Geoff is the happiest when he is outside surrounded by nature. He grew up in the mountains of Washington State and spent a good portion of his life working in those same mountains.
When he suffered a stroke in 2005, he had to find new ways to get outside in his wheelchair and continue to do the things he loves. “Being outside is so important to me,” said Geoff. “My favorite place is Columbia Gorge where the Columbia River runs through the Cascade Mountains.”
Geoff experimented with different types of equipment in an effort to find something that worked best on rugged mountain terrain. When he wasn’t finding a model that met his needs, he decided to create his own.
“Initially my idea was to find a chair that would help me get outside more,” said Geoff. “I soon realized that there were a lot of people that would benefit from something like this and that was all the motivation I needed.”
Geoff and his team, which included Numotion ATP David, developed a rugged chair called the AdvenChair, which is capable of traveling through tough terrain. “It’s more like a mountain bike with bigger wheels,” said Geoff. “I took the first model to the Grand Canyon in 2016. We learned a lot from that trip and looked at the design to make it even better and more rugged than a standard chair. I hope to get it to market by 2019.”
Throughout this entire process Geoff’s ATP David has been an advocate and resource to Geoff and the two have become great friends. “David helped set me up with my first chair 12 years ago. He does a lot for me and the wheelchair community in Oregon,” said Geoff.