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Gavin Mlinar

Three Lessons

By 29029 Everesting

December 8^th, 2023

I’d always thought of myself as an athlete, but 29029 was out of character for me.

I was an athlete in the sense that I used to play sports. I was a competitive freestyle skier growing up. I was on the US Junior Olympic Team. I played Div 3 football.

But as I grew older, all I’d done was a couple of 5k’s. Endurance wasn’t my world…

After a stressful and chaotic 2020 and 2021, between the pandemic, social isolation, and overworking at my job, life had hit a breaking point for my wife and me.

We needed a change, and we hoped 29029 could be the catalyst.

We registered for 29029 Snowbasin in 2022.

Little did I know this would catapult me down a path with a whole lot of stories to tell from it, and three specific lessons I learned along the way...

Snowbasin 2022: Lesson One

I was maniacal about following the training for Snowbasin. I did every single workout of the 20-week training program. I met with Precision Hydration to learn how to fuel. I tested my shoes. I tested my clothing. I even tested my underwear to make sure it didn’t chafe.

I did everything to prepare.

I was ready.

We absolutely crushed the first ascent - we were at the top in under 90 minutes!

Easy peasy.

On the 2nd climb, my right leg started to cramp up.

On the 3rd climb, I got cramps in my left leg.

But we were still going fast, so I didn't worry.

At the summit of the the 4th climb, both my legs started cramping, violently.

My wife went to get help - Coach Dawn found me, walked me to the gondola, and told me to elevate my legs.

After the all-too-brief ride down, I stood up to get off the gondola, and turned a shade of pale my wife says she has never seen in a human before.

Then I fainted.

The next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room - laid out and trying to get back to climbing shape.

My wife had left me in the capable hands of the staff and volunteers at the base as she continued to climb, which is when she got stuck on the mountain as storms rolled in.

I was at the base - one of the few - while everybody else was bunkered down at one of the aid stations to wait out the storm.

It was a lengthy delay, and by the time my wife was finally able to get off the mountain, she ended up being incredibly ill.

Long story short, we ended up at the hospital in Ogden for severe dehydration. Once we were cleared to return, we came back to the mountain, and while my wife continued to rest at the base, I decided to start climbing again.

I joined a Coach-led group, which is where I learned, quite obviously in hindsight, that pacing was a lot more important than I'd realized.

The group hiked slower than I was used to - it was a 2-hour ascent pace, only 30 minutes slower than when I was flying up the mountain at the beginning - yet I felt great. It almost felt easy at this speed!

How stupid were we to go out so fast at the beginning… We were hiking faster than Colin O’Brady without any endurance experience! Of course that wasn’t going to work out for us!

I had done everything - literally everything - that I could to prepare. Or so I thought.

I had blown it with poor pacing.

I left Snowbasin with 7 ascents to show for my effort.

I'd learned a lesson.

Lesson One: Have a Plan

Snowbasin 2023: Lesson Two

My wife went back that same year to Stratton and got her Red Hat.

I felt a pang of jealousy. I knew I had to do it again too.

I signed up for Snowbasin and Stratton in 2023 - I was hooked, and I was going back for redemption.

It may have only been pacing that held me back from my goal in 2022, but I didn’t want to risk anything, so I hired Coach Brent for one-on-one coaching and worked with Coach Emilee on a nutrition plan.

I was all in.

Between the training and the nutrition, I felt the greatest I’d ever felt in my life!

This time, I didn’t go out as fast. I went easy - pacing myself - up the first few ascents.

Then, I started to cramp again…

I went into what I’ll call a cramp-management plan with the help of some of the coaches. I took in electrolytes, put ice water on my legs, and changed up my stride frequently.

They started to subside, and I was still on pace. Crisis averted.

During my first night hike - the 6th ascent - at aid station 1, I started to get light-headed.

It felt just like when I’d fainted last time.

I sat on a chair and waited, hoping that the feeling would go away.

It didn’t.

I fainted.

Again.

The medics drove me down to the base, and I went to try to sleep off whatever was ailing me.

The next day, I returned to the mountain and climbed 4 more times.

In 2022, I had climbed 7. This year, I had climbed 10.

Still short of my goal, but it was an improvement at least.

I wasn’t upset about it, but I started to dissect what went wrong this time, hoping to learn something that would help in Stratton.

I realized I had lost the focus on my plan. I kept my pacing, but I hadn’t kept to my plan for nutrition and hydration.

The nutrition plan that had me feeling so good leading into the event was strict. I had gone all in on every recommendation from Coach Emilee - dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, alcohol-free... you name it.

Yet, not long into the event, I had started eating waffles and other random snacks from the aid station, all while drinking ginger ale.

