I Climbed 29,029 Vertical Feet & Discovered Lessons About Business & About Myself

The origin of the story of this experience started in late 2017 when I was pulled into my partners' office and told ‘I have something interesting to share – but it’s up to you whether you want to go or not – no pressure’. My first instinct and answer to these kinds of questions is usually an enthusiastic ‘yes!’ followed by careful evaluation. This case was no different. When I inquired about what he was proposing, the answer I received, in retrospect, was not fully comprehended. The event was called ‘29029 Everesting’, with the goal being to hike/climb/crawl the equivalent vertical feet from sea level to the top of Mt. Everest. After saying yes and having been provided with a number of opportunities to decline after that initial ask, it began to sink in – I haven’t ever truly ‘hiked’ before, let alone up a mountain – I need to develop a plan, I need to train, I need to figure out how I am going to survive this thing! So I started my journey to complete 17 summits, 29,029 feet of vertical, and over 22 + miles.

Thank you internet!

One of my favorite quotes is, “If you have entered a fair fight, then you haven’t planned well enough”. So off to the internet to search for stories of last year's event. After a series of Google and YouTube searches, I stumbled upon a number of promotional videos for the event. After digesting those, I was pretty excited about the whole thing. It appeared to be life changing – and the advertising around adding this accomplishment to your ‘Life Resume’ sounded incredibly attractive. After watching a few more videos, I began to start my journey of discovering how I was going to ‘do this’. This is when I stumbled upon a Medium post which gave me some true perspective. The author shared his journey from acceptance to training to the event itself. What I came to appreciate was that this was no small feat, it was going to be hard….really hard. Having read, and re-read, and re-read some more this long form post I realized that if I didn’t start to invest my time and energy into transforming myself physically and mentally then completing this event was likely an impossibility. I’m not sure if I found that motivating or frightening, but it sparked change in me, and began to force action.

Lesson #1: Social Accountability

When I began sharing information about this event with my friends and family, I got a number of consistent reactions. The first one was confusion … “Why are you doing this”? This was generally followed by concern “Is this a good idea?”. The second reaction was a shaking of head and simply “I don’t get it”. But the word spread throughout my network of friends, professionals and family and became a frequent ask, “How is training for that ‘thing’ going?”. I began to realize that there was no turning back – too many people knew about this and as a result if I didn’t finish this event I would be re-telling that story of defeat over and over again. I was convinced that this was something I was unwilling to accept. The lesson I began to learn / accept was that the more I verbally shared a stated, well defined goal, the more the social pressure was created to achieve that goal. I found this to then be applicable to both my personal life (think simple things like ‘I will clean up the backyard this weekend’) or business wise (‘I will complete XX number of Financial Plans for clients this month’). The more I stated ‘what’ I would do – the more I felt pressure to ensure that it happened – I had discovered a powerful personal tool.

Lesson #2: Preparation Is Everything…In Fact Over Prepare

As a Financial Planner, I try to ensure that I understand my client’s objectives and problems to allow me to prepare and propose solutions. This of course involves thought and preparation ahead, to ensure that I have exhausted all the possibilities, and have considered all of the ‘what ifs’. Knowing this is a part of my everyday routines and business practices, it seemed logical to take this approach to training for this event. So I began to think about what I needed most: cardio would be as critical as essentially running a marathon – only, up hill. I also knew that core strength would help me when my back became sore, and that my legs would need to be strong to handle 22 miles of uphill climbing. 

I started my training about 6 months in advance of the event – slowly but surely, heading to cross training classes and lifting some weights at home – nothing too serious. When the chill left the air, I was watching an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast and he had on a guest named David Goggins. I watched this episode and was left stunned at this individuals' philosophy, his grit, his determination, his mind set, his obsession with self-improvement. I must have re-watched this multi hour podcast 3 or 4 times, and each time I was left not inspired but rather I was left focused on what I needed to do and moreover how I was tactically going to do it. The message of David Goggins is simply ‘no excuses’ and that you had to create ‘calluses in your brain’ that you could dip into when times get rough. Having the ability to say to yourself, "I have seen this before, felt this before, and overcome this before" became my focus. In business we have all had to have tough conversations, we have all had clients or customers who don’t always agree, or those who ask challenging questions. The more we face those situations, the more they become familiar and as a result the more comfortable we become with….being uncomfortable.

