Adventure Travel Podcast - Big World Made Small · Jason Elkins - Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Marketing

Adventure Travel with Charlie Krarup - Adventure Base – Experts in the Alps

·1 hr 10 min·4 clips

After his father died in 2009, Charlie says he chose to “go and have some fun” in the mountains.

1. Adventure Travel Podcast - Big World Made Small centers on Charlie Krarup and Adventure Base’s work in the European Alps. 2. Jason Elkins hosts, and Charlie Krarup is the managing director of Adventure Base, the company being discussed. 3. The episode asks what Adventure Base does, how it defines adventure travel, and how Charlie ended up running it. 4. Charlie says Adventure Base focuses on adventure travel holidays in the Alps, including mountaineering, trekking, ski touring, and trail-running trips. 5. He names the company’s client mix as B2C and B2B, with an office in Chamonix, another in the UK, and a team member in Canada. 6. He lists common trips such as climbing Mont Blanc, the Tour de Mont Blanc trek, and the Alta Via 1 trek. 7. Charlie also describes custom trips into the “hidden Alps,” which he says are quieter and a little different from the standard bucket-list routes. 8. He defines adventure travel for Adventure Base as a physical journey rather than a passive holiday. 9. Charlie divides trips into “hard adventure” and “softer adventures,” with mountaineering and ski touring on one side and treks and trail runs on the other. 10. He says the company began with hard adventure and has broadened into softer adventure, including walking holidays. 11. Charlie says Adventure Base does not do kayaking or cycling yet, although cycling is part of the plan for the next few years. 12. He explains that the company started in 2008 as a chalet holiday business before a 2020 rebirth changed the model. 13. Charlie says the shift to the name “hidden” from phrases like quieter or less popular made certain Alpine trips sound more appealing. 14. He notes that he originally learned the business during a Chamonix ski season, where he worked for the old Adventure Base chalet operation. 15. Charlie says he stayed five years, worked in both winter and summer, and learned how a small mountain business functions. 16. He says a 2009 death in his family changed his thinking and pushed him away from the teaching path that others expected. 17. Charlie says that after that loss he wanted “to have some fun” and chose skiing, climbing, and running in the mountains. 18. He describes the 2020 return to Adventure Base as a decision made at the kitchen table, after being offered a secure job elsewhere. 19. Charlie and Jason’s conversation is informal, reflective, and shaped by practical details about language, marketing, and Alpine travel. 20. Listeners who like Alpine trekking, mountain travel, and tour-operator logistics should listen closely. 21. Listeners looking for a high-adrenaline summit story without business context might skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded story about choosing motion after a hard stretch makes everything else feel more possible.

This episode follows Charlie Krarup as he talks through what mattered to him after a hard family period, and why he chose winter skiing and summer running or climbing instead of the path other people expected.

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Why you'd press play

Charlie Krarup on choosing motion when life gets hard, with the Alps in the background.

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