New York native provides Absolute Adventures in California for outdoors enthusiasts (06/08/03)

New York native provides Absolute Adventures in California for outdoors enthusiasts

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - For Long Island native Taissa Kuncio, leaving the Ukrainian community in New York and moving across the United States to own and run an outdoor adventure company in San Francisco just seemed like the right thing to do.

After all, the 24-year-old had already climbed Bolivia's 19,870-foot-high Mount Huayna Potosi and traveled throughout Southeast Asia, Australia and South America.

Now, a year after having taken over the reins of Absolute Adventures with a college friend, membership in the company has tripled and the move, Ms. Kuncio says, was definitely a good choice.

"There are so many great things to do and it's all so close," Ms. Kuncio said recently in New York City, referring to the various activities her company organizes in and around San Francisco.

From the more extreme skydiving, climbing and whitewater rafting outings to kayaking alongside leopard sharks or under a lunar eclipse, Ms. Kuncio says the company helps expose people to "all of the natural wonders that the [San Francisco] region has to offer."

"Absolute Adventures is all about connecting with others, making great new friends and enjoying the best the Bay Area has to offer," the Absolute Adventures website says.

The company, which Ms. Kuncio and her partner bought in early 2002, organizes a wide variety of events for people who might otherwise lack the time or inclination to do so on their own.

"They're busy people and don't have the time to plan out a weekend," Ms. Kuncio said about much of her clientele. "All they need to do is come - we take care of everything for them."

Currently, the group has some 200 dues-paying members and encourages guests to come and experience the atmosphere, whether it be through a more strenuous event, such as skiing and caving, or through a more social atmosphere, such as a night of fine dining and wine tasting. In the past the company has also organized moonlit steam train rides through the Santa Cruz Mountains and ski trips throughout the Sierra Nevada mountain range, often staying in a ski cabin on the shore of California's Donner Lake.

Many of the more social events, which are often done on weeknights, provide a way for the adventure company to build trust and a relationship with prospective clients. "Climbing with people you barely know can be unnerving," Ms. Kuncio said. "The dinners together give people an opportunity to get to know us, become familiar with us and trust us."

A member of the Ukrainian National Association, Ms. Kuncio had been traveling after graduating from Stanford University with a biology degree when her hiking buddy and college friend Carissa Zenorini, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) spring board champion and member of the U.S. National Diving Team, contacted her about Absolute Adventures.

"I was thinking about doing some work with a wildlife rehabilitation center, working with gibbons in Thailand," Ms. Kuncio said. But after several weeks, Ms. Kuncio and Ms. Zenorini - a 25-year-old from Demarest, N.J., and also a Stanford University graduate - finally agreed to buy the adventure company.

It was a decision based largely on the type of lifestyle Ms. Kuncio wanted to live. "Get out and do it," the company philosophy says. And indeed, Ms. Kuncio has and does.

Though she says it was in college that backpacking and the outdoors first significantly influenced her, an introduction to nature and the outdoors came at an early age. As a member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization she spent many summers at the organization's Vovcha Tropa campground in upstate New York.

That same interest in the outdoors and travel led Ms. Kuncio to Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tibet, Nepal, Peru, Cambodia and Laos after her college graduation. At Stanford Ms. Kuncio was not only a member of an NCAA championship cross-country team but was also on the university's cycling and water skiing teams.

As much as it might seem to be a dream job - Ms. Kuncio and her partner both take part in the events the company organizes - Ms. Kuncio says the work, such as sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge or skiing in the Rocky Mountains for example, does have its downsides.

"Finding time to do this stuff for myself," Ms. Kuncio says, is difficult. There is also a matter of marketing, accounting and other business work that Ms. Kuncio says she doesn't really care for. Although she says business is not bad, the pair must also work second jobs in order to make ends meet.

But despite the downsides, the two have forged ahead with business and Absolute Adventures currently plans to expand. According to Ms. Kuncio, the company is looking into the possibility of organizing mountain bike tours in South America and would also like to hold more corporate events.

"People still want to get outside, but the economy has really hurt us," Ms. Kuncio said, referring to the number of corporate events the adventure company has organized. "[The outings] are great team-building activities, and we're hoping to expand on our corporate business."

While participation in the different outings is open to the public, a membership plan provides discounts on trips, as well as to local sports leagues, gear stores and fitness clubs.

Additionally, the company offers an online calendar of events to let people know about future trips, and, Ms. Kuncio says, special outings for groups of seven or more people can be organized.

To learn more about Absolute Adventures please visit the company's website at www.absoluteadv.com or call Ms. Kuncio at (415) 793-4948 or Ms. Zenorini at (415) 505-5964. The two can also be reached by e-mail at [email protected].

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