My focus had to change – I needed to get comfortable with being uncomfortable – I needed to build calluses in my brain. So I started to think to myself – how do I do this? On my drive into work each day I would look to my right and see a large hill for a brief moment as I cruised by on my way into the office. I would think – I need to run that hill….no really…I need to run that hill. So that became my daily ritual, go to work, hit the cross training class, head home, eat, get the kids to bed, spend some time with my wife, and go run the hill. A few hundred feet of vertical over a few hundred meters, 5 sprints up and walks down followed by 5 walks down. Whether it was a brutal 40 degree summer day or the cold rain at night, everyday I put in the work – I had to – I had to re-position and re-build my mentality. With the support of my wife this became a 7 day a week mission. My kids became involved, heading out climbing with dad, they started saying they wanted to ‘be strong like daddy’. This was becoming infectious.

Lesson #3: Invest in Yourself

This exercise had convinced me that I was selling myself on why certain things didn’t matter or why I couldn’t do them – I was selling myself things are simply were not true. I would suggest that I didn’t have time, it wasn’t worth the effort, it wouldn’t matter, it couldn’t be done. I was convincing myself that what was possible was, in fact, impossible – I could not have been more wrong.

I began to be rigorous with my time. I was unwilling to sacrifice my time with family, my wife, my kids, or the success of the business. As a result I needed to closely examine what I could afford to cut out or ‘lose’ in order to knock out what needed to be knocked out. What I came to realize was that I often chose to spend my time in ways I no longer wished to spend it. Watching people argue over ‘Breaking News’ on CNN? Gone! Responding to endless email chains instead of calling? Gone! Getting caught in YouTube rabbit holes? Gone! I started to appreciate JOMO (or the joy of missing out).

I also started to invest in what would be needed to improve my outcomes. I researched Magnesium Oil as a means of replenishing what was lost through training and reading about how it, when used in conjunction with Zinc, could improve performance and muscle repair. I purchased a squat rack from Kijiji and a number of weight plates so that I could challenge myself at home and focus on the strength of my legs. This made a tremendous impact.

Finally, I invested in improving my diet. I saw a dietitian and began eliminating non-beneficial carbs and moving towards a very ‘meat & greens’ type of diet. I would start my day with a veggie green and protein shake alongside a shot of espresso, and would have a salad for lunch with olive oil and vinegar and lots of hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds – this was everyday without exception. For dinner I simply had meat and vegetables – the style and recipe would always change but the core diet was the same. The results, when coupled with exercise,5 were amazing. I dropped 26 pounds in about 4 months. I beat my target weight by over 8 pounds – and weight loss was not even my goal. Sadly none of my clothes fit anymore – but I felt great, was able to do more, and perform in an enhanced fashion.

Lesson #3: Details Matter

My focus on diet and exercise ‘ramped up’ the closer I got to climb day. By September, my colleague and I were now on 3 a day workouts, cross training, hill sprints, lifting at home and even sneaking in a 5KM run at night time just to push harder – this was becoming focused. I began to recognize that if my diet altered (i.e. a cheat day) I noticed the work was harder. If I didn’t run hills for 2 days – it became more challenging. If I didn’t get enough sleep – I couldn’t function to the level I wanted to. I really became aware of these changes and the impact they had on my performance. This awareness began to cascade to my professional and home life – in that I became increasingly aware of ‘the little things’. I focused on ensuring that time was spent with my kids as individuals, that my work was executed quickly and efficiently and that distractions were minimized. My awareness of time and outcomes became all the more focused – I had a finite number of hours to get what I needed to get done because I had carved out a lot to accomplish – and darn it – I was going to get it done before my head hit the pillow. This became all the more important as I did not want those who were supporting me to notice my lack of presence. If I sacrificed time with family or time away from work, I wouldn’t be supporting those who were supporting me – and those details mattered a lot to me.

