The Last Pass

The Last 4000+ Meter Pass on My 2014 Nepal Experience

This is the last pass we crossed. The view was tremendous. Only half an hour later we were on dirt and in the fog, never to cross the snow and ice again on this trip. It was over.

It was bittersweet. Happy to be returning safe and sound to home and family, but a big disappointment to not even take a step above base camp. This picture, for me, really sums up the experience. On the right you have the relationships formed and memories made. In the middle you have the steep rocky and snowy mountains that I came to play in and on. On the left you have the valley, the path toward home and all of the loved ones that don't go to places like this. I realize to most people, it's a just a picture of a far away place with more scenery, that all looks the same. For me, being there and taking the picture, everything this moment represented was a symbol to remember.

Economics is So Cool!

I heard on the Wisconin radio station I listen to that the number of students on free and reduced lunches at public schools increased. Additionally, I'm halfway through reading Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the book all the economics wonks are talking about. I will add, I carted that book over to Nepal, but didn't have the downtime to finish it there.

Economics never interested me until a few years ago. I didn't understand it or appreciate it. Ever since my unemployment it has colored my view on many things. For example, some government programs are based on anecdotal (short term, snapshot, small scale...) evidence rather than long term widespread evidence. In my opinon, that means not the most effective use of our limited tax dollars. As I work my way through Capital, I know what his conclusion is, and I can't come up with any decent disagreement. Also, the book focuses in large part on just part of economics, money and inequality, rather than many of the microeconomic issues that may be more applicable to our daily lives.

While we wring our hands and fear the world devolving into dystopia, there are solutions out there. Planet Money created a "presidential candidate" in 2012. A party with a platform that would never get elected, at least in the next 20 years. Another example, the idea and evidence of a basic income is interesting to say the least. Maybe this is all theory, and there are certainly flaws, and economists still argue about the evidence, but as we gather more data the opportunity exists to make the systems better.

I've always had the view, if one of us succeeds, we all succeed. Wether it is a high school classmate getting into MIT or doing a medical internship at the Mayo clinic or a family member getting engaged, we are succeeding. One lesson we can all take away from economics is the vast wealth we have now versus our ancestors. The price of lighting a house has become nearly insignificant in the western world (skip to table 1.4). Maybe my interest is economics is one way that I can emperically see how blessed I am.

One Day at a Time

I am a mess. I still haven't really put my expedition equipment away, or washed my down clothing from Nepal. I have bills to pay. I have a trip to book. I feel like the last month much of my world has been blown to the wind like the pieces of a puzzle. I don't know what to do. I don't know what is my next step. I know that I enjoy my engineering work and I am healthy and enjoying running and bicycling. For a person so good at long term planning and goal setting, I can really struggle with unexpected short term issues.

Running races and hiking in the mountains I have learned that when you trip, keep going. When you drop the baton in a relay, pick it up and keep going. So when 16 people die in an avalanche, the Sherpas go on strike, and you are left broke, you have to just keep going, even if it is one day at a time.

Me in Front of Baruntse and Makalu (Partly Hidden by Clouds)

My 10 Year High School Class Reunion

Sabetha High Class of 2004 10 Year Reunion

Wow! This was great! I was nervous before getting back to Sabetha because I call these people my friends, some of them I consider rather good friends, yet I hardly talk to them and haven’t seen many in ten years. I quickly learned, or was reminded, you have to live where you are, you can’t dwell in the past. There were several times I asked around about people only to find out, no one really knew what that person was up to. There were several people that no one at the reunion had talked to in several years. Hey! Next time we do this, please come everyone! We want to know what is going on in your life. None of us keep up with each other as much as we would ideally like, that's life. 

This weekend was like a shot of motivation to my heart. (Yes, Pulp Fiction reference.) When I talked to my classmates, their spouses and significant others I was stunned at how well everyone was doing. Taken one classmate at a time it all seems to make sense. I will try to keep this pretty vague because we are a small enough class I don’t want to single anyone out. Time and again it was like: this person, who was and is awesome, is married to that person, who is also awesome, and they have a well behaved kid, plus stable jobs. 

What impressed me the most was the relationship side of things. We took a class picture of most of the people that were there, although a couple showed up later. I looked at my classmates and I thought, ‘wow, what a group of beautiful people!’ The part that you will not see in the picture, was the group of spouses and significant others, that again all seemed to have their lives together. There were only a few of us, maybe three of about 25, that didn’t bring a spouse or significant other. I suppose we are 28 now, but I still didn’t expect that. 

