Earlier in May of this year, Capitol Peak Outfitters changed ownership from the Howe family to Ted Benge. The outdoor experience company provides trail rides with its 25-head stable of horses, guided overnight pack trips and hunting excursions in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. On the updated website, Benge “invites you to relax and let him take care of the details while you enjoy the most scenic horseback rides in Colorado.”
Having grown up in the Valley, Benge participated in many outdoor activities throughout his life. He is beyond excited to start leading the company into more growth and collaboration with local businesses while keeping the company’s spirit alive and well.
“It’s been fun brainstorming with friends who are entrepreneurs,” Aisha Weinhold, owner of Ragged Mountain Sports, Benge’s partner and media contact for the story, told The Sopris Sun. “We feel very fortunate to have both been here for so long. We know many people who have complementary trades to offer.”
Ragged Mountain Sports already has a partnership with The Painted Pig and Weinhold hopes to extend that to Capitol Peak Outfitters, though nothing yet is formal. She and Benge are also friends with local coffee company owners and would like to eventually partner with them to incorporate artisanal coffee into activities with the outfitter.
After graduating from Middlebury College in Vermont and working in investment banking on the East Coast, Benge was able to make his dream of owning land in the Valley a reality.
“I spent time living in cities and working in finance roles because I wanted to experience living outside the Valley and broaden my perspectives,” he said. “But I always knew that I would come back.”
Benge continued, “One of my deepest passions since a very early age has been hunting and being in the mountains. I feel a huge connection to my food when I hunt — I would say the things that I’m focused on are providing a super high-quality experience for people and getting them out into the mountains to see the beauty and the importance of nature and the public land that we have access to.”
He added that he is passionate about ethical hunting, which he is dedicated to teaching.
“Ethical hunting [to me] is hard to define, but it boils down to doing the right thing,” he said. “Whether that is following the laws and regulations around hunting and land use or doing what in your core feels like the right thing, and having the utmost respect for the animal in the wilderness and the land that it came from.”
Weinhold piggybacked that sentiment, praising her partner for being able to tow a delicate line when participating in outdoor activities. She told a story about how when she and Benge started hiking together, she learned that yelling outside in sensitive habitats is not a good idea, especially with wildlife such as deer and elk.
“What will be interesting about this business and what Ted brings is this alignment between recreation and conservation, which I think we miss a lot,” she said. “I think having the activities led by someone like Ted, who’s 30 years old and shreds on a mountain bike but then has this conceptual level, is cool.”

For more information or to book an experience with Benge, visit www.capitolpeak.com