The story of Altitude

We were halfway up the last of many a challenging mountain hike on the penultimate day of our 5-week Canadian adventure. This trip was our delayed honeymoon, following our delayed wedding (thanks Covid) as we’d been reluctant to book a big trip away due to ‘Pig,’ our nearly-immortal dog.

Pig was almost 18 when he decided to break our hearts and we were coping the only way we could, with the help of fresh air, the great outdoors, and fresh coffee to power us through the many altitude-based hikes that five weeks in the Canadian rockies entailed.

On this particular hike, there was a tea and coffee hut halfway up the mountain. Quite literally. Once the staff got up there, they were there for the season unless they wanted some very sore legs. And so there we were, at stupid o’clock in the morning, God knows how high up, resting with caffeine and preparing for the next slog upwards.

As exhausted as we were though, we were smiling. And so were all the other hikers. One or two even had dogs with them.

Mountains. Coffee. Dogs. Three of the best things in the world. What was there NOT to smile about?

And there it was—the first flurry of an idea.

Over the coming months that flurry turned into a fully-fledged snowstorm. We didn’t even have it yet, but our outdoor-inspired, dog-friendly coffee shop was all I thought about.

This couldn’t just be any coffee shop though. It had to be different. It couldn’t be boring. “Let’s add a swing!” I said one afternoon, “and a hidden caved seating area at the back.” We wanted it to be an experiential, lifestyle-focused coffee shop, for people serious about coffee. We would source and serve the best coffee in Cranleigh (and arguably Surrey.)

But why stop there? I’d never been one to do things by halves. “Let’s add another shop!” I said to Geoff. The second shop would feature my other great love… ice cream. And in the winter, we’d introduce homemade apple crumble and hot waffles and brownies.

There would be free dog treats of course. The more paws we could encourage in the better. (We often get dog owners telling us their dogs refuse to pass by without plonking their bums down – what looks like a clever marketing ploy was, in fact, just down to a personal obsession with dogs, but I’m not knocking it). We would even add a dog menu with other dog foods, and obviously, we would do pup-cups!

Always one to get carried away with an idea, I was certain this one would work. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend their days surrounded by the absolute best-tasting coffee, ice cream and dogs, chatting to like-minded people who also wanted to spend their days surrounded by the absolute best-tasting coffee, ice cream and dogs?

There was just one thing remaining. We needed a name. With aching legs and an infinite number of rocks to climb over, stretches of mountain ice to navigate, thin air to gasp through and the threat of a large grizzly bear that was spotted at the summit two days earlier to fend off, it was almost too easy…

And that is how Altitude and his baby brother Peaks by Altitude came to be.