29029 Vermont Recap

The Challenge to Change

By 29029 Everesting

October 19^th, 2021

Crisp air. Falling leaves. Vibrant colors. Vermont in October is always a spectacle. Stratton Mountain is the perfect venue to wrap up another 29029 season.

29029 has always been an event that brings change. The person you are when you step onto the mountain is entirely different from the person you are when you step off the mountain, having earned the Red Hat.

Metaphor for Change

You are a changed person after the experience at 29029. You believe in yourself more. You understand that life’s greatest obstacles help you become the best version of yourself. You go back to your everyday life knowing nothing it throws at you can top the challenge of the mountain.

29029 Vermont is the perfect metaphor for this change. The mountain is undergoing dramatic change too. Leaves turn to vibrant colors. Cool air signals the coming change of seasons – the arrival of winter.

But before autumn turns to winter – before you turn into the new version of yourself – there’s a mountain to summit.

Crisp Mornings

It all starts with a crisp, cool morning. A nervous energy is in the air as 250 people prepare to embark on their first of many ascents. The nerves can feel like stress, but as Colin O’Brady reminded everyone, this isn’t stress.

Stress comes from what you have to do in life. Going up this mountain in Vermont is a get to. You signed up for this because you wanted to.

With that quick and simple reframe, nervous energy becomes just that – energy - which helps propel you up the mountain.

Summit No Matter What

At 29029, you’re challenged to achieve more than you ever thought possible. You’ll come out of this a changed person, but that change doesn’t come easy.

You persevered. Through torrential rains, gale-force winds, thick fog, and the long, dark night, you continued climbing up the mountain, into the clouds. You couldn’t be stopped.

On the mountain, there were 250 stories highlighting the grit and determination on display by each and every participant. These are just a few of the many highlights from 29029 Vermont.

"You're Not Taking Me Off This Mountain"

Britton doesn’t know what the word quit means. Just a few short months ago at 29029 Utah, Britton was struggling mightily with the altitude and heat. His body was breaking down, but he didn’t want to quit. It wasn’t until a medic told him he had to stop that he finally resigned himself to ending his quest for the Red Hat.

But it wasn’t actually the end – he was just biding his time. He hit the start line in Vermont with a mantra: “You’re not taking me off this mountain.”

And he was right – after 35 hours, he finally summited the 17th time. He achieved what he had set out to do. He had redeemed himself and achieved his goal.

Grit

Kristin’s attempt at getting a Red Hat was another casualty of the altitude and heat at 29029 Utah. She had to withdraw from severe dehydration and dizziness. She emptied the tank completely.

But emptying the tank wasn’t enough for Kristin.

She was back in Vermont, and she was ready to get after it. Yet, a few hours in, she started having similar symptoms – that same dehydration and dizziness.

Colleen saw this unfolding near the ascent boards, and said, “Kristin, this isn’t Utah. Get some food and water, take a break, and get back at it.”

And get back it, she did. After a well-deserved rest, Kristin got back out there. She channeled her inner-grit and used it to summit all 29,029 feet, earning her the Red Hat.

Everest, and Then Some

One of the many special things about 29029 is the community’s investment in helping others succeed. You might register for the event alone, but as soon as you arrive on the mountain, you’re with 250 new friends who want to help you achieve your goal.

At Vermont, Brandon was one of them. Brandon had trained hard, and he attacked the mountain with vigor, completing all 17 ascents with plenty of time to spare.

Shortly after, he was spotted again on the slopes. He was still climbing, but this time, climbing to help push others to achieve their own goals.

When 36 hours was finally up, Brandon had summited 23 times – 6 extra times – all to help others achieve their own Everest.

One Small Step at a Time

When Jodi listened to Jesse’s pre-event speech, she took it to heart. She knew it would take grit to summit the mountain. She knew she’d have to break it down, one small step at a time if she wanted to achieve her goal.

It was only 2 laps in when she injured her leg. As she got off the gondola, her leg seized up entirely. It wasn’t moving.

She hobbled into the recovery room to get it worked on. It improved, but not by much. She remembered Jesse’s advice about breaking down the event into little pieces – step by step. She didn’t want her 29029 experience to end after 2 laps. She had more to give.

Jodi didn’t focus on how many ascents were left. She just told herself she’d try to do one more.

And she did.

And it snowballed. One more turned into another. And another. And yet another, right up until 5:37 pm, when she summited the mountain for her 17th ascent as the final Red Hat finisher.

Jodi broke it down step-by-step, and stepped her way into achieving Everest.

5,516,000 Feet

Britton, Kristin, Brandon, and Jodi all contributed to a pretty remarkable statistic from 29029 Vermont. If you were there you contributed too.

That statistic is 5,516,600 feet – the cumulative vertical feet climbed at 29029 Vermont. It’s an impressively large number achieved by an impressive group of people.

And in that impressive group of people, every single person has their own inspiring story – a story of pushing through hardships, breaking through their perceived limits, leaving it all out on the mountain in order to achieve something great – a story about the change they endured on the mountain at 29029 Vermont. A story about a change for the better.