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Dan Selner

The Boot

Por 29029 Everesting

02 de June de 2023

In 2021, my wife, Carol, and our oldest daughter, Hannah, decided they wanted to hike 29029 Snowbasin.

I didn’t know much about it, but for my wife, no stranger to endurance events, it seemed on brand.

I watched from the sidelines as they trained and prepared, and even before the start line, I started to see glimpses of that famous 29029 community they were involving themselves with.

The lead-up to that 2021 event was quite rainy, so piles of hay had been put down over mud puddles near the tents onsite. Little did my daughter know, that hay would trigger a severe asthmatic reaction.

It was simply a setback for them, not an excuse to quit, and they climbed that mountain in Snowbasin. Again, and again, and again.

Unfortunately, that setback was enough to keep them one ascent shy of the Red Hat. With 12 under their belt, time ran out.

In 2022, they were going back for redemption.

When they told me they wanted to go back and try it again, I was intrigued.

I had seen the magic of the community at 29029.

I was 59, looking for something challenging, yet fun, to close out my 50s. 29029 seemed like it could be that thing.

I decided I wanted to enter it too.

I’ve had longstanding problems with my foot. In college, I had torn some ligaments, and the consequences of that have been with me ever since.

In training for 29029, those longstanding problems came back. I spent many days of training in the front-range mountains outside of Denver. I’d hike up, then hike back down.

Ironically, hiking up - the thing I need to train for 29029 - didn’t bother my foot at all.

But hiking back down did.

There was no gondola ride down when I was training, and as I continued spending many training days in the mountains, I started to realize the toll that was taking on my foot.

6 weeks before the start, my foot had experienced enough and finally gave in. I met with my doctor, who told me it was finally time for surgery on my foot.

He sent me home with a boot on my foot, and a surgery date scheduled for August 28th, just over a week after 29029 Snowbasin.

As I was leaving, I asked how crazy it would be for me to consider climbing 29029 anyways.

“We’re going to fuse your ankle anyways, so as long as you don’t break your leg, you can’t really make it any worse…”

Jackpot! I was headed to Utah!

I arrived in Snowbasin with two goals.

First and foremost, I was there to support my wife and daughter in their search for redemption - a Red Hat.

Secondly, I wanted to make a single ascent up the mountain.

With a boot on my foot, it seemed like a reasonable stretch goal to have in my sights.

We had a game plan as the event kicked off. If I was holding back my family, they knew to go ahead. I was here to support them, not slow them down while hobbling up the mountain.

I was surprised when the first ascent came to an end. I spent the entire ascent with my family, step for step alongside them.

I was moving quickly enough to keep up with them and I had checked off an ascent.

It was just the beginning.

I continued hiking with my family. My pace was still fast enough to keep them from having to slow down and wait for me. Ascent after ascent ticked by.

Bootstep after footstep, we kept climbing.

As the afternoon turned to evening, the skies started looking more and more ominous. Finally, during our 6th ascent, they opened up. Rain unleashed on the mountain, and we had to shelter in place.

My boot was wet, the ground was muddy, and I knew that I was going to start slowing down my family.

I decided it was time for a break - that way they didn’t have to feel any guilt for leaving me behind.

As they kept climbing, I retired to the tent for some rest.

The next morning, as time continued to tick away, Hannah decided to stop.

She had completed 9 ascents.

It’s not that she couldn’t have kept going, but it was starting to look like she wouldn’t be able to make it to Everest.

Hannah didn’t quit because Everest was out of her sight, she quit so that she wouldn’t hold back her mom.

It was an amazingly selfless decision.

Hannah and I were committed to making sure Carol got to pull on that Red Hat!

I didn’t want Carol to climb alone, but I also knew there was no way I could keep up. 6 ascents in a boot had done a number on me!

Without being able to climb with her, I decided on the next best thing. I’d head out to climb one final time myself, while being able to meet my wife on the slopes and cheer her on as she passed for her 11th, 12th, and 13th ascents.

I made it to the first aid station, meeting Carol and cheering her on there as she was on her 11th ascent.

As the day got hotter, I continued on toward the second aid station, lugging that boot up the steep slopes between those aid stations for one last time. I waited there for Carol on her 12th ascent, cheering her on again.

Finally, it was time to get up top.

One final climb for me.

One final climb for the boot.

As I sat on top of the mountain, waiting for Carol, I had time to reflect.

It really was an amazing experience. Everybody I met on the mountain - participants and volunteers alike - voiced their support for me as I climbed every single ascent.

It may have been because of the boot, but I honestly think I had more positive conversations with people on that mountain than anyone else. People cheering me on, people telling me I inspired them to keep going, and people saying they could never feel sorry for themselves after they saw me lugging a boot up the slopes.

The energy I drew from all of that support was a major reason I had been able to keep churning along up that mountain.

The energy was infectious!

As Carol climbed her final ascent, proudly donning her Red Bib, myself and Hannah were there at the summit, waiting to cheer her on - waiting to watch her pull on her Red Hat!

The disappointment that myself and Hannah felt about not finishing was quickly extinguished by the pride we felt for Carol. Hannah’s mom - my wife - had just accomplished something so incredible!

It made it all worthwhile.

9 days after that momentous occasion, I went into surgery to fuse my ankle. The surgery was a total success. My foot used to hurt all the time, now it hardly hurts at all.