The Week of The Climb

The week of the climb, I was asked a lot if I was ‘tapering down’ which, to be completely honest ,was something I had to Google. Essentially I was being advised to slow down the training to ensure that I had enough rest to tackle this challenge. However I was so used to the training that it actually felt unnatural to slow down to a halt, so a few cross training sessions, 5KM runs at night and some squats and deadlifts kept my mind right. I was really more excited than nervous and had been focusing on visualization, controlled breathing, and self-talk, especially during my nightly runs. I’ll be the first to suggest that much of this sounded a bit ‘Tony Robbins’ to me – but, in all honesty, it worked. I began to use visualization as I ran and self-talk to remind myself of those cold nights running up muddy hills and heading to the gym even though my body ached and my head wasn’t into it. 

As the date grew closer my colleagues had placed odds on who would finish, who would not, how quickly we would each get to 10 summits, etc. We had a lot of folks remind us jokingly ‘not to die’ and many others wish us well on this crazy adventure. It was great to know just how many folks would be tracking us via the live feed from the mountain. You might think it would notch up the pressure but ,in fact, it was just a nice feeling to know that friends, family and colleagues would be tracking and cheering me on remotely.

The night before we left on our journey I was busy packing, and despite a detailed packing list provided by the folks at 29029, I had never attempted something like this and had limited knowledge of what to pack. My colleague James was kind enough to provide some ‘must have’s’ from his mountaineering experience and had provided me with the right kind of socks, electrolyte chews and some ideas of what to pack and how to dress – this was valuable! My lovely wife had done some targeted shopping and bought me dry fit shirts, a running jacket and some water proof pants, so needless to say I had some great support and guidance. Despite all of that ,I started thinking about the ‘what ifs’. The weather forecast for the mountain must have changed 3-4 times in the previous 14 days and had gone from sunny and 21 degrees to rain and 5 degrees – it was going to be a roll of the dice weather wise. 

So I went to bed, bag packed, everything triple checked, hugged the kids and my head hit the pillow. Not much sleep occurred as frankly I was really excited about this (and a bit nervous I might sleep through my 4:45AM alarm). So probably 3-4 hours of light sleep later I was up, and headed out the door. I arrived at my colleague Francois’ house and we set off to Vermont at 6AM. After about a 6 hour drive and some great chats about work, life and what we were planning on doing this weekend, we arrived at an incredibly small airport and found our friend James. Now it was off to Stratton – destination time.

Lesson #4: Plan Your Path, But Be Ready To Pivot

When we pulled up to the resort, it was pouring rain and as we checked our mobile devices to try and get a read on the weather, a big red “Weather Statement” banner warned “Flash Flood Warning In The Stratton Mountain Area”….”Super!" we collectively thought. The rain had set in but was off-set with a bit of nervous energy as we checked in, got our tent number, bib and ankle bracelet for tracking and headed over briefly to take a look at the mountain. We had all climbed Mt. Tremblant earlier this summer and remarked ‘not so bad – looks about 2/3rd’s of Tremblant’. We then headed in to grab a bite, and find our tent and get settled in for an evening of speakers. We found the tent and got ourselves settled in. They had provided some great swag and what looked like comfortable beds but we were ready to get this thing going. We settled in to the main lodge, met some interesting folks from throughout the US and abroad, and heard from some compelling speakers. Hearing about Colin O’Brady’s conquest of all the major summits in the world and setting multiple records was inspiring. Learning the Wim Hoff method of breathing was surprisingly helpful and hearing about some of the mental aspects, of both running and endurance athletics, helped frame out what was ahead of us.  

However interesting the speakers may have been, when Jesse Itzler (one of the organizers, founders, and a fascinating guy himself – worth a Google search!) arrived to do Q&A, the event became more real. As the sun began to set I clearly was not the only one who kept looking at that mountain and seeing it get bigger, and bigger! Based upon the questions (or more specifically those questioning whether they could do this), there was an air of hesitation in the room. Many of the folks in the room were true athletes, endurance athletes, obstacle course racers, tri-athletes, world record holders, former NFL players, and of course people like me who are regular folks with a drive to change themselves mentally and physically. 

