to when the world returns to a new normal? (Answer – Kate Pearce)
Post ride high-fives, and shuttle rides that don’t involve wearing a mask!
What would you most like to share with future travelers? (Answer – Kate Pearce)
For us, getting outside and enjoying nature has always been our passion. After these tough times we are now even more excited to share that with folks from all over. As we return to the new normal and recognize that many things have changed in the world due to the pandemic – the joys of getting outside and riding a bike are a constant!
