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Thomas Zebley

Not Stopping at Six

By 29029 Everesting

March 4^th, 2022

It all started with a chance encounter.

You never know when you might experience a life-altering change.

Sometimes those changes are obvious - the big things, like meeting the love of your life, having a baby, or starting down a career path.

But sometimes, far more subtle, simple encounters can shift your life in a seismic way too.

Jesse

I met Jesse Itzler in a professional capacity. My business partners and I were looking into hiring him to speak at our company. Now I’m sure it won’t be surprising for you to hear this: the man is absolutely dripping with an electric energy.

I remember calling my wife immediately after meeting Jesse, and saying, “Jen, I just met this guy who’s going to have a huge impact on my life. I don’t know where that impact will be, but I know it’s going to be huge.”

Of course, we had no choice but to hire him to speak at our business. His infectious energy was something we needed our staff to experience!

In exchange for inviting him to be our guest, he told me he wanted to reciprocate.

If I’m going to be a guest of your business, I want you to come be my guest in Vermont at this hike we do. It’s called 29029.

What could I say, aside from yes?

"It's just a little hill."

If you’re reading this, you already know the basics of 29029.

But at the time, I did not.

I had no idea what it entailed, and it was only 5 weeks away.

Jesse told me not to worry. He told me it was just a little hill...

I wanted to quit.

I couldn’t remember the last time I felt truly discouraged in my life. But as I rounded the corner around the buildings in Stratton in 2018, I saw the mountain for the first time.

Rain clouds obscured the summit. This little hill was actually a damn big mountain!

I’ve always tried to be healthy and relatively in shape. I wasn’t a sports endurance guy, but I took care of myself.

However, my version of in-shape wasn’t what it took to make climbing up a mountain easy.

I went to some dark places on the slopes of Stratton in 2018. I hadn’t trained. I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t even know what 29029 truly was until I showed up.

I wanted to quit. So. Many. Times.

But I didn’t quit. I was walking as if I had hemorrhoids, and my legs could barely move. But I wasn’t stopping! I didn’t want to let everyone down; my family, 29029 staff, fellow participants, and the volunteers were all rooting for me.

I had to keep going.

The drainpipe.

It was on the final ascent that I realized what the lasting impact of that event was going to be for me.

And it all started with a drainpipe.

That year, across the trail, a massive drainpipe was strewn across. Every single lap, we had to pull ourselves up and over it, before continuing on towards the summit.

Every single time I came up on it, all I could think was how much I hated it. This f***** drainpipe is stupid.

But that 17th time, I stopped for a moment. It was a point of introspection. There was a lesson for me here - a lesson in patience.

If I can haul myself over this stupid drainpipe 17 times, nothing in my everyday life should piss me off again.

And it was true.

After my first year at 29029, I noticed a difference in myself. My family noticed it too. If a car cut me off in traffic, it was no big deal. Slow drivers in the fast lane didn’t bother me anymore. I had the focus to sit and read a book in bed at night. I was more patient with my kids, and more present with my wife.

I was an improved version of myself, all because of my time on that mountain in Vermont.

29029 was meant to be shared with others.

It wasn’t just my family that noticed the changes in me after Vermont in 2018. My colleagues and customers noticed a difference too.

I wasn’t about to selfishly keep this experience all to myself. 29029 was meant to be shared with others!

What better experience is there than hiking up a mountain, sweaty, in pain, alongside your teammates you work with every day, and your customers that you work to serve?

I had improved myself so much with just a single 29029 event. I wanted others to experience those changes themselves. I wanted my colleagues and our customers to experience it. I knew it would improve them, not only individually, but also as members of our team.

29029 causes a paradigm shift that just can’t be replicated in a boardroom.

And that’s why I made it my goal to get as many of my colleagues and customers as possible to tackle a 29029 mountain.

I bring dozens of people to every 29029 mountain.

From business partners that sometimes finish - and sometimes don’t - to our loyal customers, to hard-working colleagues who don’t view failure as an option, and everyone in between, I bring dozens of people to every 29029 mountain. (And I'm looking forward to seeing Odom finish in Whistler!)

I bring them because I know the changes they will experience.

Whether they finish, or not, they’ll leave that mountain a better version of themselves. A better version in their personal life. A better version in their business life.

There’s virtually no facet of everyday life that isn’t improved from the experience and lessons learned at 29029.

I’m addicted to the experience of 29029.

I’ve met amazing people on the mountain. I’ve learned so much about myself, and my business, through pushing myself on the slopes. Reaching Everest is just the beginning of what anyone can go on to achieve after climbing with 29029.

I've completed 29029 six times. It all started with Vermont in 2018. In 2019, I tackled Utah and then returned to Vermont. And in 2021, I Everested at all three 29029 mountains: Idaho, Utah, and Vermont.

I do them all in the search for more. More life lessons. More self-improvement. More of the amazing experiences that take place on the mountain.

Of everything I’ve ever done in life, nothing has done a better job of keeping me grounded and driving me to be better than 29029. It changed my business life. It changed my personal life. It changed my health. It changed everything.

I’ve learned patience, confidence, connection, perseverance, slowing-down, focus, process, self-discipline… the list goes on and on. It’s life lessons. It’s business lessons. It just makes you a better person.

This is why I fly the 29029 flag.

I wish there was a commercial I could do for 29029 that would get half the frickin’ country to do it, because if they did, the world would be a better place. That’s why I fly the 29029 flag. That’s why I tell anybody and everybody that they should do it.

Although I’ve tried, it’s an experience I can’t explain, but I can guarantee you this: when you get off that mountain, you’ll be a better person. And you’ll love that you did it.