Local Small Business Owners Bring Next Generation Alternative Energy to Vegas
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Las Vegas, NV For local small business owners Heather and Jared Fisher, purchasing and installing a wind turbine is just the latest step in reducing their environmental impact.

The Fishers' company, Escape Adventures, runs local hiking and biking tours for corporate clients and visiting tourists, as well as weeklong vacation tours to a variety of national and even international locales. The Fishers have built Escape into a sustainability powerhouse, with solar powered facilities, vegetable oil fueled vans andthe most comprehensive environmental program in the industry. Now they're modifying their own local property to keep up with their business' impressive eco-record.

"It's all about utilizing renewable resources to reduce our footprint," said Escape Adventures Tour Director and Las Vegas area resident Jared Fisher. "We're finding ourselves once again on the forefront of advances in alternative energy."

While many early adopters used solar and wind to power facilities in rural areas beyond the reach of standard power lines, more and more "on the grid" energy customers like the Fishers are taking matters into their own hands.

This week's wind turbine installation is the culmination of two years of preparation. The turbine is expected to produce about 5,000 watts a year of energy, enough to fuel the Fishers' home and offset some of the energy use at their company's Las Vegas headquarters.

"With our new wind generator, we're actually serving as a power company ourselves, feeding clean energy into the grid," explains Fisher. "In the past, in order to be environmentally friendly, we've purchased wind energy credits through Rocky Mountain Power but with our new turbine we've made the transition from wind power supporters to wind power producers."

Even with an incentive rebate from NV Energy, it will take over eight years for the family to recoup the upfront cost of installing the turbine. Still, Fisher says, it's well worth it. "It's a major investment, but it's an investment in the future of our planet, and in our community."

About Escape Adventures: Founded in 1992, Escape Adventures offers sustainable mountain biking, road cycling, hiking and multisport tours throughout North America and beyond. Escape coordinates its national tour program from Las Vegas and offers local day tours to Red Rock Canyon for corporate groups and visitors. Escape reduces its tours' impact by utilizing (and now producing) alternative energy, buying organic, recycling, conserving, and supporting other sustainable businesses. In 2006, Escape became the world’s first carbonneutral outfitter. Visit their website for more information.

NV Energy Info: visit http://www.nvenergy.com/renewablesenvironment/renewablegenerations/windgen/ for more info on NV Energy's Wind Energy program.

Financial Incentives Propel Small Wind Program

Vegetable oil fuels bicycle tour vans.

CNN November 19, 2007
AP
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View this article online.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A Las Vegas tour company is using leftover oil from restaurants to fuel a fleet of vans, showing that recycling can work even in a city known for excess.

Escape Adventures is an 18-year-old company that offers bicycle trips into Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

What makes Escape trips different from other helicopter tours or limousine cruises is that owner Jared Fisher spends about four to six hours a week driving to restaurants to siphon used oil from containers near the trash bins.

"It is kind of nice to escape the office," Fisher said. "I can read a book while I'm pumping grease."

So far this year he has collected about 3,000 gallons. That amounts to more than $9,000 in savings -- almost enough to pay for the cost of modifications to make six diesel vehicles in Escape's fleet capable of running on vegetable oil.

The trucks run on diesel or vegetable oil, a feature that came in handy on a recent morning when Fisher realized the tank was near empty.

"I actually had to go raid my kitchen cabinet last night for corn oil," Fisher said. "But that's what is great -- you can cook with it; you can put it in your truck."

Escape Adventures offers eco-tours far from The Strip's hubbub.

Las Vegas Journal November 17, 2007
Article by Benjamin Spillman, Las Vegas Review-Journal McClatchy-Tribune Regional News

Nov. 17--A journey into the gaudy chaos of the Strip is an escape from reality for nearly 40 million people annually.

For Jared Fisher, it's a rescue mission.

Fisher and his force of carbon-neutral outdoor guides infiltrate the Strip almost daily to extract their targets from the Las Vegas' polluted core of bright lights, concrete and sensory decadence.

They load bleary-eyed tourists and business travelers into vans powered by vegetable oil and drive away from the casinos, strip clubs and gut-buster buffets.

"That's not my Las Vegas," says Fisher, owner of Escape Adventures, an 18-year-old company that offers bicycle trips into Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

What makes Escape trips different from myriad helicopter tours or limousine cruises from Las Vegas into the Nevada outdoors is the effort Fisher makes to minimize their effect on the environment clients pay to experience. He's spent nearly $250,000 to offset Escape's effect on the environment. About $100,000 went toward solar cells to power the company's Moab, Utah, bike shop and tour warehouse. Another $121,000 went toward new diesel-powered trucks and vans Fisher then converted to run on vegetable oil. The conversion cost an additional $10,500.

He spends about four to six hours a week driving to restaurants near Escape's Las Vegas headquarters at 8221 W. Charleston Blvd. and siphons used oil from containers near the trash bins.

"It is kind of nice to escape the office," Fisher said. "I can read a book while I'm pumping grease."

He can also save a lot of cash.

So far this year he's collected about 3,000 gallons. That amounts to more than $9,000 in savings already, almost enough to pay for the cost of modifications to make six diesel vehicles in Escape's fleet capable of running on vegetable oil.

On a recent weekday Fisher set out from Las Vegas Cyclery, the bike shop he owns in conjunction with Escape Adventures, in a forest-green 1999 Ford F-250 to collect oil for the fleet.

The truck runs on diesel or vegetable oil, a feature that came in handy that very morning when Fisher realized the tank was near empty and he had to drive 17 miles from his rural home in Blue Diamond to the bike shop.

"I actually had to go raid my kitchen cabinet last night for corn oil," Fisher said. "But that's what is great -- you can cook with it, you can put it in your truck."

Indeed.

Just a few blocks from the bike shop Fisher backed the truck near some trash containers outside a Vietnamese restaurant. He jumps into the pickup's bed, pops open an attached tool bin and loads his arms with rags and hoses.

"You gotta watch out, man," Fisher warns two observers. "It could get greasy."

