Mountain Biking, Wind Energy & Beer in Gstaad & Zurich.
Last week I was invited by Karen Korponai, who I met on Necker Island a month earlier to come a visit Gstaad in Switzerland. Karen was a founding member of The House of Marley (Marley Headphones etc) leadership team has been advising Akon. Now Karen is working with the Mimran brothers, as Chief of Staff at to.org building a coalition of creative activists, ventures and non-profits to invest towards a connected and inspired world.
Knowing that I am crazy about mountain biking, Karen made sure that it would be on the schedule. How could I say no?
The first day in Gstaad was snowy and cold but I still managed to put in a tough climb up to Arnensee with Arieh Mimran.
Extreme Exploring with Martin Horn
One of the highlight of this trip (and there were many) was getting to know and hanging out with Martin Horn. Martin is the brother of world famous global explorer Mike Horn and was his partner for many many years. He is also an explorer and adventurist in his own right.
Today, Martin runs Horn & Co, an adventure and events company taking people on the most amazing adventures and challenges around the world.
The next day Martin took me on a beautiful cross country ride from Gstaad to his village. A very beautiful ride along the river, waterfalls and Swiss cowbells. We rode to his house, had a great beer and then biked back. All in all, around 40km + .
We spoke about everything from global adventures to coffee bean branding, beer and his new exciting project, the young explorers club. Young explorers club is a two week camp taking young people out on adventures such as fishing, mountain biking, climbing, white water rafting etc to teach them to push their limits, improve their leadership skill and doing something good for the environment. A fantastic activity much needed in todays screen obsessed world.
If you want somebody to tailor suit an unforgettable adventures for you. Look no further!
I also had the opportunity to spend time with Nachson Mimran, who passionately runs the To.Org with many exciting and important projects though out Africa. Check one of his current projects connected to the UN’s 17 sustainability goals: TogetherBand
Wind Tech, Down Hill MTB & Beers in Zurich
After three great days in Gstaad, I jumped into my rental and drove to Zurich to reconnect with Dino Costa, who I met earlier this year in Davos. Dino is the co-founder of TwingTech a company focusing on enable wind energy in remote and off-grid areas reducing diesel consumption and environmental impact. Dino is also a snow kiter, skier, paraglider and mountain biker and its gets even better. Four of his team mates are bikers too!
Dino had set up the perfect plan for the day: a visit to TwingTech’s HQs, meet the team and learn what they are working on, then hit the DH trails on Uetliberg just outside of Zurich, and finish off the day with delicious craft beers at Fork & Bottle.
I was really excited about hitting the DH trails after having seen Sam Pilgrim flying down this trail a month earlier. Looked so sick!
The weather was fantastic and we had a great ride. Afterwards Dino, his co-founder Corey Houle and myself spent the rest of the evening researching the good beers at Fork & Bottle. Innovative tech, great people, mountain biking and good craft beers, what else can one ask for?
This was one more of those serendipitous happenings that came about through power of the ACTAI Global tribe. Can’t wait for more!