As the session ended and people went up for a brief dinner and a drink before ending things pretty early, we began our walk back to the tent. As the rain was coming down it hit me – my plan of trying to complete this thing without stopping was going to be challenged. The weather had changed, the route looked sloppy, I may not have the gear I needed to succeed. I was going to have to make sure I had a ‘Plan B’ I may have to make a pivot.

Day One:

So 200 people, who are all pretty excited and sleeping in close proximity, didn’t allow for much sleep. Despite me having only caught 3-4 hours the night before I likely got even less this night. At about 430AM I called it quits, and headed over to the main chalet where breakfast was opening up. I was feeling pretty rugged as my kids had come down with a cold and a cough the week prior and it was now hitting me pretty hard. Couple that with 6-8 hours of sleep in 2 days and I was not in an ideal starting position compared to what I would have envisioned. My colleagues joined breakfast at about 540AM and we all headed over to the start line to begin this adventure.

Lesson #5: Just keep chipping away

Jesse grabbed the mic and started his kick off speech and although I had heard last year’s version the words now became a bit more of a reality. We had 17 of these to do, we had no job this weekend but that, no work, no family, no emails, no deadlines, just us and this mountain. Us against ourselves ! We had 35 hours to climb 22 miles, 29,029 feet of vertical, and do what we came here to do. His words wouldn’t make as much sense to me until about the 8th or 9th climb but as Jesse stated, one climb will become two, two will become three, then you’re at 8, then 9, then double digits. When you come down the gondola you have a choice: warmth, food, a massage, a seat, the bathroom, all just a turn to the left….or… turn right and hit that damn mountain one more time – choose right – always choose right.

Our first climb was in the pitch black – headlamps on – and 200 folks all trying to figure out what pace to travel. I got off to what felt like a quick pace and got to what appeared to be the top 30-40 folks by about the mid-way point. Not having any idea as to whether this pace was sustainable or foolish, I felt challenged but I felt good. As I neared the final 250 feet of vertical I could see the fence to my right which would be a milestone for me 16 more times over the next two days. The sun was rising, I was smiling, I felt great.

I hit the gondola, didn’t stop for water or a break and was really excited to ‘brand’ my spot on the leaderboard (as each ascent was completed, you were able to go to a large wooden board and brand your completion next to your name). I then hit the mountain again, still feeling good but now being able to see, I changed a bit of the approach. You could now see active streams of water that needed to be jumped, you could see the signs letting you know how far you’d gone or how far you had to go, and you could really see the mud….and there was a lot of mud. 

Lesson #6: Sometimes Metrics Don’t Matter – Compete Against Yourself

I was keeping a good pace of about 40-45 minutes per ascent which was ahead of my planned 60 minutes – so I was really encouraged. It was difficult as you passed others or others passed you to know both how you were doing. More difficult than that was ,( as a highly competitive person), when someone passed me - I felt a need to ‘kick it up a notch’. Unfortunately that was just a speedy way to gas myself out. Not knowing if someone was a world record holder, a weekend warrior, or simply 3 climbs behind me – I was not comparing apples to apples – I needed to compete against myself.

In the lead up to this event James, Francois and I ,of course, chatted about our game plan. James kept his to himself, and Francois and I engaged regularly in trying to map it out, “5 in a row – then lunch – then 4 more – dinner – then keep going – then….”. James was quick to share that we probably shouldn’t plan too far out as we wouldn’t have good visibility on how we were holding up until our 3rd or 4th climb. This was pretty accurate – by my 4th climb I was still feeling good – no doubt I was sore but not enough to slow me down – my pace remained the same. By my 5th climb I had found a couple of guys who were moving at the same pace I was and we began chatting. This part of the experience was one of the best as you got to connect with such a variety of people, authors, podcasters, venture capitalists, gym owners, Olympians, analysts, entrepreneurs, and just regular folks. By climb number 6 I had re-connected with my friend James and we had paced pretty closely for a lap or two. He had some cramping challenges and had to sit for a few minutes to recover and I moved ahead, but he followed up and passed me by lap 9. At this point I realized that I had fully missed lunch – but – they had ramen noodles and my diet of "do a lap, chug a liter of Gatorade and try and stomach something protein, carb or electrolyte based "was not cutting it. So gondola rides that had been filled with meeting new people and small talk was now all about chugging lemon lime Gatorade and half warm Mr. Noodles to try and get some salt in me. 