After hopping from the truck to the ground, Fisher lifts the lid on a container of grease and dips one end of a clear plastic hose into the liquid.

He prefers grease from Asian restaurants over the stuff discarded by burger joints. The burger and fry grease is too loaded with fatty acids and debris to work well with minimal processing. But oil from Asian restaurants is just right.

"That is some good grease," says Fisher, eyeing his reflection staring back from inside the grease bin. A clear reflection is one way to identify good grease from gunky goo that would only foul up a fuel system.

"There were probably 10,000 wontons fried in this," he says.

Two small pumps sucked the amber liquid into a large holding tank in the back of the truck. The pumps can move about seven gallons a minute.

"In the next 30 seconds I will save about $21 in fuel," Fisher says as the pumps whir.

With his grease load procured, Fisher drives back to the shop. He parks the truck next to a walled-off collection of yellow, plastic drums. He runs a hose from the truck into a cotton sack above one of the drums that serves as a filter.

After a few days at rest, the grease is ready for action. Escape Adventure guides can pump it into the fuel tanks on the company vans and strike out with clients for Red Rock, the Grand Canyon or anyplace else.

"It is perfect," said Brian "Moose" Ottesen, one of the guides.

Ottesen is one of as many as 25 Escape Adventure employees. He takes bikers, hikers, corporate groups and tourists to experience what he calls, "the better side of Las Vegas."

He said the grease-powered vans are great for driving clients, bikes and supplies to the Grand Canyon.

But for Ottesen, who left a corporate job in Seattle five years ago to dedicate more time to family and the outdoors, said the vans are just one aspect of the company's environmental ethic. The commitment is a large part of what keeps him on the job with Escape.

"I got several offers by other companies to come work for them. He was instantly the one I went with," Ottesen said. "Even before I moved to Vegas, I remember looking that company up."

Besides running what Fisher calls, "veggie trucks," Escape dramatically reduced its trash output through an aggressive recycling program. Bike tires and inner tubes are saved, sorted and given to recyclers for conversion into everything from handbags to livestock feed.

Fisher and his wife, Heather, are also known for advocating on behalf of cyclists by pushing for new bike paths in the city. Escape Adventures Las Vegas Cyclery employees get a $5 bonus every day they ride a bike to work.

"If you are an outdoor guide ... you should have some environmental responsibility," Ottesen said.

Fisher documents Escape Adventures' environmental responsibility in a 5-inch-thick binder he keeps in his Las Vegas office.

The binder contains the documentation Escape needs for certification as an environmentally and socially friendly business. What that means is Escape is evaluated on the basis of a triple bottom line that measures environmental ethos and commitment to community-building in addition to profits.

The certification tells customers and employees the commitment is legitimate and it provides a yardstick for Fisher to improve.

"You can't manage what you are not measuring," said Brian Mullis, president of the group Sustainable Travel International, which manages the certification program.

It costs businesses anywhere from $200 to $2,500 to apply to certification. It costs $800 to $1,200 plus expenses each day auditors are out to verify steps a business is taking, Mullis said.

So far, there are only about 1,200 businesses in the world certified under the system Escape uses.

But Mullis said he expects that number to grow as customers demand more environmental and community responsibility.

Mullis said more Nevada hospitality companies, including resort giant MGM Mirage, are inquiring about certification levels. He plans to attend the upcoming Governor's Conference on Tourism to network with more Las Vegas companies.

"As more an more companies say they are green, the definition of green is going to become more difficult to interpret," Mullis said. "They are dealing in a very competitive environment."

Fisher said the environmental outreach is translating into profits. But he said he sticks to the effort mostly because he believes in it. He said he wants to be a positive example for his three boys, Orion, 9, Dakota, 7, and Phoenix, 5.

He also believes other businesses in Las Vegas will follow the example if they want to continue doing business in one of the most crowded, water-hungry and economically important places in the Mojave Desert.

"If we want to live like this in 50 years, people are going to have to start changing now," Fisher said.

Escape Adventures named National Geographic Adventure "Best Outfitter on Earth"

National Geographic Adventure (November 2007)
Download a PDF version of the Escape Adventures profile on NGA.com.
Download a PDF version of the Methodology and Criteria.
Download a PDF version of the Best Bike Outfitters page.

Ride Bikes, Save Earth
Moab's Escape Adventures Raises the Sustainability Bar

Bike (September/October 2007)
Article by Michael DiGregorio
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By the prevailing standard of modern Las Vegas, Heather and Jared Fisher are the unassuming exception. Co-owners of Las Vegas Cyclery, Moab Cyclery and Escape Adventures- a 17-year old mountain bike touring and trekking outfit- the Fishers have made a nice living out of packaging low-impact outdoor pursuits.

But low-impact wasn't good enough. So last year the quietly devout thirtysomething couple endeavored to become America's first carbon-neutral active-travel outfitter. The Fishers invested more than $100,000 in solar-electric generating systems; now, large photovoltaic arrays crown their Las Vegas warehouse and Moab retail shop.

The Fishers second act was even more ambitious. They spent $140,000 converting their work and support vehicles info a vegetable oil burning fleet.

"I've never felt better about a return on investment," Jared says.

At the same time, Heather has become something of a guardian angel for the Reed Rock park at Las Vegas' northwest edge.

"Red Rock Canyon is the best place to ride in southern Nevada, and its being encroached upon by what has been labeled as the second most unfriendly city for bicyclists in the nation," Heather says.

Heather's Save Red Rock non-profit organization successfully restricted commercial traffic through the 197,000 acre wilderness and has added a 8-foot wide bike lane running the length of Rock Canyon scenic byway.

"With enough faith, ambition and determination, nothing is impossible," Heather says.

A moment later Jared fires up one of the veggie-burning vans.

"I'm guiding 40 Israeli cyclists across Death Valley," he says.

The subtext is powerful. A conscientious trailblazer leading 40 children of Abraham across the desert, leaving no carbon footprint. Amen.