Everyone seemed to be gainfully employed, or was a stay at home parent. We even have a couple of doctors in our class. It really seemed like everyone was doing fairly well in their careers. No job is perfect, but people seemed to be doing quite well. Again, taken one person at a time each individual success did not seem like such a big deal, but put together we have done really well. 

Don’t let me give you the impression it has been all roses. Of the 72 of us, at least two are dead and at least three have been divorced. There have been kids born outside of marriage. Multiple people had lived in four (and maybe more) places after leaving college. My guess is that I was not alone in struggling to find a job that payed in the wake of the Great Recession. As a side note, my van was definitely the worst vehicle in the parking lot. Quite a few people had moved in with their parents after college at least for a little while. I will even dare to say that most of our class spent time living with our parents as an adult. I felt so alone and failed moving in with my parents and being unemployed in 2010, but I think that quite a few of my classmates had similar experiences. Many people have also returned to the area of northeast Kansas because the economy is good and being closer to family is a bonus.

I think that as I talked to my classmates and heard of their stable jobs and marriages and kids maybe it seemed like everyone was so successful because we had been through struggles in the last ten years. Several people had gone to school for one thing, and either changed direction to a less daunting occupation or totally dropped the degree to pursue something else. Student loans came up a few times, and while I am in debt quite a bit, some others are certainly in even more debt. Only one person directly mentioned money being a difficult but important topic in relationships and I think she spoke for most of the class when she bluntly talked about some of the hard times in the last ten years with careers, marriage, and having a kid. 

Land prices came up a few times as people think about getting into farming. The reality is land prices have gone up so much that if you aren’t inheriting land (because you have siblings or your parents still farm) it is awfully hard to get into it. I never really appreciated farming when I was younger, yet the hundreds of hours I spent on my friends farms helped shape me into who I am today. Even to me the concept of having a “hobby farm” sounds like a great experience. 

Getting back to the positives, there were a couple people that I knew did not have the easiest life back in high school and shortly after. Seeing those people, married, with kids, and well behaved kids too, welled my eyes up with tears. If a measure of a parent is the kids, well done classmates! I was astounded, for the number of kids we had there they were all, without exception, well behaved. Plus, my classmates and their spouses seemed like pros when it came to parenting. They could hold a conversation and watch the kid run around, no problem. I look forward to the time in my life when I have kids, but I’ve never changed a diaper. Every time a kid would fall or hit a head or cough I could cringe a little because I don’t know what to do about it, yet my classmates and their spouses reacted like it was no problem and were back in the conversation a minute later.

I had the opportunity to apologize to a couple people for mean things I had done in the past. I have memories that come up every once in awhile and make me feel bad for things I have done. I also thanked a number of people for helping me become who I am. The person we become is in large part based on the people we are surrounded by, and I was surrounded by amazing people growing up. I feel like our class holds itself to a high standard. That means different things to different people, everything from solid parenting to becoming a doctor. 

On Sunday I waited around town until the early afternoon to go to a retirement party for a teacher and coach that had motivated me when I was in middle school. I also happened to see and thank a couple other teachers and coaches at the party. Every time I see my track and cross country coaches, I am so thankful. It took some time, and I didn’t always get the point, but I feel the overall extremely positive experience I had running growing up is why I got back into running less than a year after I quit, and haven’t stopped running in the nine years since. It also taught me about long term progress, which helped get me to Nepal this year. I also saw one of my math teachers, and he gave me an experience I will never forget. My freshman year of high school in geometry class, there were maybe a couple freshman, but mostly sophomores and juniors in the class. One day when he was going to be out for the day, he gave me the lesson and had me teach the class. It went quite well, but going into it I was terrified explaining to these older girls and big football players the volume of water in the tank! It was a leap for me, and an experience I treasure. I had amazing educators growing up!

Over the weekend I had two two-hour conversations with people who were ironically not in my class. Some people, that I would have liked to talk to more, I only said “hi” to. Other people after a few minutes of talking we would get interrupted by someone else and never return to our conversation. I could have easily spent two hours talking with every single person in my class. That being said, I spent a lot of time just listening. I live my life, I already know what I’m doing, I don’t want to hear myself talk about it. I want to know what my classmates are up to. By the way, only two of the six cross country runners in our class showed up. Next time, you all better be there! Even listening to a few other people have conversations, I kept thinking, ‘well done, you guys all have your lives together.’ I feel marriage is probably only second to God when it comes to big life decisions and events, and it seems like most of my class just nailed it. The people they married are fantastic. Seriously, well done friends. 

