| |
Keweenaw
Adventure Company was started in 1994 by Steve and Julie Brimm.
They offered sea kayak instruction, guided tours and outfitting
in the summer months and specialized in dog sledding adventures
during the winter. In the summer of 1998, the Brimm's
decided to move on from the Adventure Company which they had
started.
 |
"Keweenaw Adventure Company
- World Headquarters" |
In 1995, Sam Raymond, who
was living in Colorado that summer, spent a week on vacation
in his summer home of Copper Harbor. During this time, his mountain
bike broke down while on a ride and there was no one in Copper
Harbor who could help to get his bike back on the trail.
Disappointed that he wasn't able to ride for the duration of
this vacation, the seed for the dream was planted while on the long drive back to Colorado. This
dream was to open the first bike shop in Copper Harbor to service
the needs of the travelling biker, while building a foundation to establish the area as the premier mid-western mountain biking destination...sort of a "build it and they will come" philosophy.
In 1997, Sam returned
to Copper Harbor for the summer with the passion for mountain
biking learned in Colorado. He spent a lot of time exploring
the back country and doing work bringing abandoned hiking
trails back to life as singletrack mountain bike trails.
He also helped to co-organize the annual Copper Harbor Fat Tire
Festival-mountain bike race and has continued as the race director every year since this time.
 Sam
again returned for the summer of 1998 and was hired and trained
by the Brimm's as a kayak guide at the Keweenaw Adventure
Company. Still in the process of laying some ground
work for the bike shop, the opportunity to continue
what the Brimm's began came to be. In October
of that same year, ownership of the business was transfered
and officially became Keweenaw Adventure Company, LLC.
The result was a more
well rounded summer time adventure company. Keweenaw
Adventure Company, LLC has continued its role in sea kayaking,
specializing in instruction for beginners, guided day tours and
outfitting for Isle Royale National Park multi-day adventures.
The dream
of Copper Harbor's first bike shop became a reality too. The "outpost shop at the end of the road" today hosts top of the line
bicycle rentals, bicycle mechanics, mountain bike guide service and stocks a basic supply of parts and accessories. Keweenaw Adventure Company has a variety of area maps and are recoginized as the area experts for providing trail information and local marine forecasts. A continuing grass
roots promotion of mountain biking, including conservation, land acquistion projects and a gurantee of continued future public access to the trails in the area are the focus.
More recently, KAC has begun to dabble with winter business and offers snowshoe rentals and guided back-country snowshoe tours; both by appointment only. Sam has also taken on a greater role in helping to improve and enhance the existing Copper Harbor (classic) cross-country ski trails. He has been an advocate with Keweenaw County helping to establish the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge Nordic Ski Trails, which opened for the public to enjoy in the 2008/09 winter season, and now works as a groomer for both trail networks during the snow covered months. |
|