- Michael DiGregorio

Hell on Wheels

Adventure Cyclist (September/October 2007)
Article by Michael DiGregorio
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It's been said that water is the most precious resource here in the hottest, driest, and lowest point in North America. If that's the case, then shade comes in a close second. Although the calendar said April, the Death Valley sun had already gone heat-lamp intense.

Accordingly, a clutch of cyclists, all men in their late forties, prepped and sun screened-up beneath a bosk of shaggy mesquite trees near the visitor center at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. Surging out from this miniature green zone, surrounded by 3,000 square miles of brown, the cyclists will find zero defenses for the UV version of a full-court press.

The riders were a mix of classmates and friends of classmates froma Fairfax, Virginia, high school, explained lanky and voluble Bob Holste.

Holste had just left a post as a congressional aide for a position in the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign. Flanking him was a Maryland bank president, a lawyer-lobbyist, and an ex-Marine turned physical therapist.

But these gents were a long way from their Flomax moment. Professional accomplishments aside, this boomer entourage were all committed cyclists.

Yet not one had experienced Death Valley, a low-elevation, heat-radiating saltpan bracketed by high-altitude mountains east of California's Sierra Nevada range. It's a realm the Timbisha-Shoshone people, the valley's original inhabitants, called "ground afire." It's the place where NASA test-drove Mars Explorers and lunar landers and George Lucas found Star Wars backdrops.

After a morning rendezvous at Las Vegas Cyclery, the group was shuttled here, two hours west, via the bike shop's alter ego, Escape Adventures. But the figurative wheels had been put into motion a few weeks earlier when one of the men's wives had phoned the shop.

In Maryland, and with no clue about the trekking component, Dave Meadows' wife sought nothing beyond a little local knowledge.

"Our first plan," Meadows said, "was to hire a plane and a truck to get the bikes, beer, and the steaks to Scotty's Junction, a 30-to-40mile ride, as we saw it, to the park's far eastern edge. But for not a whole lot more than what it would have cost to ship the bikes, Jared Fisher, the bike shop's outfitter and co-owner, designed an itinerary geared to our needs."

To accomplish this, Fisher rolled out a uniquely qualified support vehicle - one that could display red and green crosses on the doors, one for simple cyclist triage, and the other for environmental sustainability. (See Standards and Measures sidebar).

Having ridden and scouted Death Valley - at 3.39 million acres, America's largest national park outside Alaska -Fisher recognized its huge potential for cycling. The promised headspace, folded into long challenging hauls framed by inspiring surroundings, suited Dave Meadows.

"We were neophytes in terms of guided touring," the Baltimore cyclist said. "The early conversations we had with Jared, then his coming back with photos and a detailed package…finding him really became something of an exercise in blind luck."

Conversely, it was perverse luck that brought a group of nineteenth-century economic refugees to gasp "Death Valley," creating what is arguably America's most visceral toponym.

In 1849, a group of pioneers took to a little-known overland route that promised to cut 500 miles from the Old Spanish Trail to the California goldfields. The route they followed had been drawn by a mountain man named Elijah Ward.

The pioneers, who would become known as "the 49ers," also had a map which they had secured from Captain John Fremont, whose cartographer had no reckoning of the vast Great Basin desert north and east of Death Valley. Cryptically, he referred to the region as "unexplored."

Like so many elements of the Western experience, a wide degree of conjecture surrounds the story of the Death Valley 49ers. Some say there were 18 fatalities out of an original crossing party of 30. Other historians, however, point to no more than two accountable deaths.

Legacy and body count aside, what's remarkable that a place so pivotal to Anglo- America's Western expansion is all but shunned by Americans, at least for a large share of the calendar year. At summer's peak, nearly 90 percent of park visitors are Europeans. At the same time, increasing numbers of cyclists (also disproportionately Continentals) are enjoying the same cycling friendly landscape that Jared Fisher recognized. Namely physically challenging point to- point road rides made more intriguing by a span of colorfully evoked historical sites and further book-ended by either clean, well placed campgrounds or efficient resorts.

Beneath a plasmic sun, the cyclists pushed out onto California Route 190. Long and gloriously skeletal, 190 bisects the length of the park. although average July and August air temps hover in the 116- to 122-degree range, on the asphalt the reading will usually top out between 180 and 200 degrees. Not coincidentally, that's also when English becomes not even the second, but arguably the third language in the park, behind German and French.

The ride's second and third act played out in the park's southern end below Furnace Creek. From the first day's precipitous ascent, the cyclists got worked over on an equally arduous ascent of Dante's View.

Carved across the backside of the Funeral Mountains, the Dante's View route gains 5,600 feet over a span of 26 miles. But the payoff is an unmatched viewpoint of the valley floor. Later that day, the group lost themselves on the aptly named Artist Drive: a nine-mile haul with a 1,000-foot gain in the first three clicks.

Moreover, as predictably as low-pressure systems give way to highs, after 48 hours in the saddle, Death Valley had begun to produce quiet but unmistakable revelry. In favor of, say, hot showers or clean undergarments, urgency was given to enjoying the sunset from a folding chair while deconstructing the ride. It was kismet, as one rider realized, when a flat on one stretch led to a surprise glimpse of a showy bloom on a prickly pear cactus.

Each night also closed with panache. In the great open-air dining room called the Furnace Creek Campground, the meals became all the more memorable for the colors seen in the mountains that shape what one ultra-marathoner called a "gigantic natural strip mine." Shaded in diffuse blue-purple were the Panamints, while in the opposite direction, the Funeral Mountains to the east glowed subtly, dappled in purple bronze.

Afterward, the self-admitted political junkie Bob Holste framed the great sense of decompression best. After relating that he was shirking 5,000 emails weekly, Holste added, "But that's when you know it's a good vay-kay (vacation): when you bring the Blackberry, but never unpack it." If Holste gave the best quote, Chuck Barstow was the strongest cyclist. "I have ridden some centuries on my own and with others, but not on a tour," said Barstow, who resembles a brawnier Ben Kingsley.

