ADVENTURER.​ADVOCATE.
ENTREPRENEUR.

At age 18 months, Cason Crane had his first adventure: carried on his father’s back (and occasionally walking), he and his parents hiked 120km across the South Island of New Zealand. With that sort of upbringing, adventure isn’t an activity - it’s a way of life. Cason has traveled to over 100 countries on all seven continents. In his journeys he has rafted for weeks through uninhabited jungle, ridden on horseback across Mongolia, spent weeks immersed in North Korea and Iran, road-tripped through Kurdistan and Syria, and backpacked through some of the most remote corners of the world.

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​In 2013, Cason became the fifth youngest and first openly LGBT person to climb Mt. Everest and the Seven Summits - the highest mountain on each continent. He achieved this feat while raising over $135,000 for youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention. After completing the Seven Summits, Cason took a 4-year detour to an Ivy League school: he graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 2017 with a degree in History and certificates in American Studies and Near Eastern Studies. 

Since graduating, Cason has continued to satisfy his craving for exploration through participating in endurance and adventure events around the world. He has several prize-winning finishes in ultramarathon and obstacle course races, and has completed half a dozen IRONMAN triathlon races in addition to dozens of marathons, open-water swims, hikes, climbs, and more. 

Though he is a highly versatile and experienced endurance athlete, Cason is most proud of his mental toughness and ability to function effectively in even the most adverse conditions. He has survived week-long blizzards on some of the world’s highest peaks, saved teammates from dangerous in-fighting in highly risky situations, and endured countless days of severe discomfort in extreme environments, ranging from the harsh open deserts of North Africa to the brutally cold and unforgiving icy expanses of Antarctica.

In addition to his outdoor adventures, Cason is an entrepreneur who aims to inspire those to live a more fulfilled and adventurous life through his business ventures: he founded and runs an award-winning cold brew coffee company, Explorer Cold Brew, that sells specialty-grade cold brew super concentrate in 4 caffeine levels and contributes a percentage of each sale to fund access to clean water. It was nominated as a BevNET ‘Beverage of the Year’ in 2020 and Specialty Coffee Association 'Best New Product' in 2021.