Other news about Sabetha, Kansas itself, since my family hasn’t lived there in 9.5 years, it seems to be doing really well. Nemaha County was apparently listed as one of the top 10 counties to get a job a few years ago. There are two new manufacturing and engineering companies in town that employ around 200 people. For a town of 2500 people, that’s a big development. South of town quite a few houses have been built and there is at least one new "suburb". It is a little funny how developments there seem to go by one family or occupation. There is a new gym at the high school and a new baseball field. Otherwise most things are the same. The town has a little trouble keeping restaurants and they actually have a bit of a rental apartment shortage. Business is good enough that a friend said to me, “if you can weld in Sabetha and you don’t have a job, it’s because you smoke too much crack.” 

I was so nervous going into this. I haven’t kept up well with my friends. I don’t have a significant other to bring. I have changed. They have changed. We have gone our separate ways and I wasn’t sure what all that would mean. Well, I’m still smiling, sitting here two days later. It was great! I mean, I know we’ve had some tough times, but overall, well done friends! If possible I will make it to all the organized reunions that we have in the future, and I will certainly be going to my college reunions as well. In a class of only 72 graduates, you get to know people. It will never be what it once was. We have all matured. Fewer crude jokes. No putting other people down. There was a lot of positivity, and parenting. These aren't the same people I went to school with, they are better. I will be commenting on Facebook posts in the future, instead of just “liking” them and I look forward to the next time we do this. As an open invitation, if anyone from the Sabetha High class of 2004 is in Dubuque, Iowa in the future and I’m still here let me know, dinner is on me. 

Seventh Grade Basketball! (I'm #4)

I Live in Iowa: Week 153

I was super excited to get through this week. I mean, I'm still recovering from Everest, adjusting to work, getting back into running, plus I went to my 10 year high school class reunion and I was totally nervous about it. It was a good week. I am so blessed.

Work is great! I mean, we are figuring things out and making the product better. While we see all of the issues and imperfections, problems are being fixed and the reliability is going up. I am quite a bit more positive about where we are now than I was a few months ago. The upside of all the hard work I did before I left and coming back early is that my workload is actually light. That being said, after working 6-7 days a week for two months putting in evenings as well as early morning, not doing that extra work feels so much easier. One semester I took seven classes at college, something like 20 credits, plus being on the track team. After that, just taking 5-6 classes a semester seemed so much easier. It's the same at work, after putting in overtime and weekends, not putting in overtime and weekends feels so easy.

Running was great, with 49.8 miles for the week! All slower recovery pace, my average for the week like like 8:17 per mile. Still, it's close to double my mileage from last week and it includes a 2, 3 and 4 mile day.

We went rock climbing Sunday and somehow or other I managed to get up at least one 5.10. So I guess I'm in better shape than I thought. I would like to take a climbing trip later this year. A weekend at Red River Gorge for sure. I would like like to get out west to either the Tetons or Moab. Both places I have been before and have not gotten to the top of anything in either place. We'll see how my climbing partners are doing, because Moab, you need to have 5.9 crack trad climbing dialed to do anything interesting, and the Tetons you need to be fit enough to hike for hours at altitude then do 5.6 in pants and a jacket. Neither place is easy, that's why I haven't gotten to the top of anything.

I had a big article in the Telegraph Herald Monday. Sorry, it's the mobile site. I knew, before going to Everest that in the event of a big tragedy there would be a lot of media attention, but it's still strange to me, and quite sad really, how people only talk about Everest when it involves tragedy. Into Thin Air was such a successful book because so many people died. Life is good.

Saturday I woke up at 4:30 and drove to Sabetha, Kansas for my 10 year high school reunion. Oh, I'm definitely writing up a summary of the weekend...

Upbeat on Everest 2014 Failure

People have been surprised at how upbeat I am despite the very dissapointing Everest 2014 season events. I won't lie, it's depressing. I've gone through almost a half gallon of ice cream in the last week. Yet, overall, I've had worse. This too shall pass. Here are a few reasons for me to feel upbeat about a "huge failure".

• I'm alive! If the avalanche had happened April 19th, it could be me still missing in the ice fall. It's one thing to say that, it another to really know that it could have happened to me. Compared to dying, most other outcomes are rather positive. I have the luxury of time to consider my next steps.
• This barely compares to my unemployment in 2010. I took a huge financial hit without the reward of a climb, but compared to applying for hundreds of jobs and getting hudreds of rejections, and having no money or known future income, I will financially recover. Plus, I never let this affect my direct retirement savings.
• They offered me a great deal to return. I'm still not sure if I will, or if I might try a different route, but they did give me a huge discount. Plus, the mountain isn't going anywhere. 
• I tried. I did everything to show up at the mountain skilled, fit and healthy and it worked. I was there and ready to go. I think all the preperation, saving money, learning mountaineering skills, staying healthy at 17,000 feet, and being fit enough to try it are probably 80-90% of the challenge. Mentally, I've already climbed the route. 
• Mera Peak, the Gorak Shep Mile, the Kalla Pattar speed record, the Ampulapcha Pass, the hike to Phaplu, and all of the unique people I met made this experience unique and worth more than an Everes base camp trek. Each one of those is a little consolation prize. 