Lesson #7: Your Mind Is In Charge of Your Body – Not The Other Way Around

With each ascent I was in a state of joy, smiling wide at the top and again at the bottom when I started all over again. This must have been pretty apparent as many had commented ‘Keep smiling Rob!” or ‘Love that this guy is still smiling!’. No doubt part of this was a mindset trick – smile – tell yourself everything is amazing – be grateful for the experience and the opportunity and you will focus less on the pain and exhaustion. 

The hill was now an absolute disaster, water and mud were everywhere and had been getting substantially worse since the morning. Portions of the trail had been abandoned and people began to carve out new paths just to avoid what had now become impassable areas. What was once simply a battle of ‘one foot after the other’ became a battle to ensure your mud and water soaked feet would not send you toppling directly into the mud or back down the mountain. I saw my share of falls, slips, footing lost, and even a few injuries (I saw an incredibly tough woman tear her groin right in front of me and keep going). Although we were all likely freezing, the sun had come out in the late afternoon and I was grateful to have the warmth of the sun on my face. Those little things made me thankful, appreciative, and gave perspective to the moment.

That feeling of gratitude however began to fade as my body began to shut down. I kept repeating the mantra of an Tour De France Cyclist I had read about who always said ‘shut up legs’ whenever they got sore. However, this was not an issue of sore legs – this was full blown leg cramps from glutes to calves. The pain was intense and can only be described as swimmers cramp throughout my entire lower half. I took a few moments to slow and focus on breathing through it and to ensure I just didn’t stop. Slow – don’t stop, one foot after the other, ignore the pain, keep pushing. By the time I completed number 10 my legs were locking up and I was genuinely concerned about how I was going to finish this thing. My fall back plan was to complete 13 in day one and I was not going to bed until that happened.

Lesson #8: Get Comfortable With Being Really Uncomfortable

I completed number 10 and told myself – one more and you can take a break. I popped in my air buds put on a playlist and started to get comfortable with being really uncomfortable. I started to know certain milestones at this point, some were encouraging, and frankly some were discouraging because you knew what lay ahead.

I was faced a huge lake of mud and hit the ‘500 feet of elevation gained’ sign. I knew the health station was just ahead and a moment of lower grade vertical and steady gravel footing would be there – not for long….maybe 100 meters…but better than what I was hiking through now. I hit the 750 feet of vertical attained and this was when you realized each time that you were truly at the base of the mountain. The next mile was 1000 feet of vertical and the first 750 feet of it was hellish. Streams of water, 40 degree grade, mud that would consume your shoes and your socks with ice cold water, rocks that were either a secure step or an undercover groin or hamstring tear waiting to happen. This climb was an absolute grind and my legs were cramping badly. I tried to walk as upright as possible and use my calves exclusively to simply take pressure off of the worse areas or my legs as far as cramping went. Of course as I approached the summit and saw that fence my smile came back – I did it – 11 in the books – now for that break I promised myself. After 12 hours of straight climbing and gondola I was ready for a break. I ran into James and Matt (who was a podcaster and freelance writer completing this challenge to write an article for Muscle & Fitness magazine at the bottom). James was heading back up for climb number 12 and I shared my plan for taking a break, recovering my legs and trying for some more. Of course to them this sounded foolish – take a shower and rest and THEN go back for more? Call it a day and complete it tomorrow. 

