George Basch, Founder, “Chief Cook”, Chairman Emeritus 

(and continues as a Member of the Board of Directors)

George Basch (aka Curious George and Explorer George) has circled the globe as an Explorer, Adventurer, Photographer and a Creative Entrepreneurial Businessman. Born in Vienna, George immigrated to the United States as a small child, ahead of Hitler’s Hordes, and holds dual US and EU citizenship. 

He grew up in Chicago and graduated from MIT in 1959 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, and earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1961.

After graduate school, while living in New York City, Curious George operated a consumer photographic products division for a Fortune 500 company. He discovered that large corporate life did not suit him, and seeking something more stimulating and rewarding he moved to Denver in 1968 and embarked on his adventures as a serial entrepreneur.

These endeavors took him from Denver to Anchorage, Tucson, Phoenix and, finally, Taos, New Mexico in 2006.

He remains active in business as President of Property Tax Relief Specialists; a Phoenix based Property Tax Consultancy which he founded in 1987, along with his long-time partner and friend Charles Carson IV.

George’s son, Paul, tragically took his own life in 1998, and George established the Paul Basch Memorial Foundation in his memory, and began searching for a meaningful project.

In 2009, after two trips to Nepal and a chance encounter with a fellow trekker in Bhutan, who casually mentioned a very fuel-efficient stove, the concept of the Himalayan Stove Project was ignited.

Curious George was inducted into the Explorer’s Club in 2010, and with the help of colleagues there and others from his life-long adventures and endeavors, created the Himalayan Stove Project in Paul’s memory.

By the end of 2019 HSP will have transformed the lives of over 6,000 families in Nepal, and, coupled with Earthquake Relief efforts in 2015 and 2016, will have impacted the lives of 50,000 people in Nepal.

HSP has kick-started 2019 and has been transformed from George’s “one man band” to a solid, thriving organization with a hard working Board of Directors and an even harder working Executive Director. Explorer George, who will be 82 in 2019, can continue to take some time off and indulge his insatiable curiosity for all things wild and wonderful with soul satisfying travels to the far corners of the earth (while remaining accessible by Satellite Phone to answer any infrequent questions that may arise when the internet connections are sketchy).

George is a member of the Explorers Club (which awarded George and HSP it’s Citation of Merit in 2017), The American Alpine Club and Rotary International.