---An ex-Marine who served tours in the Kuwaiti and Iraqi theaters, Barstow had never been on a cycling tour, so he admitted to harboring mixed expectations. "I had no idea of the difficulty of the rides in Death Valley," he explained. "I tried to prepare for what I sort of expected as the worst, but my preparation rides were once a week for about 75 to 90 minutes."

A small-business owner - Barstow operates a physical therapy clinic in Diamond Bar, California - he saw the genius in being guided across the Goliath of western wilderness by a heady David of cycling outfitters. He also found the route choices spot-on. "I love to climb. I love the majesty of this place," he said. "The rides themselves are very challenging-though I had hoped for a little more time in the saddle."

Barstow admitted finding his groove on the second day in the park. Yet the physical and psychological aggregate of two thoroughly challenging rides only fed his fire for more terra diabolus.

"All pain is temporary. In the Corps, I used to say I could take anything-say a week's worth of cold weather training," he said without a hint of hubris. "Then it was, I could take anything for two days. "But even after the second ride, I felt I had some left. The ride up to Dante's View was the best because one of the guides stayed with me and pushed me some. But I would have enjoyed a day where we had a good 70 to 80miles in one ride."

Still fighting fit in his fifties, an ex- Marine turned horizon-seizing cyclist had said, not only to a pair of super-fit guides half his age, but to the Valley called Death: Thank you, sir. May I have another? That kind of "hell-yes" bravado for an extended surge across an ancient desert is one all adventure cyclists can salute.

Michael DiGregorio's cycling and outdoor travel features have been published in magazines such as Backpacker, Bike, Men's Fitness, Mountain Bike, Paddler, Powder, the San Francisco Examiner, and Shape. He rides and resides on Las Vegas's northwest edge.

Jared Fisher Takes Green Route With Retail and Touring Businesses

Bicycle Retailer (March 2007)
p. 43, Article by Matt Wiebe
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LAS VEGAS, NV — Jared Fisher’s tours on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in the early 1990s were so popular that they bankrolled his growing tour company, Escape Adventures.

But the National Forest Service began closing the Kaibab National Forest on a regular basis, threatening Fisher’s tour business. Fisher faced a host of difficult business decisions, but today his touring company and retail business, Moab Cyclery, are entirely carbon neutral.

“When the forest closes I have to call all of my clients, let them know what is happening and what their options are to arrange other tours,” said Fisher, who founded Escape Adventures in 1991 with his wife Heather.

“It may only be closed for a week or longer, but it’s a hit to the company and those looking forward to the tour. I could wait for others to make hard decisions or I could make those decisions myself,” he added.

In talking with Kaibab officials Fisher learned that prior to 1983 the forest had rarely been closed due to drought, but global warming changed that.

“I took a hard look at my business. Here I was with a fleet of E350 15-passenger vans getting on average eight miles per gallon. Each gallon of gas dumps one pound of carbon into the air,” Fisher said.

Each tour van used 85 gallons of gas and dumped 85 pounds of carbon. Fisher investigated many options to reduce his company’s carbon footprint, including switching to electric-powered vans.

Today his tour company uses vans fueled by vegetable oil scavenged from local restaurants. Nestled in every equipment trailer pulled by a van is a 100-gallon tank of oil. Once a van leaves its Las Vegas warehouse, it doesn’t need to be refueled. “Some days the vans smell like P.F. Chang’s, on other days like Panda Express. It does work up an appetite,” Fisher said.

His company also recycles most waste generated on tours, buys locally produced organic food, and uses Lakin recycled tires on vans. Fisher continues to look for more ways to conserve at both his tour and retail business.

The past few years the company has invested close to a quarter million dollars to offset its environmental footprint—$101,000 went to solar cells to power its retail bicycle shops and bike tour warehouses. The new diesel vans and trucks cost $121,000, and an additional $10,500 was spent converting them to run on waste vegetable oil.

The company plants trees around its properties to offset the carbon produced when employees have to fly, and buys carbon credits to offset other carbon- producing activities.

Moab Cyclery customers walk by three recycle bins, and informational signage about solar power, renewable energy and the store’s commitment to sustainable business practices before entering the retail showroom.

“It’s something our employees value. They feel they are part of making a statement about how the business is part of the solution,” Fisher said.

The company’s 25 employees and five seasonal guides are educated on its environmental efforts and can educate customers on the technology they use.

On the surface, the bike industry has so much to offer consumers looking to minimize their impact on the environment. But look a little closer and the picture changes.

Fisher noted that environmental waste in the bike industry is high. Pull a bike out of a box and a bike-sized pile of trash comes with it—cardboard, plastic and foam. Many parts and accessories have packaging that dwarfs the product.

While some suppliers are making an effort to reduce their environmental footprint, Fisher thinks more can be done to control energy use.

Fisher no longer buys certain products because the packaging is excessive. He hopes other retailers take similar action.

“At this point, I don’t even think about the cost of these changes. They are decisions I don’t feel are optional. I know some of the tax credits are substantial and I know quite a few of our customers are excited to be part of what we are doing,” he said.

SPOT ON – Moab’s Radical Conversion

Outside Magazine (March 2007)
p. 46, Article by Megan Gambino

It’s not like we needed another reason to love Moab. But we’ve got one: Utah’s red-rock mecca for adventure sports is perusing one of the most ambitious green-energy policies of any town in the West. The movement is led by mayor and 35-year resident Dave Sakrison, 61, who was elected in 2000 and three years later had government offices supplying half their kilowatt-hours with emissions free wind power. He then successfully challenged 15% of residents and 40% of businesses to do the same – a move that coincided with Moab’s recognition as the EPA’s first Green Power Community – and in 2005 finished construction on a geothermally heated and cooled city hall. This April, the Moab Chevron station will install Southern Utah’s first bio-diesel tanks. Meanwhile, mountain bikers coming to town for the storied 12-mile Slickrock trail can turn to Moab Cyclery, which powers it’s shop with an 8 kilowatt solar-electric system and runs 5 support vehicles on used veggie oil. [Bike rentals with shuttle, $50; Moabcyclery.com].