Lesson #9: Remember Why You Are Doing This

So I went to the recovery area linked into the Wi-Fi and Facetimed my wife and kids followed by my folks as I sat in “massage pants” (pants that inflated and provided air bag type of massage). This was a re-charge for me – hearing how proud my family was of my progress, that they had been watching lap by lap and how they had all been calling each other, was pretty moving. I went from feeling I was alone up there to feeling like this thing had a renewed purpose for me. I wanted to complete this challenge to prove something to myself but moreover to inspire my wife and kids that anything is possible if you are focused, driven, and convicted in your belief then you can achieve it. I ended my last Facetime message and started thinking about that hot shower, and rolling out my legs. Food was an afterthought – I needed to recover my legs. This is when I took off the massage pants and realized I was going to have a hell of a time standing up. My legs had fully seized and the pain was pretty intense – the worst of the day for me. However I knew that I had to get to the tent – grab my gear, get to a shower and this would be better. So that is what I did, I forced myself to my feet, then to the tent, ran into my friend Francois who told me I was about a 10 minute walk from the showers. I made my way there and took a hot shower, applied DMSO cream to my legs and sprayed a ton of magnesium oil on top in an effort to recover my legs. I rolled them out on a foam roller for another 10 minutes and now felt ‘thawed out’ (the temperature had dropped significantly since the first morning ascent ). I went back to the tent and it really hit me just how exhausted I was. My Garmin watch said I had burned over 9,800 calories and despite the fact I clearly should have just gone and had a bite of dinner I was crashing hard. I crawled into bed – set my alarm for 2 hours and took my cold wet (but only) jacket and toque and slept with them to try and dry them out. 

I have little recollection of this but as my alarm went off I got out of bed and started pacing and stating that I needed to complete ‘two more’. Francois must have thought I was delirious and was asking me whether I was sure this was a good idea? But I was focused – the weather was already turning and a blizzard was on its way – I wanted tomorrow to be doable even if I had to crawl it – I was unwilling to leave this place without completing 17 summits. So off I went out hoping that there may be some form of dinner available. Unfortunately it was 930pm and they had shut it down at 830pm. I had prioritized sleep over food so protein bars and gels were dinner tonight. I reminded myself that I could survive for weeks without food but not without water – so I must stay hydrated and get some fuel.

Number 12 was a lonely climb – pitch black – not many climbers and a lot of alone time. As I passed climbers, not much conversation was happening – if you were out in these conditions at night you had one purpose, and conversation and networking was not it. This was a tough one but my legs were not as bad as when I had left the hill last night. However the temperature was dropping fast, it was now minus 1 or two degrees and the wind was just whipping your face on the mountain. I had borrowed Francois’ emergency blanket and this was a life saver on the gondola ride down. You went from soaking wet from the sleet, rain and perspiration to absolutely frozen as you hit the summit and the cold wind turned that moisture into ice .

I was motivated for the next climb as I knew it would be my last of the night. The snow was picking up and I knew I just needed to get through it. This certainly felt like the toughest climb of the day, but I knew I just had to grind through it and I would only have 4 to complete tomorrow. I finished the climb – summit completed – smiling away and gondola’d back down with rest within reach.

I branded my spot and headed back to the tent. I applied what Francois affectionately described as ‘witches brew’ (magnesium oil and DMSO cream) to my legs and began to try and dry out my gear. We had a propane heater in the tent and so I thought it would be smart to try and dry out my jacket again. Well after burning three holes in my jacket, it became apparent that this was not a wise course of action and sleeping with these wet clothes again might be a better choice. I set my alarm for 4AM and hit the pillow for 4 hour of sleep.

Day Two

I quietly got dressed at about 4am, James must have finished during the night and both he and Francois woke up to wish me luck on my final four ascents. I went to breakfast and tried to get some nutrition into myself but my body was less than interested in food. I tried to eat some fruit and oatmeal but not much was wanting to stay down. I took a couple of Tylenol Completes to try and ward off what was becoming a problematic cold that was really affecting my breathing. I placed my headlamp on and got a playlist ready hit the hill just after 5AM. This was ascent number 14 and by far this was the hardest climb of the entire weekend – bar none. My legs were still in shock, my breathing was challenged, I felt like I had run a marathon the day before and was now starting a half marathon today. The temperature was darn cold and the volume of night climbers hadn’t allowed the ground to freeze – so the footing was even worse. I also couldn’t see more than about 10 feet in front of me as the snow was now coming down and building up on the ground. This only masked what I now knew to be ‘trouble areas’ for either footing or running water or simply impassible areas. What made this worse was that my hip joints were causing me pain with ever step. The saving grace was that the hip pain was just dull like someone jamming their knuckle into your hips and was not the severe pain of cramping.

