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Dave Hollis

Lessons From The Mountain

By 29029 Everesting

January 26^th, 2021

We said YES!

I am fortunate enough that my work allows me to meet and interact with exceptional people. I am often with people who are pushing themselves into spaces that may change how they think about what they can do and how they might do it. My soon-to-be ex-wife, Rachel and I, found ourselves in a conversation where someone was regaling us with the story of their 29029 experience.

The story was so intriguing, and we both thought, 'whoa, this is unlike anything we've ever heard of or considered doing.' We knew the positive impact of physical challenges, having trained for and completed many half marathons together. We had just started talking about the possibility of taking on Ironman to push the envelope a little further. Still, there was something about 29029 that caught our attention. Because of how this event was described and our spirit of adventure, it was a perfect fit in hindsight. It sounded challenging, but it also sounded like an incredible opportunity to change our thoughts around what was possible. What could we genuinely accomplish, and how could we reframe our beliefs of what we could physically achieve?

So on a flyer - we said "yes!" and signed up for 29029 Utah. To say we had no idea of what we were actually getting ourselves into would be an understatement. We honestly had no concept.

Dave Hollis

Not your Grandmas cookout!

We turned up at Snowbasin for the first time, and Rachel and I looked at each other as we rolled up to the parking lot. I remember thinking, 'Holy cow, what have we gotten ourselves into? This is not your grandma's cookout!' Once we got past that initial shock, we walked to the main lodge's back patio, where all the festivities were taking place. Then, there it is - staring you dead in the eye, the first part of the climb, which we would be taking on the following day. It was unbelievably steep.

Some of the feelings of anxiety were offset by the community factor. As soon as we got there, every person in attendance was a part of the fraternity, sorority, and club. We were taking this thing the next day, and we were doing it together. Whether you were going to get to the end and get the red hat or not, every single person was starting together. Some solidarity and comradery existed just on the back patio, as people were thinking about what tomorrow would hold.

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

I ignored every single piece of recommended training before the event! Which I would not recommend. I was active and moved my body regularly, and at the time, I considered myself a runner. So I thought I'd be fine. And this didn't seem like a problem until we were climbing! By the third climb, I was like, "that's why hill training is a prescribed exercise to get ready for this event."

Dave Hollis

Just Turn Right

As I stood on the start line of that first climb, I was so full of adrenaline. I was experiencing a wildly misplaced overconfidence! I was so full of adrenaline. I thought, 'I can climb this thing, I don't know why I had any trepidation.' I was so ready for it because the starting line's energy is so contagious. Jesse's energy is so infectious. There was a feeling that we could do anything we wanted at that moment, including climbing this mountain. It's a feeling that stayed with me for, oh, about 6 minutes! The first part of the ascent is so steep, and very quickly, I go from hyper-confidence to not knowing if I can actually do this.

During my second ascent, I was really inside of my head, wondering if this was a thing that I could actually achieve. I've realized something strange about my wiring, and I recall thinking, 'If I wasn't going to make it to 13, did it matter if I made it to 10?' I'm a person who's trying to coach people to push themselves as far as they possibly can and exploiting all of their gifts. And yet here I was, wondering if I finish at eight, is it the same as finishing at 10 or finishing at 11?

We start walking with a couple, Colin and Jenna, during the second ascent. I had no idea who they were. We got in the gondola and headed down, and I said, "Hey, what is your name again?" It was Colin O'Brady. And he humbly shared that he'd just pulled a sled across Antarctica. Crazily, it was like a God moment for me. I saw that he's made of the same skin I am. I'm taller than he is. I've got a little more meat on my bones than he does… And here, he's just pulled a sled across a continent. Why, then, if he and I are made of the same thing, couldn't I muster something to continue to do a thing that he's now doing and climb this mountain? So in those 12 minutes inside the gondola, it became clear that his humanity could be something that I could borrow and it allowed me an attempt to tap into the strength of my own humanity.

The decision was made - just turn right and head right back up the mountain until I couldn't do so anymore.

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Better. Stronger.

That second descent in the gondola was a wholesale restart of this adventure. And climbs 3 through 9 were machine-like. I was reinvigorated, and I had a belief that I could actually do this! I no longer asked the question of if. But leaned into a guarantee of 'I will finish this period!' There was no question in my mind, and now it was a race against the clock and a constant battle to keep myself fueled.

We made it until 2am. We had toyed with the idea of going straight through, but as the sun went down and the temperature dropped, the exhaustion set in. We realized that we needed to sleep. After about 4 hours of sleep, it was a lot to get the body loosened up and excited about climbing again. Once we got going, it was cyborg mode for me. I had two things to think about, breathing and steps. Every inhale, I said BETTER as my right pole hit the ground, every exhale, I said STRONGER as my left pole hit the ground. It was a mantra, a declaration that, with every step. I was going to come off of the mountain, a better person for having pushed myself through something as grueling as this is physically and mentally. And with every step, I am going to become a stronger person—every single day. I got the words better and stronger tattooed on the wrists above the hands I held these poles in as a reminder of the experience. And as a reminder, I can push myself into and through something more significant than what I believe I am capable of.

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Going through it together

I don't know that Rachel had any doubt about whether she would finish. She's wired, unlike anybody I've ever met in my entire life. We were there as married human beings, and we are now transitioning into a world where we are getting divorced and divorce sucks. But we are still partners in life and raising our kids. We are going to be in each other's lives forever.

Going through this tough thing mentally, emotionally, and physically together on the mountain has transcended how we will have to handle a different mountain in how we co-parent and handle divorce's craziness.

Dave Hollis

Tranformative

29029 is a microcosm for anything that you're going to take on in your life that's difficult, anything that's meaningful, and anything that requires more than just surface-level attention. It fundamentally reframed what I believe I'm capable of. I came off the mountain thinking I can literally do anything. The beautiful thing is I did not know that I could reach 29029 feet. So what I accomplished on the mountain, moving my body up that hill 13 times for 35 hours, was not something that I had an appreciation for. Still, once I knew what it was, it really reframed my ability to handle physically challenging things and the capacity I have to handle anything mentally challenging as well. Now I know that I can do whatever I decide to put my mind to.

When people ask me about my 29029 experience, I tell them. "If you want a time machine to fast-forward how you think about yourself and what you believe to be possible, this is it. You get the most amazing, transformative experience in a single weekend." I left with an incredible sense of community and the confidence to apply what I learned on the mountain to every aspect of my life.

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Dave Hollis

Listen to the 29029 Podcast to hear the full interview between Dave and Travis McKenzie

Create your own 29029 Story

Footnotes

Written and published by Travis McKenzie, photos by Matt Clark, Mitch Meyer & Travis McKenzie

FootNotes

Written and published by Travis McKenzie, photos by Matt Clark, Mitch Meyer & Travis McKenzie

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