Your guide
John Bishoff
Raised in Moab. Trained in the wilderness and in the science of how people actually grow. He built PathForgeXP to bring both to the men who need them most.
John Bishoff · Founder & GuideThe story
The desert taught him first.
John grew up in Moab, back when it was still a quiet mining town at the edge of some of the most demanding country in America. He learned to read this landscape before he learned much of anything else — and as a teenager, he was already guiding river trips down the Colorado.
He taught mountain biking at BYU and skiing at Sundance. He spent more than a decade as a BSA Scoutmaster, watching what a hard, shared experience in the wild does to the bond between a parent and a child. Then he went looking for the why behind it.
That search took him to a master's at BYU's Marriott School in Youth & Family Recreation, then to doctoral work at Florida State in Organizational Behavior and Human Development — and into the pages of the field's most respected journals. Today he brings the guide and the researcher to the same fire: rigorous about what changes people, and unshakably at home in the country where it happens.
The credentials
Earned in the field
and in the literature.
Two rare things in one guide: three decades of hard-won wilderness judgment, and published research on what actually moves human beings.
Click a credential to expand
Born & raised in Moab — lifelong outdoorsman
- Grew up reading this canyon country before he read much else.
- Three decades of first-hand judgment in the terrain your experience runs on.
Guided Colorado River trips as a teenager
- Led whitewater on the Colorado while still in high school.
- Where he learned that shared risk builds trust faster than talk.
Mountain biking instructor at BYU
- Taught technical riding to students of every level.
- The foundation for the scaled, safe rides on the Moab Journey.
BSA Scoutmaster, 10+ years
- A decade watching what wilderness does to the parent-child bond.
- The seed of what became PathForgeXP.
Certified Wilderness First Responder
- 80+ hours of backcountry emergency-medicine training.
- Current certification for remote-area response.
Master's, BYU Marriott School
- Youth & Family Recreation.
- Studied how shared outdoor challenge strengthens family relationships.
Doctoral studies, Florida State
- Organizational Behavior & Human Development.
- Research on the gap between a leader's intent and their impact.
Published research · FT Top-40 journals
Journal of Applied Psychology
Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes
Journal of Business Ethics
Presence, in practiceThe approach
Small groups.
Real terrain.
Honest conversation.
John keeps every experience deliberately small — never more than five father-child pairs, never more than eight men — because depth doesn't scale. The wilderness does the work of stripping away pretense; his job is to hold the space where the real conversation can finally happen.
No theatrics, no forced vulnerability, no guru act. Just a trustworthy guide, genuine people, and three days in a place big enough to put your life back in proportion.
I was on the fence at first because spending a weekend with people I did not know felt uncomfortable. Fortunately, John attracts genuine people, which made the whole experience great.Scott — Financial Professional
Walk with John
The guide is ready.
Are you?
Forge your path and John will personally reach out to design your experience.