Adventure Travel Tour Operator Sets New Precedent
Escape Adventures' Triple Bottom Line Benchmark

Boulder, CO (October 19, 2006) - Sustainable Travel International (STI) announced today that it helped Escape Adventures become one of - if not the first adventure travel company in the U.S. to attain carbon neutral status.

"I want this to set a standard and an example for other businesses to follow including our competitors," explains Jared Fisher, co-owner of Escape Adventures. "Money cannot be the only factor to measure a businesses' success. By adding social and environmental dimensions to the traditional economic benchmark, business can accurately gauge their performance across the triple bottom line, which benefits everyone."

Escape Adventures, which specializes in hiking, biking and multi-sport tours throughout the western United States, took a bold step when the company proactively offset all of its greenhouse gas emissions for 2006 through STI, including its waste generation, electricity consumption, employee flights and land travel. "We felt it was important to make a high level contribution to addressing global climate change, so our guests would know how important the environment is to our business," Fisher concludes.

Though carbon offsetting is becoming an important tool for addressing global warming, it wasn't enough for Escape Adventures. The company set a new precedent when it committed to investing almost a quarter of a million dollars in mitigating its other environmental impacts. Specifically, the company invested $101,000 in solar cells to power its retail bicycle shops and bike tour warehouses in Las Vegas and Moab, $121,000 in diesel vans and trucks, and $10,500 in Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) conversions, fuel holding tanks and pumps to run its vehicles off of WVO and bio-diesel. The company has also reduced its waste by almost 90 percent and only prints its marketing materials on 100 percent post consumer recycled paper using soy based inks. An employee incentive program has also be implemented which gives each employee a $5 per day bonus just for riding their bicycle to work.

"Numerous research studies prove that managing waste and improving energy efficiency result in direct cost savings and that doing the right thing through corporate responsibility initiatives attracts conscientious consumers whose purchasing decisions align with their values," offers Brian T. Mullis, STI's President. "Though this might be what it takes to get the mainstream travel and tourism businesses to support the triple bottom line, Escape Adventures makes it clear that profit isn't always the underlying motive, and that's extremely encouraging."

A business cycle in Las Vegas that is all good.
MercuryNews.com, January 2006
By: Nicole Wong, Dean Takahashi and Matt Marshall

Jan. 2--Riding a bicycle down the Las Vegas strip certainly doesn't scream bling. But it's Roger Kay's secret to saving his soles from blistering and staying sane as 130,000 other people attending the convention dash between appointments and parties at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Sin City.

Kay, president of Massachusetts' Endpoint Technologies Associates, has used this speed-wheeling strategy for several years. It's helped him arrive on time for a dozen meetings a day scattered across a 1 1/2-mile radius.

"Nothing like passing 75 cars held up by one guy turning into the Convention Center parking lot, or leaving behind a cab line of several hundred plaintive souls to make you feel like the captain of your destiny," Kay wrote on the www.technologypundits.com blog.

For about $100, Escape Adventures delivers a bike to his hotel Wednesday night and picks it up Saturday morning. When the 52-year-old isn't biking down the gridlocked Las Vegas Boulevard -- or down the hotel hallway, as he's been known to do -- he may lock the bike to a structure in the Venetian's roundabout, tip a bellhop $5 to watch it, or stow it in his room.

He's considered riding a Segway, but that wouldn't be good at squeezing through the human gridlock. And it's just not fast enough for him.

Kay wears slacks while he rides -- carefully folding the pant legs around the crease when he straps on leg reflectors -- so there's no wasted time changing into business attire. And he can conduct business as easily on a bike as in a car -- talking on the cell phone using a noise-canceling Bluetooth headset.

"A caveat, however, is evening," Kay wrote on the blog. "Once the sun goes down, I retire the bike and switch to cabs. I may not gamble in Vegas, but I know what happens to the odds for a biker after the sun goes down."

Idaho rated the #1 state for mountain biking by IMBA
Outdoor Network, December 3, 2001

The state famous for its potatoes may need a new slogan. For the second straight year, Idaho received the top grade in the International Mountain Bicycling Association's (IMBA) Mountain Bike Access Report Card, solidifying its status as the best U.S. state for mountain biking. Serpentine trails, expansive public lands and a low population were sited by IMBA as key components in Idaho's mountain biking success. Idaho received the top grade in last year's IMBA Report Card, but that didn't make the local cyclists complacent. Riding opportunities improved this year around Boise, Idaho's largest city, as mountain bikers played a central role in creating new urban fringe trails.

For more information on our Idaho Trip, click here.

Vegas Rocks
National Geographic Adventure, February, 2001, pp. 24, Story by Steve Casimiro

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0101/destination.html

VEGAS'S REAL EXTRAVAGANCE LIES IN ITS NATURAL SETTING.
You think you know everything you need to know about Las Vegas, so when you’re flying above the Mojave Desert at night and the miles of blackness below you suddenly give way to a shocking amoeba of glowing luminosity, you’re not even close to surprised. It’s Vegas, man.

But maybe you don’t know everything about Vegas,after all. Block out the city for a moment and focus on all those lightless miles of wilderness. From the stunning escarpment of Red Rock Canyon, 40 minutes west of town, to the Colorado River, the same distance east, Vegas’s real extravagance lies in its vast natural setting.

RIDE LONESOME SINGLETRACK
Thirty-five million people will visit Las Vegas this year, but none of them can be found in the cottony air of a summer evening on the cholla-lined singletrack known as the Three-Mile Smile. You have it to yourself, you and Jared Fisher, the director of the bike outfit Escape Adventures ([U.S.] $108 for a full-day tour, including lunch and equipment; +1 800 596 2953 [in the U.S. and Canada]; www.escapeadventures.com),and so you fly down the narrow, red-hued draw with more regard for the cactus spines along the trail than for any potential passersby.

There are 80 miles [129 kilometers] of singletrack running through Cottonwood Valley and many more miles of trail in the surrounding purlieus, but this little arroyo is among the most interesting sections. Straight paths lead to heart-stopping hairpins, which lead to rolly triptychs of whoop-de-dos. And in your wake hangs a crimson dust so fine it may never filter back to the ground.

