Life&Travel VENTURE FORTH
Terrapin Adventures fosters group bonding, personal growth or just pure adrenaline
After a career as a solar energy economist and then 25 years in the health care industry, Columbia resident Matt Baker never imagined that he would own and operate a ropes and zip line course.
He happened upon the industry about 15 years ago during a vacation to Costa Rica. He was immediately hooked.
“That’s when I got the idea for Terrapin Adventures,” he recalls of the team-building adventure business he founded 10 years ago. “I had been working on it a good four years — with a business plan, finding a location, doing lots of presentations, getting financing, and working on everything from the URL to developing the web site, marketing strategies and the concept.”
A decade later, Terrapin Adventures has become a regional destination for outdoor adventure-seekers, drawing more than 160,000 people for group bonding, personal growth or pure adrenaline.
“They have put us on the map,” says Erin Collier, director of operations for Historic Savage Mill, the retail and business complex where the business operates. “It’s hopping whenever Terrapin Adventures have groups here.”
The days start early at Terrapin Adventures. Around 5 a.m. you’ll find a group of four to five employees setting up ropes courses and zip lines throughout a two-acre wooded area adjacent to Savage Mill. It’s a liability to leave off-theground apparatuses unattended after hours, says Baker, 62.
“Sometimes I help out,” he says with a slight chuckle. “It’s not something I relish doing. It’s a pretty physical job.”
Unlike self-guided adventure courses, Terrapin Adventures relies on a guided model where a staff member is within 20 feet of customers at any given time.