Pursuing life’s passion

Tod Caton founded Backside Tours with inspiration and courage

Caton is revolutionizing the group tour industry. —

Photo courtesy Backside Tours

Tod Caton is a man with a passion for travel and adventure, and he's not afraid to live his dream. He now resides in Kimberley with a very successful company, Backside Tours, which he co-owns with general manager Neall Alden. Now in its ninth year, the company has been growing exponentially and Caton is excited to plan for the future.

“We’re basically a group tour operator,” said Caton. “Ski and snowboard group tours are our bread and butter but we’ve branched out into golf and surf; we’re even into whitewater rafting for some of our corporate groups as well. The golf and the smaller group stuff for some of our corporate clients are recent developments.”

An inspiring concept

Caton spent a few years abroad, and picked up a huge dose of inspiration in some of the world’s most fantastic landscapes. His experiences led him to where he is now, and no doubt contributed to his success.

“I’m sure it’s a cliche to say it but I wanted to pursue more of a passion in life,” said Caton. “I had travelled for four years and spent a couple winters in Grindelwald, Switzerland…I actually worked for a backside snowboard school and shop in Switzerland in the mid-90’s. What I did there in my early 20s was basically showing groups the heart of the Swiss Alps, so it was kind of a tie-in.”

Bigger and better things

From there, Caton was eager to seek out an exciting new venture in Canada. While studying occupational therapy at the University of Alberta, he began organizing ski and snowboard trips for the faculty of rehabilitation medicine.

“I organized a bus out to Kimberley actually,” said Caton, “and that planted the seed of ‘Wait, I could do this business better than what the company we used was doing it,’ so I did some research on that business, which turned out to be one of our competitors. I started a new business…organizing the bus-style ski trips for Alberta groups. Coming out to Kimberley has always been one of our key destinations since the first year and now I find myself living here.”

Challenges to overcome

As with any company, there have been obstacles inherent with the ownership of Backside Tours, but Caton has done a fine job of tackling them head-on.

“Initially our biggest challenge as a new business was spreading the word,” Caton explained, “(and) juggling other employment to pay the bills, making the sacrifice of working in the bush every summer to put all that money back into the winter business until the marketing took over. Shortly thereafter the challenge became managing the growth.”

Caton does not have to handle the increased demand on his own, however.

“Thankfully my business partner and co-owner…Neall Alden is an extremely process-oriented guy; I’m the big picture guy,” said Caton. “He was the saving grace of…managing the growth. It was having the right person who was attracted to the business, he’s a good friend and now he’s a business partner so it’s very much an amicable relationship.”

Exciting plans ahead

Backside Tours has a bright future ahead, with several expansions planned. Caton is not afraid to aim high, and makes no secret of his goal to dominate the existing group tour market in Western Canada.

“We cater exclusively to domestic groups,” he said, “so groups from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. We’re branching into new products like surf camps and golf groups to the Kootenay Rockies.”

Not only is the company making headway with their new tour options, but they are also emerging on the worldwide web, with their brand new website. Launched in early October of this year, this eye-catching site has been nine months in the making. It still has more features to come, including a lucrative e-commerce function that Caton is particularly proud of.

“That’s actually what will revolutionize the industry itself,” he said. “The ability for a group organizer to come on, organize and promote and collect payment through our web base. We deal with the single organizers, or one or two that organize 50 to 300 people. They will be able to use our website…and their market to fill their own busses up, they will be able to log onto our site and type in a trip code. That will pull up their itinerary, (tell them) how many people are signed up currently, and (include) a pay-now feature. Everything is web-based, which is huge. We’re lucky to have found the media company that has the skill sets to do it.”