If it’s adventure you seek on vacation – like summiting Kilimanjaro, swimming with whales around Tonga or whitewater kayaking parts of the Amazon – travel agent Joanne Dalsass is prepared to arrange your itinerary.

Dalsass is the founder and owner of Active Travel Connection in Bend, but she’s not your ordinary travel agent. If you want to go to Las Vegas, don’t call her.

Dalsass started her adventure travel agency in 2002, after having worked in the travel business for 30 years, and she said her business has grown exponentially every year.

”I have never advertised my business, it’s always been by word-of-mouth referrals and repeat clients,” explained Dalsass. ”My clients are, for the most part, seasoned travelers who are active in a variety of sports.”

Only about half her clients live in Central Oregon. Word of her expertise has reached beyond the state’s borders, and she has adventure-seekers calling from all over the United States.

Push for the summit

What qualifies Dalsass is that she’s done many of the adventures her clients seek.

She recently arranged the travel for a young San Diego couple that wanted to summit Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 19,340 feet.

”Normally, we wouldn’t have used a travel agent, we would’ve researched it ourselves and read ‘Lonely Planet Guide Books,’ but this was kind of extreme, and halfway around the world,” Sarah Lozano-Larson said by phone. ”Because Joanne had climbed Kilimanjaro a few years before, she was very helpful with all the specifics, including the small details, such as bringing the right protective eye gear.”

Lozano-Larson, 32, and her husband, Ryan Larson, summited Kilimanjaroin May and then extended their vacation by going on a safari in the Serengeti.

Lozano-Larson says she would not have used a travel agent who had not climbed some of the world’s tallest peaks.

Dalsass said it’s easier knowing the specifics of the tour operators and guides.

”Since I had done this climb before and had researched everyone and read everything I could get my hands on when I was preparing to go, I knew this couple would be in good hands,” she said. ”It’s really interesting, this is an African company run by a woman.”

Lozano-Larson said they had an experienced private guide, plus his assistant and eight porters, which helped them reach the summit.

”Just in our own research, we found that you can get U.S.-based guides, but they are twice as expensive (as) using an African company,” explained Lozano-Larson. ”We were relieved that Joanne was familiar with this company from her own climb.”

When booking people for difficult climbs, Dalsass tries to get an idea about the physical fitness of the client, and whether the person could summit.

”I ask a lot of questions. I ask them what climbs they’ve done recently. If I get someone who’s 5 foot 6 inches and weighs 285 pounds, I might suggest they get in better shape before they pursue the idea any further,” explained Dalsass, who doesn’t want to endanger anyone. ”I’m a firm believer that people who want to play in the outdoors must have some training and good skills. It’s not really for me to judge, so I often ask them to do a day of climbing with an alpine expert, and to then ask that expert if they think this client can do a certain climb.”

While Dalsass could arrange a Mount Everest ascent, she has reservations about some tour operators.

”It seems anyone with deep enough pockets can get on a guided climb, but people need to realize that summiting is only half the climb. Coming back down with all your toes and fingers is the other half of the climb,” said Dalsass, who has climbed to Everest base camp but has no desire to summit the world’s tallest peak. ”It’s a very challenging climb and a very risky proposition. Many, many people die there.”

Dalsass’ expertise also has been a plus when several clients sought out a travel agent who had trekked in Antarctica and around Patagonia, which Dalsass believes are two of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Anything’s possible

Is there any adventure Dalsass can’t book?

Besides the Cuban travel ban, Dalsass sees the world pretty much wide-open for adventures.

”The world keeps getting smaller, even the most far-out places are really not off the radar,” said Dalsass. ”I’ve booked a couple who are going to swim with whales in Tonga, and someone who’s going to Botswana for a safari. Almost anything is possible.”

Perhaps the most unusual request Dalsass ever received involved a couple who wanted to visit Machu Picchu ruins in Peru. That wasn’t unusual, but this couple only wanted to ride specific Peruvian Paso horses on the ancient Inca trails.

”I didn’t even know what Paso horses were,” confessed Dalsass. ”Apparently they’re a horse that’s bred in Peru, and they have a special gait. It took some work, but through my contacts and network, we were able to make this trip happen for this couple.”

Travel bug

Dalsass, a former Pennsylvania native who says she’s ”60-something years old,” was bitten by the travel bug later in life.

While going through a painful divorce in her 30s, she took a rafting trip down the Colorado River. That pivotal river vacation led her to a life of total appreciation of the outdoors.

”After the Colorado River, I started backpacking and that led to rock climbing, which led to climbing bigger and bigger mountains. I did Mount Whitney, and then the next year I went to Nepal and climbed to base camp at Everest, I’ve summited the Grand (Teton), Mount Rainer, and mountains in Russia, Mexico and Europe,” said Dalsass, very matter-of-factly. ”I got that big-mountain fever. Oh boy, I wanted to climb anything I could.”

But it isn’t just the mountains Dalsass loves. She’s also a whitewater kayaker who can do rolls with the best of them.

By her own recollection, Dalsass says she’s touched every continent, except Australia.

Finding Bend

Dalsass discovered Bend while working for a ski tour wholesaler.

”It was one of those years where there was no snow at the other ski resorts. Mount Bachelor was the only one with snow, so my boss asked who wanted to go check it out. I volunteered. It was 1986, and I loved it,” Dalsass said.

Four years later, Dalsass decided that instead of booking people to visit Central Oregon to ski, she would book her own permanent tour to Bend.

”My plan was to be a nordic ski instructor and to guide ski groups,” explained Dalsass, who also is a retired member of the National Ski Patrol.

She worked at Mount Bachelor’s nordic center for two years before joining a local ”brick-and-mortar” travel agency.

Business plan

Dalsass was a bit wary of starting her own small business.

It was less than a year after Sept. 11 and people were still fearful of travel. It was a time when travel agencies were either merging or going out of business because travel had fallen so much, Dalsass said.

”It was with a wing and a prayer,” Dalsass confessed with a wry smile. ”But I did feel there was still this niche for this type of travel service.”

Originally, Dalsass planned to work more as an adventure travel consultant to travel agencies who could tap her expertise.

”When I went around to various agencies to talk about it, they looked at me like I was from a different planet,” explained Dalsass. ”They wanted to know what was in it for them, and I told them 50 percent of the commission, but they wanted nothing to do with me. So I decided to do it myself.”

Dalsass is so busy these days, she’s considering hiring a partner to take on more clients.

Though not every client has deep pockets, Dalsass says she does have some customers for whom money is no object when booking the best exotic adventures.

It’s a misnomer, Dalsass says, to think adventure travel is only for our summer months.

”… It’s always summer somewhere in the world,” she said.

As her business has grown, Dalsass says it’s ironic that she has less time to travel.

But this summer, Dalsass promised herself eight days of kayaking around the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada.

”I’ve had several clients who asked if they could come with me, and I said, ‘No,’” quipped Dalsass with a chuckle. ”I think building a business is about building good will as much as anything.”

Dalsass will be escorting a group from Central Oregon to the Galapagos Islands next year for snorkeling and trekking, but this summer it’s a holiday of adventure travel only for Dalsass.