Sailing down a summit zip line at speeds of more than 50 mph could be just what the doctor prescribed to foster corporate camaraderie.
Or at the very least, it”™s a surefire way to have mountains of fun.
The premise of New York Mountain Tours L.L.C., an outdoor adventure tour company founded by New York City Police Officer and Irvington resident Jason LaFond, is simple.
“A group or organization will approach us and say, ”˜I have 20 people who”™d like to go to Hunter (Mountain) to go skiing for the day”™ and they”™d get their own bus and we work the schedule around what they want with food or beverage in the morning when they get there or happy hour drink specials,” LaFond said.
Originally designed to be a winter operation providing regular weekend bus service from White Plains to the Catskills, the program offerings grew to include private trips and company outings.
“With the addition of the zip line tours at Hunter Mountain, it makes the resort a year-round destination,” he said. “We base our packages on the pickup location, the amount of people and which zip line they want. If they want, they can add food and beverage, a meeting space or audio/visual.”
New York Mountain Tours this summer will offer private zip line tours in partnering with the resort.
The “Top of the Mountain Tour” boasts the highest and longest zip line canopy tour in North America, “which is really cool to be right in Westchester”™s backyard.”
Tours take approximately two and a half hours to complete.
One of LaFond”™s goals is to keep the business of adventure tourism right in the region.
“All of our trips stay within New York state, so we”™re able to provide in especially the Catskill Mountain region a lot of business from the Westchester area up to Hunter Mountain and other ski resorts,” he said.
Another goal is to do good for the planet.
New York Mountain Tours just joined 1% for the Planet, a global movement designed to support nonprofit organizations targeting sustainability.
Members contribute 1 percent of revenues directly to a pool of 1,600 designated environmental nonprofits.
“Most of the major outdoor manufacturers are onboard with 1%,” LaFond said. “Being an outdoor adventure company, we”™re able to give back to nonprofits who look to protect our environment.”
The nonprofit is Vermont-based, another shared attribute with LaFond.
“Living in Vermont for 16 years, I worked at a couple different ski resorts, so I”™ve definitely been involved in the ski industry and outdoor tourism business for awhile,” he said. “I would go camping in the summer and go rock-climbing and hiking, so it was always a big interest of mine. If there was ever an opportunity to create a business around that, I wanted to keep it an option.”
The website is newyorkmountaintours.com.
