Sierra Nevada Adventures About Us
SIERRA NEVADA ADVENTURES Motorcycle Touring Company was founded in 2007 by motorcycle enthusiast Mark Girardi. Mark's passion for motorcycles, EXPLORING and outdoor ADVENTURE has been in his blood since he was a young child growing up in the Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada. Mark's experience range from many years of dirt bike riding, motocross racing, street bike riding to dual sport adventure riding. Mark's outdoor experience includes backpacking, mountain climbing and horseback adventures including Jeeping and historian of the Sierra Nevada.
Mark was first hooked on motorcycles at the early age of five at the minute he swung his leg over a mini-bike. Mark's second passion of mountain climbing began only two years later when he hiked Hiram Peak with his family on a summer vacation. Mark's passion of mountain climbing eventually brought him to the highest peaks in the Sierra Nevada, White Mountains and the California Cascade Range.
Mark first created Sierra Nevada “Wilderness” Adventures in 1995 which provided guided mountain climbing tours throughout the Sierra Nevada including backcountry horseback / fly fishing tours in the Emigrant Wilderness.
During the summer of 2002 Mark started his first dirt bike tours in Alpine County between Ebbetts Pass and Sonora Pass area. Then two years later Mark expanded his motorcycle tours to dual sport motorcycle tours which included Mono County and spanned the area between Smith Valley Nevada to Mammoth Lakes California.
2006 was a turning point when injuries requiring knee surgery put a stop to Mark's guided mountain climbing and horseback / fly fishing tours. This setback did not stop Mark, in fact it fueled his desire to focus his passion for motorcycles, exploring, adventure tours including unique history into creating Sierra Nevada Adventures motorcycle touring company. This decision allowed Mark to combine his love for motorcycles, his passion for exploring and adventure including his desire to learn and share the history of the early mountain-men and pioneers before him into creating a truly unique touring company now widely known as Sierra Nevada Adventures (SNA).
SNA Mark's love of motorcycle riding, passion to explore, enthusiasm to share history and desire for adventure is built into all SNA rides to provide amazing routes full of adventure.
SNA rides are a great deal more than simple GPS routes created with modern day technology. SNA rides are created by a life-time of exploring the land and studying the routes once traveled by early American mountain men such as Jedediah Smith, Kit Carson, John Grizzly Adams, etc., and includes historical routes explored by adventitious pioneers from the California Gold Rush.SNA Mark personally explores each and every SNA route to ensure the perfect combination of on road and off-road from curvy back roads, twisty single lane roads, remote dirt roads and historic wagon routes to unique geological sites, historical mining sites and ghost towns from the Wild West.
SNA Mark's mountain man approach to explore the land to gain the knowledge of the rivers, mountains, animals, flora and fauna and to learn the pioneer history including the many years to personally scouting each and every route until he knows the routes by heart without the need of a GPS is similar to the approach of the early day frontiersman before him.
SNA Mark has learned a wealth of knowledge from his life-time of exploring and studying the methods of early day frontiersman's and pioneers to develop his own modern day mountain man approach to adventure riding and has truly earned the title as an adventure guide.
Since the creation of Sierra Nevada Adventures, Mark has guided hundreds of dual sport adventure riders on thousands of miles of adventure tours throughout the Sierra Nevada, Pacific Coast, Mojave Desert and Death Valley including out of state tours in the South West and Rocky Mountains. Mark's passion for exploring and dual sport adventure has taken him to some of the most spectacular National Parks in the United States and faraway remote off-road routes in all the western states including Canada and Alaska.
SIERRA NEVADA ADVENTURES guided motorcycle tours specialize in providing ADVENTURE tours with amazing OFF-ROAD routes to unique geological sites and historical Gold Rush sites and ghost towns throughout the SIERRA NEVADA, Pacific Coast, Mojave Desert, Death Valley and beyond...
Sierra Nevada Adventures motorcycle touring company is recognized by motorcycle enthusiast around the world and Adventure Rider Magazine as a leader in providing premium guided motorcycle tours in the Sierra Nevada and beyond.
