Nova Guides Inc

We were recommended this outfitter by our concierge at the Lodge at Vail. The outfitter picked us up and took us too the snowmobiling center. They provided everything you needed including: boots, snowsuits, goggles, and helmets. They give a thorough instructional guide for all of us driving the snowmobiles. Our guide was competent and let us stop for pictures and snow play time.

Would’ve been a great experience if it wasnt for the manager who was very rude to our family. Jessica our guide was very sweet and made the experience a five star. When we called they said our two year old can ride with mom and guide in one snow mobile, when we were ready to go her boss change his mind with no explanation at the last minute told us we had to ride with our two year old alone when Jessica and other employees offered to ride with the guide so the baby can ride in her moms lap and be more safe. When asked for an explanation he just said «its you fault». Later the employes apologized and made it work. As far as the guides boss, he has no customer service skills and shouldnt be the face of Nova.

Very rude manager. Has no people skills and thinks it’s his way or the high way. Great experience with Jessica, fun, knowledgable, caring and sweet to our girls and so is the rest of the staff, but manager should take a class in treating situations that come up and learn to listen.
Guide and tour 5 stars. Manager or tour boss 0 stars.

Nova was nothing short of sensational. They treated us so well. From Steve the owner to Corinne to Every last team member they made sure our snowmobiling trip was a success. I didn’t plan on it but couldn’t resist going back the next day !

I had a great time the guide whole experience was great would definitely recommend.

We did the morning side-​by-​side ATV tour and it was great. Fun experience and good way to see some great views. Loved that they pick up/​drop off from the hotel as we did not have a vehicle… other companies did not offer this for ATV-​ing. Would come back and do another activity with Nova!

We took a guided ATV tour and had a great time. Our guide, Chris, was wonderful. He assessed that our party of five were all experienced riders and the trails that he took us on did not disappoint. The ATVs were high quality, the included lunch was very good, and the lodge was beautiful.

We had a great experience rafting with Nova Guides. 13 of us from a wedding all went out to do an afternoon Shoshone trip and everyone loved it. The guides, Steve and Jessica, were informative, fun, and very friendly. This was my first time rafting and I felt safe and comfortable the whole time. The booking process was very simple, thanks to KT, and we had no issue with adding an extra person last minute. The van drivers were also pleasant and efficient. Overall it was a fantastic trip and I would highly recommend Nova Guides in the future.

Went there in the summer for a white water rafting excursion. Our guide was «tall Paul» and our driver was Pete. Both of them were FANTASTIC and their excursions are highly recommended! My dad and brother also did a snow mobile trip with Paul in the winter and raved about it. Paul is very energetic and charismatic and had a lot of great stories. Pete was incredibly knowledgable, and gave us so much interesting information on our ride out there. I definitely recommend using nova guides and HIGHLY recommend asking for Pete and Paul!

We just did Arkansas numbers today! It was amazing!!! Paul was our guide– he did a fantastic job! Pete was our driving and he had some great stories. Both great guys! We had a great trip! We will defiantly be doing it again!!! Thanks!

We used Nova Guides for two adventures in June 2015. On Monday we went on a rafting trip down the Eagle river, and on Wednesday we went on a Jeep tour of White River National Forest and Camp Hale. Both were fun and I thought Nova and our guides did an excellent job.
The pickup/​drop for both excursions was at the Vail transportation center. That was very convenient, and took the stress out of having to drive unfamiliar routes.
The Rafting trip.
Our rafting guide was Malcom and he was good. He was knowledgeable of the river and was somewhat entertaining. «How do you know when a river guide is lying? His mouth is moving.» Some things that separated Nova from other rafting outfitters that we have used were:
— Transportation to and from the river was a quick trip, and the vans were clean and comfortable. We were not shuttled in a stinky, second hand school bus.
— Gear-​up and gear-​down was done at the river put-​in and take-​out. This minimized the time being in those lovely wet suits, splash jackets, and helmets.
— Small group (two boats on our trip) so we didn’t feel rushed or herded with a mass of other people.
The Jeep tour.
Our Jeep guide was Peter, and he did a good job. The 40 minutes ride between the Vail transportation center and Nova headquarters was enjoyable. The winding, mountain side roads in an open air Jeep was refreshing. Some highlights of the jeep tour were.
— The history of Camp Hale was interesting. Peter did a good job of describing points of interest.
— The scenery is awesome, and the views from Resolution peak (11,600 feet) were spectacular.
— The off-​road Jeep ride was three hours, and Peter took his time. We didn’t feel rushed or that there was a time limit to the excursion. Peter seemed to enjoy spending the day with us.
–The Nova lodge is a beautiful log cabin. The décor includes trophy’s of wildlife that are found in the area.
— Lunch at the lodge is included, and they offer a variety of choices. I had the turkey club and fries, and everything was good.
— Jeeps are impressive! The vehicle handled climbs and riding over uneven terrain without a problem.

