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Delivering Adventure

Delivering Adventure

By: Chris Kaipio & Jordy Shepherd
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This is the podcast for people who want to share adventure like a pro – with their friends, family, or as a profession. Each episode explores a different aspect of adventure delivery with top experts to get their best stories, insights, and trade secrets. Learn what it takes to deliver epic experiences to yourself and others, from the mountains to the office, and beyond. Go farther, become better and achieve more. Chris Kaipio and Jordy Shepherd explore the essential skills and techniques that adventure industry experts use to delivery personal growth. Listen as adventure guides, managers, and promoters share their best advice on leadership, managing risk, coaching, and how to achieve experiences worth remembering. Topics include risk assessment, decision making, leadership, emergency response, crisis management, trip planning, memory building, marketing, capturing experiences, teaching new skills, improving performance, overcoming challenge, resiliency, communicating risk, and experience delivery. Whether you are leading people up the corporate ladder or to the tops of the world’s highest peaks, Delivering Adventure can help you to take yourself and others farther.Visit www.deliveringadventure.com to learn more.© 2022 Delivering Adventure
Episodes
  • Adapting to Different Cultures with Patrick Barrow
    Jun 20 2026

    How can we adapt to new cultures when we are travelling or working aboard?

    In this episode we look at culture from the perspective of being an international visitor or someone working in another culture. Being immersed in another culture gives us a unique opportunity to see how other people live. It also gives us a great opportunity to see what it feels like to be a visitor. You may find yourself leading people from different cultures, putting yourself in the position of being the visitor can be a valuable way of understanding things from their perspective.

    Joining Chris and Jordy in this episode to discuss how we can better adapt to new cultures is Patrick Barrow. Patrick Barrow has been guiding around the globe for 20 years, toggling between adventure travel and outdoor education. Pat is an ACMG Hiking Guide who has worked extensively in Central Asia, Western China, Southeast Asia, Russia, the Himalayas, Australia, Europe and Canada.

    This is another engaging conversation that offers practical strategies on how we can integrate into new cultures.

    Key Takeaways

    To adapt to new cultures, we can:

    Observe: This is where we we watch behaviours and habits, looking for what is normal for them.

    Integrate: This is where we participate, join in and interact on the level they are interacting in.

    Manipulate: This is where we copy what people are doing, mirroring behaviours.

    Amalgamate: This is where we put everything together to the point where we get a level of acceptance within the group or culture.

    Respect Ego: This means being aware of not causing others to lose face by challenging their ego. Not respecting the ego of others can cause serious relationship damage.

    Guest Bio

    Patrick Barrow has been guiding around the globe for 20 years, toggling between adventure travel and outdoor education.

    A student of anthropology, originally from Australia, Pat's path into adventure guiding came through travel. Pat has worked across Europe and Australia, parts of the Indian and Nepalese Himalaya, the Stans and the Silk Road of Central Asia and West China, jungles of South East Asia, on the Yamal Peninsular of Arctic Russia with Indigenous Reindeer Herders, and most recently Canada.

    Pat’s career focus has been on facilitating formative expeditions for both youth and adults in culturally remote locations around the world. In particular living a decade between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, and guiding locally in Kyrgyzstan across the Tienshan Mountains. Guiding locally has given a unique perspective in working across cultures and what it takes to manage international teams.

    In Canada Pat is an ACMG hiking guide and an Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor.

    In Australia Pat has Cert IV in Outdoor Recreation, Cert IV in Outdoor Leadership, Cert IV Trainer & Assessor and is an Associate Fellow of the Academy of Extreme Environment Medicine.

    Guest Links

    Tengrie Expeditions: www.tengriexpeditions.com

    Patrick Barrow Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-barrow-83712b36

    Patrick Barrow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tengriexpeditions?igsh=MTI4dnlmZTNrZWNheg==

    Resource Links

    Feedspot Top 30 Pacific Northwest Adventure Podcasts: Link

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    Don’t forget to follow the show!

    Share & Social Links

    https://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

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    46 mins
  • Understanding Culture as a Leader with Patrick Barrow
    May 7 2026

    What do leaders need to be aware of when they are leading people from different cultures? People from different cultures may use different language, and have different customs, behaviours, values and even risk tolerances than you are used to. They may also have different expectations and tastes, as well as a different world view.

    What may be acceptable to you, may not be acceptable to them and vice versa. This can create challenges for leaders if they do not know how to adapt their leadership effectively.