Why? Why did I have a plan, but so quickly deviate?

I sheepishly realized why... I had heard things said on the mountain as guidance to others, and thought they might apply to me.

At one point, I heard a coach tell someone else they probably needed to stop drinking electrolytes.

Maybe I should stop drinking electrolytes too…

Later, I heard another coach tell somebody that if they had stomach troubles, they should drink some ginger ale.

Ah, I’m having stomach problems too. I’ll drink some gingerale.

When I talked to Coach Emilee after the event, she laughed.

“Sure, that all might have been good advice, but only for the person they were talking to. They weren’t coaching you with it!”

I hadn’t done my plan.

Lesson Two: Focus on Your Plan and Don't Deviate

Stratton 2023: Lesson Three

My life became chaotic between Snowbasin and Stratton. I had started a new job that involved some significant travel requirements, and I was helping my parents move out of the only house they'd ever lived in.

I kept training, but mentally, I was too busy to even think about 29029.

I was distracted, but I think that turned into a good thing. There was no time to dwell on wondering if this time - my third 29029 - would be when I finally pulled on the Red Hat.

Instead of obsessing over whether I’d be able to finally finish, I just did the training, and then dealt with the rest of my daily life.

My plan in Stratton was working to perfection in the early stages. I was ticking away ascents in rain that seemed to get more and more torrential each hour.

The rain didn't matter. I had a plan, and I was sticking to it.

As the ground became more and more saturated from rain, my pace did begin to slow.

After dinner, my plan truly started getting tested. I was still fueling and drinking as planned, but my pace had dropped below where it needed to be.

At 2:45 am, I decided I needed to rest for the night, so I went back to the room, setting my alarm for 2 hours later.

By 6 am, I was back on the mountain, and even with a few hours of rest, churned out an ascent that was my slowest yet.

If before my rest, I was slightly off the planned pace, now I was nearly insurmountably off.

It was 8:30 am and I had only done 12 ascents.

I’m behind. I’ll keep climbing, but I don’t think I'll be pulling a Red Hat on this time...

At the ascent board, I told Colleen my situation.

“That was a 2.5 hour lap. Even if I average 2-hour laps for the rest of the day, I won’t make it.”

For the first time over the 3 events I’d been at, Colleen didn’t respond as a cheerleader. Instead, she went into tough-love mode.

“I don’t want to hear it, Gavin. Just get out there and keep climbing.”

I stopped doing the math in my head, and started climbing again.

Coach Chris caught up to me later that lap.

“How’s it going?”

I launched into a long-winded explanation of all the ailments I was feeling. Tired, sore, fatigued, struggling, stomach issues…

“Okay. At the next aid station, you’re going to have a coke…”

I cut him off, “No, no, no. Sugar isn’t in the plan. That was part of what kept me from finishing last time.”

“Here’s the deal, Gavin, you’re in the thick of it right now and you don’t know what you need. From now until the end of the event, you’re going to stop at every aid station, have two sips of coke, some salted potatoes, and two packs of saltines. No lunch, no breaks, just that at the aid stations as you keep climbing.”

Internally, I was panicking. I was already behind, and now I’m changing the plan again.

But Chris was there telling me I was going to finish if I just followed his plan. He believed in me.

Nothing I can do but climb, so I may as well keep going.

When I reached the summit, I was a bit faster than the previous ascents. I was improving.

Maybe the Red Hat was still possible...

My ascents continued to get faster, and with the modifications to the plan, all of a sudden I was on my final ascent.

At 8:30 in the morning, I honestly thought there was a 0% chance I’d finish.

Yet here I was - Red Bib on - climbing one final time.

Looking back, I still don’t understand how at 8:30 in the morning, I had no chance of finishing, yet later that day, I was walking the Red Carpet and grabbing a Red Hat from the board.

A flood of emotions came over me as I walked the Red Carpet.

Finally!

After two years of struggling, I'd done it. I'd achieved my goal!

Lesson Three: Sometimes, Change Your Plan...

When I look back on my time at 29029, it reminds me of what it helped me become. It reminds me of how much I’ve grown and improved.

I like that feeling - I like being reminded of that.

It’s why I wore the event wristband for 37 days - until it finally broke - after Stratton.

I look at my Red Hat every single day - it reminds me of those lessons I learned - lessons that I can use in everyday life to be better.

It reminds me that to be successful I need to create a plan. It reminds me that once I have that plan, I have to make the effort to not deviate - to stay focused and stick to the plan. And finally, it reminds me that sometimes you do have to deviate from that plan, and when you do, put your faith in those around you to help you get to your finish line.