For ATV guide Chase Goll, the office comes with mountain views, the sound of roaring engines, muddy trails, and a new adventure every day.

Throughout the day, Goll serves as a mechanic, trail expert, storyteller, and outdoor enthusiast for Rock Pirates Backcountry Adventures out of Silverton. Although his ATV tours start with the first press of the gas pedal for the guests, the adventure has started long before that for Goll and his fellow guides.

Goll wakes up at about 6 a.m. and gets ready to guide another group through the rugged backcountry of the mountains. Once he arrives at the outpost area with all the vehicles, he begins warming them up. The air and tires are checked, maintenance on the machines is performed, and all the guides are preparing for the day. They are checking which guests are coming, and getting everything prepped and ready to adventure.

Guests show up around 8 a.m. and after giving them a safety talk, including the “lowdown” on how the machines operate and how to be safe and not damage the machines, the group is ready to head out to the trails.

Goll says that when it comes to safety, watching your speed is the most important thing. Although the machines are built to go over just about anything, Goll says that if you hit something super fast it’s going to cause a problem. In fact, he says that one of the most unexpected parts of his job is getting stuck changing tires.

“Changing a tire on the side of the mountain on a dirt road or a bunch of rocks is not an easy task,” Goll said.

Another safety concern – a pet peeve of Goll’s – is when guests don’t wear their seatbelts. Although, the machines will only go 15 mph if seatbelts aren’t buckled, it’s still dangerous to skip this safety step. Goll says he wears his seatbelt every time he goes out because he’s not “going to roll down 10,000 feet to the bottom of some ravine and not have a seatbelt on.”

According to Goll, the most rewarding part of the job is seeing the positive energy and the guests have a good time when they return from a trip.

“Getting to show people stuff that they don’t normally see, because a lot of these folks come from out of state…” Goll said. “We do have a lot of out of state visitors that come out and do this and they live in places that don’t have mountains at all and it’s just so rewarding to see the look on their faces and how impressed they are by the terrain they drove through and all the things they saw.”

Those things can include waterfalls, wildlife like deer, elk, moose, and bears, and some incredibly scenic Colorado mountain views. As for Goll’s favorite thing he gets to see when he’s out on an excursion, it’s Whitmore Falls on the backside of Engineer Pass.

And although he gets to see stunning Colorado scenery on a regular basis, Goll says that the job is harder than what people might think. Goll does a lot of mechanic work that people don’t see, with repairing stuff and doing maintenance. “It’s not just driving around and having fun all of the time,” he said.

“I just don’t think anybody realizes how much extra work goes on in the back side of things compared to when we’re just out driving around with clients and looking at waterfalls and moose and all the other things you might see out and about,” Goll continued.

Goll’s most memorable day on the job was when a guest drove a vehicle through the snow and got high-centered on Stoney Pass because the snow was so deep. The road wasn’t clear of snow, but the guests thought they could blast through it. However, they didn’t make it through. Fortunately, Goll, his boss, and about eight other people who were on the mountain and willing to help them managed to get the vehicle out, but it took three to four hours. Goll also had to hang off the side of the vehicle as they wenched it out, trying to keep the steering wheel straight and ready to jump off the vehicle in case it rolled.

“There was a lot of laughter and a lot of craziness about it, and a lot of people helping us with it so it was exciting but scary and fun at the same time, kinda adventurous,” Goll said.

For aspiring ATV guides, Goll says that the job is “a lot of hard work, and some days are easier than others,” and that it’s unexpected and adventurous.

“The job description’s wide open, it’s more than just driving around in RZRs, and ATVs, and dirt bikes, and stuff,” Goll said. “There’s a lot going on, and everyday has different challenges.”

As the dust settles and the engines cool down, guests return home with great memories, but ATV guides prepare to do it all again tomorrow.

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