My teens loved it! It has rained the night before so no dust and lots of puddles to scamper through! Expensive (they all are) but worth it. Trails plenty wide and tame. My boys are 6’5″ and hardly had room for knees in side by side. We also got one single and they switched off to stretch legs. Anyone any taller will NOT fit in a side by side. Two hours unguided was perfect amount of time to explore all trails. Be forewarned… Check your vehicle for any prior damages or scratches. Take pictures and point it out before you leave! We were accused of damaging one (which we absolutely did not!) so hubby had to do some arguing. All well in the end though. Just take precautions… They are serious about paying up for any damages done.

Rad !
Bob the guide took us on an epic snow mobile adventure this last weekend. Had a great time mobbing up the trails. While half the group was more skilled, the guide was considerate of the slower riders and always made sure everyone was okay and having a good time .
All the staff was helpful and friendly, even the girl Erin on the phone ~ answered all the questions we had .
Highly recommend !
Will be coming back for sure :) A

Came to Nova Guides with my team as part of a business trip… and it was not by choice! I’d never been on an ATV in my life, not even a riding lawn mower. Thankfully, our guide Stan was an absolute pro. He taught me what I needed to know, kept me right behind him in our line of vehicles, and checked on my constantly. By the time we got up and down the mountain, I was feeling confident, and soaking in the gorgeous vistas! I even had the guts later to power up and down some rocky paths and even though a mud run. The entire team loved it, and it was the highlight of our business trip to CO. I never thought I’d ride an ATV, but now I think I might be hooked. I can’t recommend Stan enough. He is kind, hilarious, and a great teacher all rolled up into one… with an awesome Louisiana accent! He ensured we were safe at all times, never going faster than the terrain allowed or that we were comfortable with.

I don’t often give a business 5 stars but Nova Guides gets it from us. We did two tours with Stan and couldn’t be happier! My husband and I used Nova Guides two years ago, so we used them again. Thanks to John for helping us get everything scheduled!
We did the Top of the Rockies full day tour with a group of 12 friends. Some of us have experience on snowmobiles, others in the group have never been on a snowmobile, but all of us had a really great day and a great experience. The ragin’ Cajun took the time to help everyone improve their riding and confidence. The views for the top of the mountain and cruising through an aspen grove made for great memories.
Lunch was tasty and pleased the meat eaters and vegetarians. The staff was nice and made sure everyone was happy.
Three of us also got to come back and do the High Performance half day tour, again with Stan. WHAT A DAY! We zipped around under bluebird skies learning new skills and zipping in the deep snow. When I wasn’t laughing out loud, I was feeling pretty badazz… not something this 50 year old girl feels very often.
We don’t get to be on snowmobiles often because we live in Southern CA, but as this chick can attest, anyone can have fun on snowmobiles when you are taught to ride with confidence and safety.
Thanks again, The Stan Fans!

