ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
Posted Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 9:42 pmOn August 8th, after a long year of training and preparation, my friend Bryan reached his goal of standing on the summit of Longs Peak (14,255 ft) in Colorado. Along with Bryan on this climb and on the summit were his good friend Cameron, me, and my friend Tom H.
Bryan and I first met a little over a year ago through a mutual friend and fellow climber here in Indianapolis. Bryan was looking for someone to share some mountain climbing adventures with his church boy scout troop, and I was able to help out and share some of my experiences with them. After that first meeting, my wife and I got to know Bryan more. He and I learned that we shared several things in common, including a love for the great outdoors. We had also both lost our fathers (mine to suicide, his to heart disease).
Not long after our friendship began, Bryan called me one day and said he wanted to become more physically active. He then said he wanted to set a goal of climbing his first mountain. He was going to do this to honor his father – similar to what I have been doing through Expedition Hope. The day he called and shared with me his goal, Bryan weighed over 320 lbs. I was in awe of his determination and I could hear it in his voice. He has three young children and at that time was only 41 years old. He wanted to be more healthy for his children and for himself.
After he shared this dream out loud, Bryan had my wife and I over for dinner to meet the rest of his family. I recall his oldest daughter saying to me, “Don’t let anything happen to my daddy on the mountain.” OK, that added a little extra stress! But we were both determined to make this dream a success.
Bryan wanted to get to work right away and asked if I would help him with a training plan and also do some training with him. We started off with doing some hiking together and gradually increased to wearing a 40 lb weight vest. Bryan also adjusted his diet and, before long, you could see the weight practically melting off of him. He also began training at a local gym and increased the intensity of his workouts. I could clearly see he was doing everything possible to accomplish his goal.
After a long year of preparation and training, and losing more than 80 lbs, the day to finally depart for Colorado and climb Longs Peak was upon us. Bryan and I flew out on the same flight, arrived in Denver and rented a car to make the drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s a beautiful drive and filled with post-card views at every turn. Before long, the full expanse of Longs Peak came into view, and Bryan saw for the first time what was ahead of him. Longs Peak is not a technical climb, but it does have a great deal of exposure, long drop offs and, of course, unpredictable weather. Longs Peak is no “give me” summit.
To prepare from going from sea level to altitude, we first did a few warm-up climbs inside Rocky Mountain National Park. The first peak we climbed was Flattop Mountain. We met and spoke with several climbers on Flattop who were also preparing for Longs. All shared the same anxiety and concerns for the exposure that Bryan would be experiencing. Flattop is a beautiful climb with great views of Longs Peak in the distance. Bryan did a great job on Flattop Mountain, and we both stood on the summit together and shared the day’s accomplishment and spectacular scenery.
The next day, we climbed Twin Sisters, which is another nice warm up for Longs Peak. Again, Bryan did an awesome job, stayed strong, and we both reached the summit for another great view of Longs Peak. The next day, a Thursday, we took as a rest day. Bryan drove back to Denver to pick up Cameron, and I stayed in Estes Park to finish some climb details and logistics. When Bryan and Cam returned to Estes Park, it was time to start packing packs and get focused on the reason why we were all there: Longs Peak!
The next morning, we woke up early and drove to the Longs Peak trailhead. Our plan was to hike to the Boulder Field and make camp for the evening. My friend Tom, a Denver native with whom I climbed in both Russia and Argentina, and his son Ben, were going to meet us in the Boulder Field, so we would be a party of five. On Saturday morning, August 8th, we would go for the summit. This date was important to Bryan, since it was the date of his father’s death.
Friday night brought some high winds, and the tents were getting blown around pretty good. The night was less than restful, since I kept recalling Bryan’s daughters request to me from a year earlier, and what I knew was still ahead of us. The morning came quickly, and we all woke and started to prepare for the climb up to the Keyhole. The Keyhole is a notch in the mountain, and it also acts like a wind tunnel. After consulting with Tom, we decided to wait for the crowd of climbers at the Keyhole to thin out a bit, as well as wait for the winds to hopefully subside. We continued to see a long line of climbers descending from the Keyhole, and it seemed like Bryan talked to each one as they passed our camp. They were all turning around after reporting very high and dangerous winds at the Keyhole. We estimated at least 80 climbers we talked to that determined it was too dangerous and were going down. This really wasn’t helping Bryan’s confidence.
However, we decided to listen to our own instincts, and we started to make the long and steep climb up to the Keyhole, where you must climb through the Keyhole to access the rest of the route. This is where the climbing and exposure really begins. After reaching the Keyhole, Tom went and “poked his head” through the Keyhole to get a better look, while I stayed with Ben, Bryan and Cam. Once Tom gave the go ahead, we had Bryan climb the rest of the way and make his way through the Keyhole. He looked around and saw the Ledges, Narrows and everything he has read about for the past year. Quite honestly, we all thought that Bryan was going to decide to turn around. But after a brief moment of looking around, he turned to the rest of us and said, “Let’s Roll.” Well, game on! I was very proud of Bryan for facing his fears and decided to go for it.
What was just around the corner was the Ledges, which are very exposed, high and do not have much room to make any errors with bad footing. Again, Bryan demonstrated his courage and did a great job. However, after making it past the Ledges, we still had the Narrows, the Trough, and finally the homestretch to climb and negotiate. The route does not become any easier, and the exposure and potential drop offs became greater.
After reaching the vertical rock to the summit, I knew that Bryan was going to do it. After a year of training and commitment, he was now only a few more feet from standing on the summit.
At approximately 12:20 pm Colorado time on August, 8th, the date of Bryan’s fathers death, he stood on the summit of Longs Peak! It was such a great joy and honor to be with him on the summit and to hear him call his children and let them know that he was “on top.” Also, we had beautiful weather and blue skies on the top. It couldn’t have been any more perfect for Bryan, as well as for Cameron, Tom and me.
Bryan’s perseverance was inspiring and also an example of overcoming obstacles to reach a goal – just like with Expedition Hope. I am truly in awe of Bryan’s determination to change his life and to face challenges to reach his goal. He worked hard, was discouraged at times, but never gave up and achieved a dream. I am honored to have been able to share some of that with him. Great job, Bryan!!!
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary