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Stan Gibson

Six Lessons from the Long Way Around

By 29029 Everesting

December 5^th, 2025

I’ve always liked to do things that are longer. Even as a kid, I’d walk places other people took the bus just to see what was along the way.

Maybe that’s where it started. I’ve never been wired for shortcuts.

As a trial attorney, my workdays can stretch into marathons of their own. You don’t get to stop when you’re tired. You prepare, endure, and keep showing up until it’s done.

That’s what led me to 29029.

I wasn’t looking for a race, I was looking for something that would test me, and stay with me.

I’ve climbed a few 29029 mountains now, and conquered the TRAILs, and they’ve each taught me something different.

A little more patience here, a little more humility there… I didn’t plan it that way, but looking back, each one has had its own lesson.

I didn’t set out to collect lessons, but somewhere between the gondolas and the finish lines, that’s exactly what happened.

This is that story.

Snowbasin 2022 - Fuel and Humility

The air at Snowbasin felt thin before I’d even taken a step.

It was my first 29029, and I figured my marathon background would carry me.

How hard could hiking uphill be?

It turns out hard. Way harder than I thought.

By the second climb, I noticed the repetition in the climb.

Same trail.

Same turns.

Same bush…

That bush - I can still picture it now, years later - was not just a checkpoint, but my teacher. It was a reminder that patience doesn’t always look like progress.

The mountain wasn’t about speed; it was simply about getting it done.

In true runner fashion, I hadn’t ate breakfast, and by the afternoon, that mistake was taking its toll.

Coach Brent caught me at dinner. I was barely awake, piling a modest serving of food onto my plate.

“Put more on,” he said.

I did.

“No, More!” he insisted.

By the time he was satisfied, my plate was a small training hill of its own.

That mountain of food might’ve saved me. When the sun dropped and the air cooled, the fuel hit. My legs woke back up, and I kept moving.

Eventually, hours later than I expected, I finished my 13th ascent.

Red Hat earned.

Lesson learned:

Endurance isn’t just effort; it’s listening. To your body, to those more experienced than you, and to the mountain itself.

Oh, and maybe the most important lesson of them all?

Eat before you climb.

Trust me.

Jackson Hole 2023 - Perseverance

If Snowbasin humbled me, Jackson broke me down.

The mountain was a beast.

19 ascents. Steep. Hot. Loose. Relentless.

It forced me to face myself, and partway through, I realized I wasn’t particularly enjoying the conversation.

Dust caked on my calves, switchbacks blurred together, and I could feel the fight leaving.

Just like the bush from Snowbasin, I was realizing that repetition was the enemy I was going to have to overcome on this slope.

Somewhere in the double-digits, I stopped thinking about when the climb would end, and when I let the noise in my head quiet down enough, I started to hear something else.

Truth.

Just like the repetition on the mountain was holding me down, a relationship back home was doing the same.

I realized I could let it go.

When I finally earned that Red Hat, I went home lighter.

Lesson learned: Perseverance isn’t only about holding on, it’s about knowing what to release so you can keep moving upward.

Whistler 2023 - Presence

After Jackson’s chaos, Whistler felt like an exhale.

8 ascents instead of 19.

Less repetition.

A trail that wound through old-growth forests and west-coast fog that looked straight out of a movie.

Long climbs, fewer resets, more rhythm.

It felt like hiking again - the kind that makes you feel small in the best way possible.

And, for the first time, it didn’t feel like I was fighting the mountain.

I was climbing with it, being present with it.

Not thinking about the finish, just the next step, the next tree, the next patch of fog burning into the sun…

The next ascent.

Before I knew it, I was pulling on another Red Hat.

Lesson learned: Presence is endurance without resistance, and the peace you find when you finally stop trying to force the pace.

Mont-Tremblant 2024 - Strength in Community

If Whistler gave peace, Tremblant gave purpose.

I signed up the moment it opened. New mountain. New scenery. New excitement.

Partway up, it hit me. I wasn’t the guy who showed up alone at Snowbasin anymore.

Now, I wore a Black Bib. I had finished three, and I was on pace for more.

As I climbed, I realized that how I had leaned on others during my first time, I was now the one that those first-timers might look to.

The mountain wasn’t just personal. It was communal.

And by the Red Carpet, it felt like I wasn’t just finishing.

I was contributing.

Lesson learned: Strength multiplies when you share it.

TRAIL Tahoe 2024 - Beyond Limits

TRAIL Tahoe was the next evolution for me.

No gondolas.

No pauses.

Three days.

Three courses.

Three mountain marathons.

Day one was smooth.

Day two was an unknown. After every marathon I’d run in life, I always took at least a week off before lacing up my runners again.

Instead, now, I had to lace them up and run another.

That day was surprisingly steady.

Maybe this isn’t that bad.

But Day three? That one fought back.

The sun hit hard, rocks rolled underfoot, and by mile 18, I was cooked.

So I made a deal with myself.

The faster you move, the sooner this is over.

I ran harder. Not reckless, but committed, and crossing that finish line felt a little different.

I’d done what past-me thought I never would.

Three marathons in three days. In the mountains of Tahoe.

Lesson learned: Your limits aren’t fixed. They move everytime you do.

TRAIL Park City 2025 - The Grace of Patience

With a Gold Scarf from Tahoe, I arrived confident.

And the mountains of Park City noticed.

Altitude, heat, rocks, and long climbs that dragged like trial prep into the sun.

Day one, I made a wrong turn and ran a few extra miles. More time on my feet wasn’t what I wanted, but it’s what happened.

Day two, I started way too fast and started to pay the price.

Day three, the challenge ramped up, so I gave myself three rules:

1: Finish.

2: Don’t go off course.

3: Don’t fall.

I broke two of those rules.

But stayed true to the most important one.

Each mile on that final day asked for patience. Steady endurance with the backdrop of fatigue and challenge.

When I broke the tape that final day, I felt like I had accomplished something more.

Lesson learned: Patience isn’t passive - it’s endurance mixed with grace.

The Long Way Around

Six events.

Six lessons.

From humility to patience, each time I’ve shown up to 29029, it has left a mark.

At work, in life, climbing mountains, and on the TRAIL, the rules are the same:

Eat when you can. Rest when you can. Keep moving when you can.
Listen when the mountain, or someone wiser, tries to tell you something.
Don’t fight the repetition. Find the rhythm in it.
Share what you learn.
And remember that patience isn’t just waiting - it’s endurance with grace.

The mountain - and TRAIL - are a lot like life. You don't get to take shortcuts, and that’s the point.

And that’s what I love about it.

I’m grateful to still be climbing, still learning, and still taking the long way around.

Because that’s where the good stuff is.

Footnotes

Voice: Stan Gibson. Story: Evan Wishloff. Photos: Megan Dunn, Brendan Ladd, Evan Wishloff.

Button Label

FootNotes

Voice: Stan Gibson. Story: Evan Wishloff. Photos: Megan Dunn, Brendan Ladd, Evan Wishloff.

Charlotte Huisman

Stan Gibson

Six Lessons from the Long Way Around

FootNotes

No Emotion, Just Motion

Brian Goldstein

The Foundation for the Summit

Tom Turcich

Higher Together

Brent & Kyle Pease