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Karin Tilberg

It Created a New Fabric of my Life

By 29029 Everesting

September 17^th, 2021

It’s not often I find myself on the verge of tears when taking a Zoom meeting, but this one was a bit different than the usual 29029 interview. I was talking with Karin Tilberg, who a few weeks earlier, had conquered the mountain at Utah #2. She was telling me about the journey that led her to tackle 29029.

It starts like many participants’ stories: a friend.

“My friend, Jenny Ward, asked me if I wanted to try out this everesting event. That was back in 2019,” Karin tells me.

She was always keen to try new and interesting things, and with a background in nordic skiing, she was no stranger to challenging events.

But in 2019 Karin had to decline, because her husband, Chris, was battling ALS, and his condition was declining. She wanted to be there alongside him, supporting and helping him in any way she could.

In January of 2021, after a valiant battle, Chris passed away.

“He fought to the very end,” Karin tells me, visibly choking back tears. “It wasn’t his mind that quit. His mind never would.”

Throughout the short conversation with Karin, it was very clear to me that Chris had been a battler - a true warrior who never gave up. There’s a lot of that in Karin too.

When registration for 29029 events were a week away from opening in 2021, Karin’s friend, Jenny, called again.

“I know it’s a dark time, but you should look for something to do. Enter 29029 with me,” Jenny told her.

Karin had a week to make a choice. Embarking on the journey of 29029 is no easy decision, but adding to the difficulty was Karin’s grief.

“Sometimes when it hit, it almost felt like vertigo. The grief was disorienting,” Karin said. “It was so hard.”

Many would use the excuse of grief to forego the commitment of an event as challenging as 29029. But not Karin.

Karin committed. She found the training was a beacon of light, helping her through the darker moments. It was something to grasp at - something to focus on - to continue moving forward, even during the incredibly difficult grieving process.

“Training for 29029 gave me a rope to help pull myself through the hard days.”

Time to Summit

When Karin first arrived in Snowbasin, she broke down into tears.

“All these emotions came spilling up. The last 24 months came spilling up. The why. All of it.”

And like many, if not all, who are brave enough to tackle 29029, the emotions continued to roll in waves throughout the event. From immense optimism, fueled by the energy at the start line, to tired feelings of deep fatigue as the event continued on into the evening, everybody experiences highs and lows, including Karin.

“Ascents 8 and 9 were the hardest. It was dark, and the headlamps from others were making this strobe-like effect that was messing with my vision of the trail,” she told me.

The rocky, loose, steep, challenging terrain of Utah demands intense focus - you need to see where your feet are going. Yet, even as she struggled to see what came next on the trail, she continued on for those two dark ascents, before finally stopping for a brief respite of sleep.

Fresh Start

At 5 am, Karin started again, with a renewed sense of optimism. She had 13 hours to complete 4 more ascents to reach her goal of Everest. Ascent #10 was a highlight - a moment of elation in contrast to the dark and difficult ascents the night before.

“Barring something crazy like an asteroid, I knew I could finish now,” she tells me, with a smile coming across her face as she recalls the feeling. “I reached the top and watched the sunrise over the mountain… it was a breathtaking view!”

At this point, when Karin knew she was going to finish, I asked her what had helped the most through her experience at 29029. Aside from her own mental strength and never-quit-attitude, what had helped her get to this point on the mountain?

A few themes came up when she told me what she found so special - so supportive and motivating - around the atmosphere of the event. The community of 29029 makes the impossible possible, and Karin had a few stories about how it helped her.

New Friends

The first story goes back to before the event began. Sitting in a small restaurant in Huntsville the week before the event, Karin saw a woman wearing one of the coveted Red Hats walk into the diner.

They immediately got to talking, and Karin learned the woman standing before her, Kamille, had just finished the first Utah event the weekend prior.

When Kamille learned that Karin had no friends or family there to cheer her on (aside from Jenny, who would be busy tackling the mountain herself), Kamille sprung to action, embodying the incredibly supportive spirit of 29029.

“I’ll come cheer you on!” Kamille exclaimed. And cheer Karin on she did: She was there all weekend, spending much of her time at the top of the mountain willing Karin on towards the summit.

This is what 29029 is all about. A new friend, made in a diner simply because of a Red Hat, was now one of Karin’s most loyal supporters.

“Kamille was an angel,” Karin told me, while explaining that their friendship has continued after the event.

New Fundraisers

Another story that embodies the 29029 spirit comes from Karin’s fundraising efforts for the ALS Northern New England Chapter.

“They had been so helpful and supportive of me and Chris, so I wanted to raise money for them,” Karin told me.

It just so happened that there was a fundraising walk taking place on the 2nd day of 29029 Utah. Karin had started a fundraising page, taking part virtually in the Bangor Walk for ALS while at 29029 in Snowbasin.

On the mountain, she had mentioned this charity fundraising effort to a handful of participants. Some of those same participants, she later learned, donated to her fundraising page.

“People I had just met were donating to this cause. It was so special. So supportive. So caring.”

Karin had raised $4,294 as of my call with her. If you would like to know more, or donate to Karin's Walk to Defeat ALS, click here.

We Weren't Just Numbers

It wasn’t just participants that were supportive of each other. Event organizers, staff, and volunteers all played a part in getting everybody up the mountain too. From a friendly smile, words of encouragement, a much-needed hand-off of food or water, and more, there was always someone around to help.

“We weren’t just numbers to the event staff, we were people.”

People with amazing stories. People tackling the mountain for all kinds of reasons. People with a shared goal of doing something inspiring. And event staff knew it - they provided emotional and physical support from the day of registration all the way to that final ascent up the mountain.

They helped everyone on that mountain that day, and they helped Karin too.

He Was There Cheering Me On

Finally, there’s Chris. Anyone at the event would remember seeing his picture, hanging on the back of Karin's pack, a reminder of what she was here for. Chris never quit, and neither did Karin.

His photo served as a reminder to Karin. The why - the reason she was Everesting. When she pulled on that Red Hat, she did so with someone watching over her - somebody else who knew exactly what it was like to do hard things; to give it your all and not quit, to show up to achieve something remarkable.

“29029 integrated my old self with my new self,” Karin told me.

There was no shortage of struggle and hardship in her old life. Yet she sought out new struggle - new meaning - in her new life.

“This event was like the loom that wove together the strands of two lives. One from life before my husband passed away, and one from my new life; what I was going to do, who I was going to be, what was next…” Karin trailed off.

Seizing the Momentum

What became clearer and clearer the longer I talked to Karin was her desire to continue on - to continue living an impactful life. After 29029 - after she did something hard beyond belief - she seized the momentum.

In the short time that has passed since 29029 Utah, she has started lobbying for legislation in her home state of Maine for an ALS registry. A registry, as found in many other states, would allow easier tracking of the impacts of the disease, assist with research, help secure future funding, and more to help those who are suffering.

Karin’s not done doing remarkable things.

29029 Created a New Fabric for my Life

As my call with Karin was wrapping up, she held up a picture of her husband. She couldn't help but flash a bright smile. In the picture, he is beaming too.