    In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Patrick Barrow joins Chris and Jordy to share some key strategies that leaders can use to build better connections across cultures. Pat has worked as guide across Central and Southeast Asia, Europe, Canada and Australia.

    Patrick shares his experiences working with indigenous reindeer herders in the arctic, leading guests across the Stans and adapting to a leadership role in his new home in Canada.

    Guest Bio

    Patrick Barrow has been guiding around the globe for 20 years, toggling between adventure travel and outdoor education.

    A student of anthropology, originally from Australia, Pat's path into adventure guiding came through travel. Pat has worked across Europe and Australia, parts of the Indian and Nepalese Himalaya, the Stans and the Silk Road of Central Asia and West China, jungles of South East Asia, on the Yamal Peninsular of Arctic Russia with Indigenous Reindeer Herders, and most recently Canada.

    Pat’s career focus has been on facilitating formative expeditions for both youth and adults in culturally remote locations around the world. In particular living a decade between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, and guiding locally in Kyrgyzstan across the Tienshan Mountains. Guiding locally has given a unique perspective in working across cultures and what it takes to manage international teams.

    In Canada Pat is an ACMG hiking guide and an Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor.

    In Australia Pat has Cert IV in Outdoor Recreation, Cert IV in Outdoor Leadership, Cert IV Trainer & Assessor and is an Associate Fellow of the Academy of Extreme Environment Medicine.

    Guest Links

    Tengrie Expeditions: www.tengriexpeditions.com

    Patrick Barrow Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-barrow-83712b36

    Patrick Barrow Instagram: Link

    Resource Links

    Feedspot Top 30 Pacific Northwest Adventure Podcasts: Link

    Follow or Subscribe

    Don’t forget to follow the show!

    Share & Social Links

    https://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
  • Imagining the Worst-Case Scenario with Chris Kaipio & Jordy Shepherd
    Feb 10 2026

    Why is it so important to imagine the worst-case scenario? What happens when we don’t?

    In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Chris and Jordy share a few examples from their adventure industry careers to illustrate the importance of considering the worst-case scenario. They also talk about some of the factors that can compromise our ability to foresee what can happen if things don’t go to plan and how we can avoid falling into these traps.

    Chris Kaipio has been working in the adventure guiding industry as a guide, instructor, trainer, manager and content developer since 1991.

    Jordy Shepard is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.

    Key Takeaways

    How we can imagine the wort-case scenario:

    Consider What can Reasonably Happen: This involves asking ourselves what all the possible negative outcomes could be and identifying if we are prepared if they come to pass.

    Be detail oriented: The difference between a professional and an amateur is being detail oriented. Considering all the details before hand gives us an opportunity to identify and plan for all the likely outcomes that may happen.

    Think ahead: This can require us to step away from complex situations so that we can fully consider the situation and what lies ahead.

    Ask if we are Missing Anything: Is there information that we might be missing? This is something that we should always be asking ourselves. This helps to avoid developing tunnel vision.

    Do your research: This can involve talking to others and looking at case-studies.

    Training and Simulations: This can give us firsthand experience with what can happen.

    Communicate the Risks Thoroughly: This creates an opportunity for everyone to understand what hazards they can expect to encounter.

    Guest Bios

    Chris Kaipio is the produce and co-host of Delivering Adventure.

    He has worked in the adventure industry as an instructor, guide, trainer and manager since 2001.

    Chris is currently developing the Managing Risk on Snow eLearning Certification for the Professional Ski Instructors of Canada. When complete, this will be a robust four level online risk management and decision-making certification for guides and Instructors.

    Chris has written the book Power to Influence: How to get the best out of ourselves and others. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. This is where he met Jordy Shepherd.

    Jordy Shepherd is the co-host of Delivering Adventure.

    Jordy is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.

    His work experience includes Canadian Avalanche Association Course Leader for Avalanche Search and Rescue Advanced Skills, Provincial Park Ranger, National Park Warden, Wildlife Conflict Specialist, Wildland and Structural Firefighter, Mountain and Industrial Rescue Specialist, Heli-skiing Operations Manager and Lead Guide, and Licensed Real Estate Agent.

    In addition to all of his work in the adventure guiding industry, Jordy runs a successful real estate company in Canmore Alberta where he currently lives with is family.

    Follow or Subscribe

    Don’t forget to follow the show!

    Share & Social Links

    https://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 4 mins
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