Aspen adventure school celebrates 30 years

Sun Dog Athletics “Aspen’s Adventure Sports School,” which offers instruction and guiding in eight mountain adventure sports, is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Sun Dog Athletics was founded in 1996 by Owner and Head Instructor Erik Skarvan. According to a press release, Skarvan was racing mountain and road bikes for over 12 years while working in the hospitality and health and fitness industries before being approached by members at The Aspen Club for instruction. At the time, there were no full-time cycling instructors in Aspen, only guided tours.

“I was also guiding part-time, and beyond an initial orientation on mountain biking skills, I watched guests experience challenges and crashes realizing they needed an actual lesson, not just a guided tour,” he said in the release.

His quit his jobs and established Skarvan Performance Athletics with no loans “or a real business plan,” according to the release.

“It’s been an awesome ride, blowing away all our expectations,” he said. “The best part is sharing what we love with locals and guests from around the globe and seeing them light up. We take great pride and joy in opening doors for the rest of our guests’ lives.”  

Skarvan distributed a simple flier and newspaper ads and began teaching mountain biking and road biking skills. In the winter, he shared fitness snowshoeing.

He often trained with his dog Sunny, “the Sun Dog,” a golden Labrador and legendary local avalanche dog, one of the first in the country, the release confirms. Sunny served as inspiration for Skarvan’s company’s name change the next year to Sun Dog Athletics, “A name that really exemplified the fun and spirit of mountain athletics and tribute to my best friend Sunny,” he said in the release.  

The past three decades have seen adventure sports programs grow to include the nation’s first Snowshoe/Airboard Adventure, the valley’s exclusive canoeing adventure in North Star Nature Preserve, and, most recently, the area’s first e-biking instructional adventures.

“We operate on a passion driven model vs a pure profit driven model, which has also fueled our sustainability, including during the toughest economic times in history,” Skarvan said in the release. “For three decades, we’ve been very blessed to host guests from 2 to 88 years young and look forward to expanding our reach, sharing what we’ve learned and love.”

Find out more on their new website at sundogathletics.com, and find Sun Dog Athletics on Facebook and Instagram for weekly adventure updates.