Scouting Trails above Bend, Oregon
Exploring Central Oregon with Jared Fisher, America’s Premier Mountain Bike Scout
Mountain Bike Action, January 2001, pp. 74-78, Story and photos by Will Hangen

As Jared Fisher, mountain bike scout par excellence, and I prepare to scout 30 miles of singletrack above Bend, Oregon, nearby Mount Bachelor subtly unveils some of its crazy layer-cake weather system. The layer-cake effect starts at Bend’s outskirts and continues for 25 miles up Cascade Lakes Highway culminating at 7000-foot Todd Lake. Earlier we’d driven through separate layers of bright sun, then mist and are now in light rain.

With the two of us standing side-by-side, staring down at the gray ridges arrayed below, delicate snowflakes begin to materialize out of the sky. They fall gently and slow-dance in our cloudy breath, a clear harbinger of winter, just a tad early. Both Jared and I are lost in thought when he turns to me and says, “This is the best part of my job. I live for these moments.”

SHAKE AND BAKE
My stomach also feels somewhat like a homemade layer-cake; unfortunately, it is still in the mixing-bowl stage. On the warm hood of his truck, Jared has just detailed our route and it is littered with single and double black diamonds. Even a non-skier like myself knows what that means. Most of our proposed route, kindly provided by the Deschutes National Forest Service, will follow the drainage of the Tomalo Creek, crossing remote areas of Oregon’s Eastern Cascade Mountains. There’s no quiet introduction. The trail immediately blasts your senses with the sound and fury of six major waterfalls. It’s certainly one of America’s most profoundly stunning trails--flat out, no question, no argument.

Our support crew consists of Jared’s wife, Heather, who is temporarily serving as shuttle driver, plus their two sons, baby Dakota and two-year old Orion. Our goal is clear: pre-scout the aforementioned trail from Mt. Bachelor to Shevlin Park Bend for Potential mountain bike tours. I knew it was going to be tough, but as Heather, the company president, says, “Escape Adventures always offers guests something unique and memorable for their money.” For nine years they’ve run Escape Adventures (aka Escape the City Streets, 800-596-2953) based out of the Las Vegas area. They are a leader among the various western mountain bike tour companies, but even with 16 employees, they still scout all their own trails. Annually, the National Forest Service offers only a few commercial touring permits. Merely for consideration, the Fishers have to have a near-perfect record. Jared says diplomacy is Heather’s area of expertise.

HEADING OUT
Departing from Todd Lake trailhead, my last impression is of two-year-old Orion, wearing his dad’s old gray sweatshirt, which reaches his toes. He’s looking a little worried as he stands on the truck’s tailgate, waving goodbye to us in the misty haze. Initially, Jared and I climb one mile of moderate fireroad, then spot narrow Metolius singletrack on our right, descending a wet ravine. Jared rapidly negotiates two steep switchbacks and crosses a sopping 15-foot single log bridge with no railings. He does it so expertly that I’m compelled to follow his lead. With the water glittering below, I get a little squirrelly in the middle, but keep my eyes up and power-stroke, just like Jared did. He inspires confidence in oneself. This is the first of about eight log bridges this day, plus an untold score of narrow plank bridges. In this rugged territory it’s too difficult for trail workers to haul building materials. They merely saw a dead tree across a creek, ramp it up with several hewn steps or logs and finally use a chainsaw to flatten it on top a little bit. It’s as simple as that.

MOVING ON
For several miles we ride along pretty North Fork singletrack, and other than a few high log bridges, which I portage across, there’s nothing too complicated for the average rider. Jared is fond of doing 180-degree nosewheelies on the bridges, but I give his youthful antics a pass. We experience one green meadow after another, all bordered with tall lodgepole pines and cloud-scraping peaks. The air is so deeply perfumed with pine sap and wet grass that it almost makes me swoon. Happily I note that the rain and snow have backed off.

Usually, when I carry my heavy camera backpack, I palm the water-carrying duties off on my fellow riders, but when we eventually stop for a drink, Jared flops on his belly and drinks straight from a running creek, just like his heroes Lewis and Clark did in 1805. He claims ten years of creekwater has done him no harm. Meanwhile, I fill my bottle with creekwater, but when he’s not looking, drop in two iodine tablets just to be on the safe side. Jared is an iconoclast in other ways. We aren’t carrying a GPS unit, a cell phone or even a compass. His only concession is a local map, plus a small backpack with tools and a medical kit. I suspect modern devices interfere with his natural instincts, and as I get to know him better, I realize that his outdoor savvy is almost unerring. Not that we don’t get lost a few times, but we just apply brainpower and, most importantly, keep a cool head. Oh, did I mention the sandals? He only rides flat pedals with regular sandals. He likes to feel the wind in his toes.

THE HONKING GREEN ALLIGATOR MAKES HIS PRESENCE KNOWN
Descending some root sections next to a series of raging waterfalls, I suddenly hear a loud honking sound. It comes from Jared’s ancient battle-scarred Gary Fisher Joshua. Stopped in a glen, Jared points out a green rubber alligator which he has tie-wrapped to his double-crown fork. He’s rigged it so when he jumps it honks automatically. He tells me his family can hear it miles away. Sure enough, at the first 10-mile cutout point, as we ride into the parking lot, there is our support crew waving gaily and obviously expecting us.

For the second ten-mile leg of our exploration, we cross Cascade Lakes Highway and pick up Phil’s trail system. We climb fireroad #310, then start our eastern descent on lower Whoop-tee-doo Trail, maybe the best jump trail anywhere. Every thirty feet or so we find various sized moguls: singles, doubles, banked corner-jumps. You name it, ‘Whoopties’ has got it! Getting a little cocky, I start to use the weight of my camera backpack to provide vertical boost on the big jumps. I hit the last big mogul way too fast and don’t see that it’s been built on a downhill and dug out on the far side. Six feet in the air, I frantically look down and say a silent prayer. Realizing there is nothing to do, I instantly relax and let my beat-up old Specialized FSR soak up the whonking big landing.

