What you absolutely don’t want to do on your bucket list vacation is waste time figuring out what to do, or worse, wandering off in the wilderness and, hey, real quick, what color are the dangerous snakes?
57Hours is an online marketplace connecting outdoor enthusiasts with certified guides. Since launching in January 2020, it’s grown to include 2k guides, and receives 60 to 100 new applications monthly.
CEO and founder Viktor Marohnić developed his own interest in climbing and backcountry skiing after moving to NYC from Croatia in 2010. He visited The Gunks, a popular climbing area in Upstate New York, with friends who’d hired a guide.
“What I realized is that I learned so much about traditional climbing that I would never be able to learn on my own,” he told The Hustle. “That was the whole concept of 57Hours. You can try to learn backcountry skiing by yourself, but it’s going to take 10 years.”
It’s also time-consuming…
… and expensive to become a certified guide, especially in the US. Full certification from the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) can cost up to $50k and take several years. For that reason, 57Hours offers a scholarship fund to ~10 guides per year in in-demand markets.
Guides are highly skilled outdoors, but “typically are not very tech savvy,” Marohnić said. They’re also frequently in remote areas without Wi-Fi.
57Hours handles marketing, sales, and customer support in exchange for 20% to 30% commission, letting guides grow their business — some have seen a three-to-fivefold revenue increase in two to three years on the platform and some have even scaled to build companies that employ multiple guides.
Mónica Fuentes and Albert Ojembarrena, co-CEOs and guides at Amarok Adventures, have repeatedly sold out their Hidden Trails of Iceland tour, which they attribute to the platform.
“[57 Hours has] given us the freedom to create authentic adventures without cutting corners, putting us in front of the right kind of people,” they told The Hustle via email. “We can keep them challenging, immersive, and a little unpredictable, just like the places we explore.”
Who’s booking?
Customers can search for a specific trip, like hiking Machu Picchu, or browse by activity, such as mountain biking or sailing. Other categories include women-only, beginner, family, and luxury.
Guides handle all the logistics, and check in with travelers to make sure they meet required physical fitness levels. Some are admittedly rigorous, but others are pretty chill like this e-bike tour of Provence. Yeah, that’s more our speed, too.
BTW: The name comes from maximizing a weekend — ditching work early on Friday and staying out all Sunday night.
