Cooked, not manufactured

I have been cooking and adventuring outside practically my whole life. I learned to cook from my mom and would spend time outside with my dad. I started taking both of these hobbies seriously in high school when I got my own car and could explore the PNW when I had the time and money.

During college, I worked at a pub in Corvallis, OR. On the weekends, I would get out as much as possible, climbing, skiing, backpacking, and surfing. I was studying Natural Resources, but I always figured I would somehow end up working with food.

After graduating, I moved home and got a job at a winery in Portland. It was in Portland where I started to get into ultralight backpacking. I upgraded my gear and started shaving ounces where I could. I had a light pack but couldn't trim down my food weight. I looked for ultralight backpacking food, but the options were limited.

The first Cascade Alpine meal was dehydrated chicken fried rice. We carried it into the Goat Rocks and cold soaked it.

I went home and spent two paychecks on a freeze dryer, then spent the next eight months testing different recipes. We took Cascade Alpine meals on all our weekend adventures, thoroughly field testing each product. Each batch got better, and I learned how to take what I had picked up in restaurants over the years into the backcountry.

After eight long months of working on Cascade Alpine before and after work, we finally had food I would put my name on. I quit my job as a line cook and took Cascade Alpine on full time. We got into a commercial kitchen and worked through all the food regulatory framework.

Ten months after Cascade Alpine was born in the Goat Rocks, it went live.

Then the reviews started coming in. Watching people enjoy the food as much as we do is what made the whole thing worth it.

This is just the beginning. We will keep pushing what we think is possible, and keep raising the standard of how well you can eat on the go.