This was by far THE WORST rental experience I have ever had. NEVER will I return to this place or ever recommend it to any one. PLEASE, PLEASE do yourself a favor and find a place that cares for their customers and their experience. I personally enjoy doing things that you don’t normally get to do on a regular basis and I rarely pass up an opportunity. This was one of those opportunities, but I CANNOT believe how POORLY we were treated and how they operated their business with their customers.
We were a group of 9 and we drove about 2 hours to rent snowmobiles from our hotel. We rented 5 snowmobiles. For just 1 hour of rentals, we paid them about 750 dollars.
From the get go, the lady at the desk was constantly rude. We are there to have fun and have a good experience, it’s hard to do when the staff isn’t very friendly. What really surprised me was how over priced their fees were: Rescue fee– 100 dollars an hour per employee, Late Fee– 30 dollars for being late plus 30 dollars every 30 minutes you are late, and Damage Charge– 75 dollars an hour for labor plus parts at retail price plus a next day rental fee of 1000.00 dollars. This blew my mind, I could tell they were in it for the money.
Regardless of the fee and the lady’s horrible attitude towards us, I still decided to go ahead and rent because we had drove 2 hours and it was a new experience none of us had ever had. Before we were able to ride, they went over how to drive the snowmobile and where to ride. Never did she explain what to do if you get stuck, how to get help (there is no cell phone service out there), or how to get unstuck. Well, I took my little sister with me and we went out riding. Coming towards the end of our hour we began to head back. It was just my luck that we got stuck heading back to the rental cabin. Now, the area we got stuck in was an area with a lot of snowmobile tracks, so it wasn’t like we were out in the middle of no where (I could even see the cabin from where we got stuck at). The more I tried to get the snowmobile out, the deeper in snow it got. I was stuck with my little sister for about 20 minutes on our own trying to get the snowmobile out. Finally someone from the rental cabin made it out there. He only ASSISTED us on getting it out (he didn’t do it on his own) for no more than 15 minutes and we were able to get out. I was sweating like crazy out there in the cold lifting and pushing that heavy snowmobile on my own, while I constantly sank deeper and deeper in the snow.
We rented the snowmobiles at 4 pm and made it back to the rental cabin by 530 pm. Once we got there I was charged 160 dollars for basically 15 minutes of 1 persons assistance. That was outrageous!!! For the gear rental and the snowmobile rental for 2 people it cost me 150 dollars. Now, I was getting charged an additional 160 dollars. Unbelievable.
When the gentleman was assisting us in getting the snowmobile unstuck, I asked him, «Does this happen a lot?» He replied with a smirk,” Oh yes“
To top off this AWFUL experience, when the rest of our group was waiting in the cabin for us to get back, an older man told my group that I was «a FOOL» for not coming back on time. Those kinds of comments were so unnecessary.
What kind of business treats their customers like this… Nova Guides, a place I will never ever go back to and will never recommend to anyone.
I was SO UPSET when this all happened, that it ruined the rest of my trip. I waited a while to write this review because I didn’t want to write this review out of anger. I wanted to tell my experience exactly how it happened and made sure I had a clear head before I did.

Went out on a guided tour with Sarah Grimes today. She did an outstanding job. Very professional, knowledgeable, and personable. Will be a repeat customer.

WORTH EVERY PENNY! Staff was friendly and extremely helpful. Equipment was in excellent working order and they gave nice goggles, helmets and even some nice rain gear which my husband and I were especially glad we had.
Three years ago we took the ATV guided tour which was very nice. Excellent for those who are newer to using ATVS and those who want to learn some very interesting facts about the area and landmarks. Great guided group tour.
Today we just rented Rzr 2 seaters and decided to do the half day self guided package. This time we got maps and the trails were pretty easy to navigate but also challenging and fun to ride around all by ourselves. Very exciting !!! The guides let us know safe areas to explore and those areas to avoid and maps were clear and easy to read. Four hours was more than enough time to explore all trails at a comfortable clip.
This was one of my favorite activities to do near Aspen and Breck. We will be back.

What do you want when you schedule a whitewater rafting trip? Good value, a great time, friendly and knowledgeable guides, and safety. This place has it all. Yet, they give you enough leeway so you don’t feel babied. Our group did the lower Eagle river (class ²⁄₃ intermediate) and we had a blast. They picked us up on time, we arrived the river on time, spent 20 mins or so going over safety (quite interesting and I learned a few things) and then hit the river for an hour and a half. When we arrived our destination, the vans were waiting and there was plenty of staff to expedite everything. I will return and use this company again.
The only negative is their photography partner, White Water Pix. Major rip off. They want like $ 30 for a single digital photo. So bring a waterproof camera (make sure you can attach it to your gear) and take your own photos.

Did the snowcat thing with the entire family (including a 6 mo old baby and his octogenarian grandmother.) We had a great time! There were some delays getting started. But once we were under way, it was a slow, fun ride into the snowy mountains. It was just our family. No one else had signed up for the last ride of the day. We had the snowcat to ourselves. The tour guide was personable. The views were fantastic. It was fun! And when we were finished, we procured some of the best hot chocolate we’d ever had.
Nova has snow mobiles and other cool, mountainous activities. And they appeared to have warm-​weather options, too. (Fishing trips and hiking and stuff.) Just good fun. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.