I completed number 14 and headed for 15. The sun was out – but the snow was falling, more climbers were now on the path, this slowed everyone down as passing in certain areas was not advisable and likely not possible. That didn’t matter – I had 3 to go – I wanted to get after it. I knocked out 15 and headed back for 16.

Lesson #11: What May Not Have Value To Others May In Fact Be The Most Valuable Thing To You

Climb 16 was a motivating one for me. Those completing their “Final Ascent” received a red bib stating as much and this was a signal to anyone on the hill to cheer these folks on. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted that red bib – it represented so much more than near completion, or an achievement. That red bib meant I did what I set out to do, that my kids could look at their dad and know that they too could do anything they put their minds to and that all of those nights of training, running in the rain, hours at the gym, weekends hiking up ski hills was all worth it. Those thoughts danced around my head the entire climb – it was the same hill – the same brutal sections – the same mud – the same snow – but I was in the hunt. It was inevitable I would finish, it was 830AM and I was on hill 16 – but that wasn’t what it was about. I wanted to finish strong and enjoy it. I saw that fence and knew I was there – I had to just take that gondola ride back down and that red bib was mine.

Lesson#12: Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labour

Putting on that red bib made me smile super wide. In fact it was a bit emotional. I had read that, last year, people on their last ascent were a bit bummed out as this would be the ‘final climb’ . Rest assured this was not me. It was a culmination of feelings of achievement, perseverance, and knowing that what seemed impossible 12 months earlier, was happening right now. 

I also realized that I had taken almost no pictures of any of the ascents except prior to the start of the event or the first couple of gondola rides down. I realized no one would ‘get’ why I hated that damn 750 feet of elevation sign, or why at the ? mile to the summit sign. They were telling me life was about to get really hard, and why I knew at pole number 8 ,that I would need leg strength to jump over that little river. So I took my time, paused to look back, took pictures and enjoyed it. I had many cheering me on during that last ascent. When I was frozen and hurting towards the last quarter of the mountain, I had folks telling me how I could do it.

I purposefully took the gondola ride down by myself after summit number 17. I reflected on what I had accomplished. Fully realizing that this is an event many won’t ‘get’ or understand I began to come to terms with how little that mattered. This was about self-discovery. This was about creating calluses in my mind. This was about being able to dig into that memory bank in the future 'when times will inevitably get tough, and go back to the mountain mentally and know that I have overcome tough things before. As funny as it sounds, I became grateful for what this has taught me. I became grateful for the pain as it made the rest all the better, I was grateful for the cold because warmth was now valued even more. Most importantly I was grateful to those that supported me in doing this, my wife, my kids, my parents, my mother and father in law, and my colleagues James and Francois. I became closer with my colleagues, on those nights running hills, pushing each other, supporting each other and grinding together. It was something special I won’t soon forget. My son Benson climbing Camp Fortune with me and grabbing a pair of sticks so that he could have hiking polls ‘just like dad’ is a memory I won’t soon forget. My wife telling me how proud she was at how hard I had worked to get ready for this and that I had inspired her to join a running group as a result, was ever so rewarding.

Closing

After devouring well-deserved pizza, coca cola, and other unhealthy items that I had abstained from for the previous 5 months, we received metals and plaques to acknowledge what we had completed. We shared stories and memories created that weekend – it was a great finish.

In the days after the event I reflected back on much of what I learned and how applicable these lessons were, not only to my business, but also to my family, my friends, and specifically to myself. I am far from an endurance athlete, but I was able to change myself mentally and physically to become one for this event. The mental change has strengthened my belief in self talk, visualization, and mind set. The physical change has caused me to lose 26 pounds and spend some money on getting suits altered but leaves me feeling better than I ever have. I still go to the gym 5 days a week and get a bit of work in every day to achieve balance in my life. The lessons of conquering ‘Everest’ will remain with me and I will steal a quote from Colin O’Grady, the world record holder, we met that weekend who challenges children throughout the U.S. to “Find Your Everest”! I would challenge you to do the same and have no doubt you will find out more about yourself than you ever imagined.