Yes, it's still a dissapointment. Yes, I'm still quite upset about the whole thing. However, the ability to feel that dissapointment is a luxury. I will be okay. Mentally and emotionally unemployment was way more difficult than this experience. Physically, most races I run are more difficult. 

Many of the best, or most of the entire population of, ultra marathoners are older people who have been through life's ups and downs and are prepared for the swings that 24 hour races will throw at them. I understand that. I've had lower lows, and I didn't get 10% of the media attention then I am now. Life will go on. I've already got a couple interested things planned for this summer... 

Five Early Lessons from Everest 2014

On a weekday night in February 2009 I started this blog. With relatively little thought I came up with the title: Learing to DO. It emphasied learning which I am a huge life long fan of, and doing, with a capital o because you can learn everything but if you don't apply it to do anything, what is the point? I'm very much in the comtemplative phase of my Everest expedition trying to figure out what it all means. There are a few things I learned that are obvious to me, but I know there must be more to it. So I figure trying to fill out a list of five things will give me a chance to really see what I learned. I'm calling this an early list, because I feel that in the months to come I will have more revelations with deeper meanings and this is certainly not an exhaustive list.

1. Inexperience is rampant on Mt. Everest. I have a much longer article drafted and waiting for sufficient time to pass before I publish on this topic. A simple example is the number of people who had slept above 7000, or even been above 7000 meters. Of the 15 clients on our expedition, I believe only seven, including myself, had been or slept above 7000 meters. Three of those had only slept above 7000 meters on Everest, in previous seasons. In short, while people may generally gradually build up their climbing skills and altitude experience slowly, when it comes to Everest, people will make a big jump in altitude, and even technical skills to get there. 
2. The cultural and political situation in Nepal, specifically in the Kumbu valley or Solokumbu region is not nearly as stable as we thought. I would still consider it safe. Even after I first heard about the threats I hiked by myself multiple times to Gorak Shep, the 3G rock, and Kalla Pattar. 
3. The world loves tragedy. Maybe this is the media, maybe this plays to our fears, maybe we just like to feel safe. I announced I was going well in advance, I offered to do interviews while I had a good Internet connection, but no one really cared. After the tragedy, CBS, BBC London, Al Jeezera America, among others filled my inbox with interview requests. This is not what I want to get attention for. 
4. Hundreds of people were really worried about me. I spend so much time alone, running, sitting in my apartment, typing at the coffee shop, working at work, that frequently I feel lonely. Sometimes I feel like I could dissappear and no one would notice. Well, I seemingly almost dissappeared on the other side of the world and I had scores of people tracking me, making sure I was safe every night. I guess it's not a surprise, I care about my family and friends and they returned the favor, I guess I was just not expecting it. I should really write some thank yous (blog post idea...).
5. Describing my risk tolerance is really hard! I don't ever plan to go bungee jumping. I will never attempt Annapurna or Nanga Parbat, two very deadly mountains. I always wear my seatbelt. On the other hand, I do on occasion like to free solo routes that are not truly "easy". I am scared of heights somewhat, yet I've still been at a hanging belay 1500 feet up a cliff with just air below me. I've almost died three times in the mountains, yet I keep going. I rarely speed in my van, although the thing can't really speed on the interstate. Yes, I've been skydiving, solo of course. I've tipped over my fair share of sailboats. My Eskimo role is terrible, so I just don't kayak. I quit playing baseball when I was young because I was scared of the pitching machine, and I still am a little. I have a motorcycle, but it's a 125 cc 1966 Yamaha and once I went 62 miles per hour downhill. I've gone 52 miles per hour downhill on my road bicycle, which is more dangerous? I think the things that scare me and the things that scare most people are so different it's hard just trying to communicate the differences. I feel this is challenging when I am trying to build personal relationships. I am willing to do things with a statistical percentage chance of death, but I make sure when people ride in my van with me to always wear their seatbelts. 

There we have five things I have learned so far. The two most dramatic ones for me are the inexperience of Everest climbers and the surprise of how many people were worried about me.