Climb Your Peak
Reach your goal one step at a time
A Guy with a goal
When I was 14, I climbed Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in California. When I realized it is also the tallest peak in the continental United States, I thought, if I can climb this mountain, I can reach the tallest peak in every state! I had no idea how hard it would be to achieve my goal and how much I would learn along the way.
Stories from the trail
No matter your goal, chances are it is tough, and you may want to give up. This has happened to me! So I started asking my fellow adventurers what they tell themselves when they want to quit. This is what a few of them had to say.
Create a Plan
I've created a goal development worksheet for elementary school students. It breaks down the steps to climb and the mindset necessary to reach the peak!
My 3 Toughest climbs (so far)
Boundary Peak, Nevada. Reaching this summit remains the hardest thing I have done in my life and it is what inspired Climb Your Peak. A summer day unexpectedly turned into a hail storm with 80mph wind gusts and no visibility. I army crawled to the top and in doing so lost my dad. He couldn't see us or hear our screams over the howling wind. Fortunately my friend Nick had a brightly colored windbreaker that we were able to use as a flag. It was frightening.
Mount Hood, Oregon. Unlike Boundary Peak, I expected Mount Hood to be very strenuous. We left our room shortly after midnight to begin the trek. It was very cold and visibility was terrible. There were times when the climb was nearly vertical and we had to anchor our picks in the ice to make progress. Ice climbing was completely new to me. We almost had to turn around because of high wind and poor visibility.
King's Peak, Utah. This climb was totally different becuase it took three days and required camping on the mountain. I hate to admit it but I wasn't totally prepared and I suffered because of it. I didn't have a warm enough sleeping bag for a snowy night so I didn't get enough sleep. That, combined with not great nutrition and hydration, contributed to altitude sickness. With determination and the help of my friend, I made it to the top but it took a while to recover.