The last ten miles of singletrack are just a sweet ramble along lower Phil’s and Shevlin River trails. We pedal downhill beside rust-colored manzanita and juniper, scaring white-tailed deer which bound into the nearby trees, their ends flashing in the sun. Almost exclusively on riparian benchlands, the Shevlin Trail soon opens up to reveal the town of Bend and the Deschutes River glittering in the distance. Looking back, I can still see Mt. Bachelor brooding under its gray blanket of misty cloud. Down we plunge on the last few switchbacks to Shevlin Park, with the green alligator honking wildly all the way. Eventually I spot Orion standing on the tailgate of the truck, happily waving us into his 2-year-old world. He looks relieved that his dad has safely returned. Heather does too.

I sit on a log in the hot afternoon sun and drink a third gallon of tooth-numbing ice-chest milk, all the while smiling that stupid-happy smile that I usually get after riding six hours of essentially continuous singletrack. I don’t care. I’ve just completed one of the best rides of my life and have it securely captured in my mind and on film.

Southern Nevada's Singletrack Bonanza
Mountain Bike Action, December 2000, pp. 40-44

GOOD TRAILS ABOUND IN THE HILLS AND VALLEYS OUTSIDE LAS VEGAS
Thousands of bikers travel to Las Vegas every year. Many go for the annual Interbike Show, the premier bike show in the industry. A lot more simply pass through on their way to somehwhere else, maybe Moab, Utah, or some other storied riding spot in the western United States.
As it happens, though, just outside of Las Vegas is some of the best winter riding in the U.S. While the Northwest is getting socked with winter storms, the Rockies are being buried under a blanket of snow, and the rest of the country is shivering in the cold, Southern Nevada is often basking in balmy 80-degree temperatures, brilliant blue skies, and bright sunshine. And though most mountain bikers don't realize it, there are good trails to be found within 25 minutes of the Las Vegas Strip....

RED ROCK CANYON
While the trails in Boulder City are best suited to expert riders, the ones in Red Rock Canyon are good for all levels of ability. Mountain biker Brian Swanson, who moved from Southern California to Las Vegas six years ago, says of Red Rock Canyon, To me it was one of the most incredible trails I’ve ever been on. There are wild horses running alongside of you.

In fact, that is one of the most appealing features of Red Rock Canyon. According to Heather Fisher, who,with her husband, owns the bike shop and touring company known as Escape the City Streets, the horses were left by the first explorers of the canyon many years ago. Today there is a good-sized herd of wild horses still roaming free in the canyon. Usually they stay in small groups of five of six, and they often run alongside the mountain bikers riding through the canyon. The horses, though wild, aren’t terribly afraid of bikers, and they normally stay just out of reach of the riders, maybe 30 feet away, as they accompany them on the trails.

According to local legend, the wild horses, in roaming through the valley for the last hundred years or so, actually created the very paths that the mountain bikers ride on.

Visitors to Las Vegas can call Escape the City Streets at their shop in Las Vegas, (702) 838-6966, and book a half-day guided tour of the trails in Red Rock Canyon. The $65 price includes round-trip transportation from the Strip, a bike with front suspension (full-suspension is $10 more), a helmet, gloves and a ride guide who will carry tools, fix flats and repair any mechanical problems.

There is lots and lots of singletrack there, says Heather. Most of it is on hardpacked dirt, probably 70 per cent of it. There are also short sections of rocky,technical washes that you ride. It’s fast riding, with banked turns, gradual ascents and descents. There are not a lot of trees, though. There are a few Joshua trees, cactus, and desert plants.

MOUNT CHARLESTON
Mountain bikers looking for a place to ride on hot afternoons in Southern Nevada can take the 40-mile drive north of the city to the top of Mt. Charleston. A ski resort sits atop the 10,000 foot mountain, and the upper slopes are crowded with pine trees. Visiting mountain bikers will enjoy the Bristlecone Loop Trail on the upper slopes of the mountain. It’s short, about six miles long, but it’s got some real fun technical sections on it, says Heather. It’s cooler, and it’s fun to ride in the summer.

Excerpt from Rough Riders
Las Vegas Review Journal, October 1, 2000, Story by Todd Dewey, special to the Review Journal

AREA TERRAIN IDEAL FOR MOUNTAIN BIKING
Natan Bar-Chama hopped on his mountain bike on a recent morning and began the challenging climb up a narrow, rocky trail stamped out by wild horses and burros in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
The doctor from New York City -- in town for a convention -- then flew downhill over the rugged desert terrain, jumping over some boulders while dodging others, along with the lizards, Joshua trees and yucca plants in Cottonwood Valley.
This is not Central Park, said Bar-Chama, a novice rider.
It's not Moab, Utah, either, which is considered the mountain bike capital of the world, but the half-day tour offered by Escape the City Streets! Mountain Bike Adventures was more than satisfying for Bar-Chama and two other riders from Puerto Rico.
This is the best. It's amazing, said Carlos Alvarado, in Las Vegas on a business trip. There is just one trail in Puerto Rico that's better and you're not supposed to ride it.
Bar-Chama was equally impressed.
The downhills and straightaways were awesome. Overall, it was phenomenal, he said. It's a beautiful part of the country and every time I come here I want to get off the Strip and experience it. Bike riding is one of the best ways to do that. A lot of people don't know these options exist because they get so bombarded by the glitz.
Mountain biking options abound in Southern Nevada and it's one of the best ways to enjoy the natural beauty of the area, according to Heather Fisher, president of Escape the City Streets! Mountain Bike Adventures.
It's the best way to see the outdoors, she said. When you're out on a bike riding through the desert, it's really peaceful and beautiful and you become a part of it, rather than just a spectator.

...

Mountain Bike Adventures offers a range of tours, for beginners to advanced riders. There are half-day and full-day tours, as well as weeklong adventures to such stunning locales as Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks in Utah, the Grand Canyon and a host of other places, from New Mexico to New Zealand.
In local, off-road guided tours, riders can explore the Mustang Trails -- a network of single-track trails -- and Cottonwood Valley, which features a professional race loop.
Riders of all levels also can enjoy guided tours on paved roads such as the Red Rock scenic loop, which winds around the hilly valley, amid vivid sandstone formations and towering Black Velvet cliffs. A downhill ride on nearby Mount Charleston is another option.
Thrill-seekers also can rent bikes and/or maps from the bike shop and embark on self-guided tours.
Jonny Hymas, an expert mountain biker and shop manager at Mountain Bike Adventures, said it's worth the short trip to Red Rock.
It's a lot of fun. There are some really good rides -- good long climbs that aren't impossible to climb and long and windy descents, he said. A lot of pro riders train out there in the wintertime and it's been featured in mountain-bike videos.
Hymas said mountain biking can not only increase one's physical fitness, but it can boost a person's self-esteem.
You get a sense of accomplishment from the climbs, because it's hard, he said. At the same time, you're having fun and getting a workout. It's a lot better than sitting in a sweaty, stinky gym.
Advanced riders can get their fix in Bootleg Canyon in nearby Boulder City.
It's straight up or straight down and you have to go over the top of big rocks all the way, Hymas said. It's harder, steeper and rockier. Intermediate to advanced riders love it.
Red Rock Canyon, which features more than 100 miles of trails, offers something for everybody.
For our tours, we mainly require someone who is adventurous and does some kind of physical activities, Hymas said.
Fisher said many people who go on the tours have never rode a mountain bike before.
We get people who are adventurous, she said. When they call to make a reservation, we find out their ability and experience level and put them on the appropriate tour. Most people are mildly athletic and have never ridden a (mountain) bike before.

NOTES
Tours include hotel transfer, bicycle rental, cycling equipment and professional tour guide. Prices range from $55-$75 for the half-day and full-day tours. Those interested can call Escape the City Streets! Mountain Bike Adventures at 596-2953 or visit www.escapeadventures.com.
Mountain bikes range from $300-$3,000, and helmets ($20-$200) and gloves ($15-$30) are recommended, along with an extra tire tube and pump.

Mountain biking off beaten path
Las Vegas Review Journal, May 20, 1999, Story and photos by Brian E. Clark John Egbert makes no bones about his bicycling preferences. If he has his druthers, he'll head his mountain bike off the pavement and onto the bumpy, single-track routes that proliferate the Red Valley northwest of Las Vegas.
On a recent Saturday morning, Egbert was leading a group of riders on a two-hour tour that starts at a pull-off on Highway 160 and goes north toward some imposing sandstone spires and then to a vista called Black Velvet Overlook.
All week I've been doing road tours on the loop in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, so getting back on the single track is a wonderful thing, said Egbert, 21.
An off-road racer who works for Las Vegas-based Escape the City Streets Mountain Bike Tours when he's not riding, Egbert was sporting a good-sized scab on one of his legs that morning. It covered a gash from a fairly recent fall.
Oh, that, he said when asked about the wound. I was jumping off some rocks on my bike and fell. It's OK. Besides, this kind of riding keeps a smile on my face.
Though the group was made up primarily of 40-ish out-of-towners Egbert picked up at a Strip casino, he said the tours also are popular with locals who want to try mountain biking under the guidance of a pro.
We can tailor our rides to whatever ability levels we have, he said. If it's an experienced group, we'll find some trails for them that are more challenging.
The middle-aged men on Egbert's Black Velvet Overlook tour had ridden some back in their home states of Florida and California. None, however, were skilled at off-road riding. So before the ride began, Egbert gave them a primer on shifting gears, using the brakes and riding over rocks.
Basically, I tell them the rules of the road while I'm setting up the bikes, Egbert said. But people really need to ride a bit to get comfortable.
Within 15 minutes, the cyclists were headed up a relatively smooth trail that had a few of the riders huffing and puffing. Then, a thorn punctured a tire and Egbert got to show his clients how quickly he could change a tube. (He had it off and on in five minutes.)
On a small, rain-rutted downhill used by trucks and autos, things got interesting. First, Egbert zipped down the hill and back up the other side. Other cyclists followed -- a few on their bikes, a couple walking.
The last rider, Jay Portnoy, began walking his bike down the hill. Then he jumped back on, rode 50 feet, hit a rut and fell hard on his left leg, forearm and shoulder. Blood from the scrape on his arm dripped onto his white polo shirt and mixed with the grime and dirt from the road. Stunned, he lay in the road as his friends and Egbert ran to his aid.
Fortunately, he was wearing a helmet. But the fall ended his tour. After he shook off the tumble, he limped back to the shuttle van, lay down and waited out the ride.
(The tumble was serious enough, however, to put Portnoy in Sunrise Hospital for 11 days with a major leg injury and a separated shoulder. He was scheduled to return to Florida today. His wife said she'd never let him get on a mountain bike again.)
The remaining riders headed south along the single track, past cactus, brush and one frightened roadrunner. Then it was a long, two-mile run downhill on a smooth trail.
The group stopped above a wash, entered it single file and then cranked hard to get up the other side. Further on, they came to Mud Springs, where they rode by an old stock tank and splashed through a tiny creek.
It was then up a steep trail to Black Velvet Overlook. Only Egbert rode his bike the entire way. The rest, sucking air, had to dismount and push their bikes up to the top. Once there, they were rewarded with magnificent vistas of the Red Valley. In the far distance, they could even see the Stratosphere.
Then came what participant Mark Zimmerman called the best part of the ride.
For nearly three miles, the group rode fast back downhill over dips and hollows, bending around an occasional turn before and negotiating a few tight spots.
I'd never ridden in the desert before, said Zimmerman, who lives near Jacksonville, Fla. I'm mostly a road rider, but I'd done a little mountain biking in North Carolina.
Would I do this again? You bet. We saw some pretty country and it was challenging enough for me. I'll be back out here when I come back next year. Other than Jay's fall, it was wonderful.