The Mountain Guides

Last Thursday I was hanging from a cliff face 13,000 feet above the ground roped for safety to my mountain guide John. There is a lot of trust in a relationship like that.

A few hours later we would summit the Grand Teton alongside my wife, Ariel, our film crew, and the rest of the amazing team from The Mountain Guides in Jackson Hole.

The Journey to the Top

The views, the sentiment, the accomplishment of reaching the top sent a powerful energy through the team, but it was the adventure of the ascent that remains most memorable.

We started our day at 2am with a breakfast burrito and ripping 45mph wind gusts. The gusts had started the night before, so no one had slept at all.

It didn’t matter. There was plenty of adrenaline when we set off on foot, headlamps on, to our first check point, the lower saddle.

In order to capture the sequence efficiently we had two operators carrying light camera rigs.

The Production Crew

Chris Figenshau, a soft-spoken Jackson Hole legend, remained out front of our subjects, effortlessly skating up the mountain to capture the high-octane moments.

In support, Savannah McCauley stayed with the pack focused on the humanity and emotion of our climbers.

Ariel, as a co-director and character within our story, climbed with a microphone and GoPro to document her experience in a more intimate fashion than possible from afar.

My job was to ensure our team was set up for success and to stay out of the way.

This is a fairly standard approach except that this production took place while ascending a mountain, hanging from walls and cliffs. That is where the trust and relationship with our guides come in.

On set no one person should focus on both production and safety, you can only have one job. So the creative team and subjects were each assigned a guide.

After the lower saddle, the journey truly became vertical filled with exposure, or scary-ass, don’t-look-down moments.

In an unprepared world, fear and uncertainty would have dominated the mental state of our team and greatly affected the production. This was not the case.

Friends in High Places

The Mountain Guides, Izzy, Guda, John, Porter, and Mark, used a variety of techniques from standard belays to the more technical short roping to maintain safety and calm throughout the group.

We have Phil Powers and Sarah Pierce to thank for that. Two years ago while filming Family Powers in the Red Rocks of Nevada, they both mentioned that we should climb the Grand Teton.

We accepted the offer and they took care of the climbing logistics. Together with their partners they own The Mountain Guides, a climbing-guide organization founded in Jackson Hole in 1968.

It is nice to have friends that guide and mentor. It allows you to reach beyond your dreams.

That is likely the main takeaway of this entire experience. Working with guides (for all types of mountains: personal, mental, physical) is a cheat code for life.

Find help, listen to it, and trust it.

It was not until we returned to high camp that I started to get emotional about what we had accomplished. Climbing the Grand is one of the most challenging things I have ever done, and I am proud to say I could not have done it alone.

Our guides pushed us to be better version of ourselves. No one took the steps for me or grabbed the rock on my behalf, but they showed me how to and ensured I came home alive.

Question Yourself

Who are your mentors? Are you working with experts in areas that you are weak? Are you humble enough to ask for help?

It took us eight years to hire full time mentors at Chispa House. We currently meet with four experts every Friday that help us sort out problem areas at our company. It has been one of the best decisions we have ever made.

Guides are not only there to keep you from falling off a cliff. Whatever your mountain, find people to make your journey safe and enjoyable.

Do not wait to get help.

Happy Monday,

Love,

Log Dog

P.S. The Challenge of 2am Breakfast

I know what you are thinking. Breakfast burritos at 2am?! There is no way your body was ready for that.

That is correct.

At about 5:30am my guide, John, and I’s stomach started growling. In order to continue our push, we had to cut a little weight, but you cannot just relieve yourself on the rocks of Grand Teton, it is against park policy. You have to leave with what you came.

So John and I pulled out our wag bags in 45mph winds and lightened our load. It was a wild endeavor, but we persevered.

It was another great accomplishment in my life.