Get To Know me

 

Name

Chris Olson

Age

31

The Basics

  • Born and raised in Midlothian, VA
  • Business degree from Christopher Newport University (Newport News, Va)
  • Home is now Morristown, VT 

Interesting Facts

  • Spent two summers living in a tent, with my wife, while working as a climbing guide in Acadia National Park.
  • Once founded and managed an outdoor, adventure travel business in Virginia named E2 Outdoor Adventures, a reference to two core elements of outdoor fun: Escaping & Exploring
  • Once destroyed a Canon 60d DSLR camera while swimming through the narrow slot canyons of Zion National Park's famed Subway route. I'm still bitter about it.
  • First Job - Five Guys Burgers and Fries...And, yes I did eat a lot of those fries. 

Deathbed Meal

Homemade pizza and red wine

A Few Of My Favorite Things

  • Skiing, trail running, and rock climbing
  • Driving through a scenic landscape, windows down, music up
  • Pizza!

Memorable Sunrises

  • Hunting Island State Park, SC
  • Acadia National Park, ME
  • White Mountains National Forest, NH - seen from the ridgeline of Mt. Flume during a Pemi-Loop-in-a-day mission

Memorable Sunsets

  • Anywhere in Vermont
  • Oia, Greece
  • Acadia National Park, ME

Why The Cougar (AKA A Mountain Lion) Logo?

 

I've always loved the characteristics associated with mountain lions: strong, quiet, yet poised and ready to pounce at any moment. The image of a cougar on the prowl, head down, eyes in a powerful and focused gaze, is one of my favorite examples of wildness, and I regularly connect to that feeling when I'm in the midst of breathing hard within a beatuiful place.

They've been my go-to answer when faced with the inevitable 'name your spirit animal' prompt that seems synonymous with team building or group icebreaker activities. 

But, ultimately, my logo came to be as a result of a nickname. During my first two seasons of work for Maine's Atlantic Climbing School, I was called 'The OG'. As much as I'd like to believe that it was due to my badass resemeblance of an 'original gangster', it was my status as the Office Guy (I managed the office during my 1st season) and then an Otter Guide (Otter Cliffs is one of the most popular climbing destinations within Acadia and new guides spend a lot of time atop them) that earned me that moniker.

Eventually, while hanging out in the office one afternoon, one of our senior guides realized that my initials ‘CO’ combined with ‘OG’ formed ‘COOG’. And thus, I became the ‘Coog’. To this day it’s how I’m greeted by most of my Atlantic Climbing School family.   

Other Nicknames

  • Nos - The result of an inebriated teammate in college realizing that my last name was Noslo if spelled backwards. 
  • COCO - This is what happens when you're initials are 'CO' and you're caught stealing chocolate cake from your boss' plate at dinner
  • Butterfly - This is what happens when your co-workers find a photo of you in a butterfly costume

Chris Olson Logo