Life Changes

 

Just here to report recent events in my life.  I still have one more year left at UW-Madison as I now am double majoring (adding on Computer Science).  This summer I interned with Liberty Mutual working in their IT department making internal websites for employees to use.  It was an absolutely amazing experience (they even flew us out to Boston at the end of it for a couple days).  

During my last week I had an interview for their highly selective Technical Development Program.  I was lucky enough to be accepted into the program, and they made me an offer to work in their Seattle office.  I have until Nov. 1st to accept the offer.  Unless something extremely good comes up I will probably be taking the offer and moving out their next May - June once I graduate.  

To say I'm happy would be an understatement.  I was born and raised in the midwest, and although I love it here, I'm looking for some change.  I have always loved the Cascades and the Pacific Northwest the couple times I have been there, and this is an awesome way to get out there.  I can't wait to graduate and move out there.  Stay tuned for more updates.

In other news I just returned from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota (where the picture above is from).  I'm going to write up a trip report and my thoughts soon, so stay tuned for that also.  I'll also have a full set of pictures to show everyone.  

As always, climb high,

-Brad

The Mt Ouray Trials

Here’s a semi-trip report that I concocted of a trip I had the privilege to help lead in late June/early July at the camp at which I worked over the summer. Please realize I can’t tell every little detail, but I’ve tried to reconstruct the trip as best I can.

The Mt Ouray Trials:
Elevation: 13971 ft

I'd been in Colorado for almost a month and hadn't yet so much as sniffed a mountain trip, let alone a mountain summit. To that end I hadn't sniffed a mountain summit since 2008 when Peter, Brad and I successfully climbed Mt St. Helens. Originally, Austin, Adam and I were supposed to lead a trip up Quandary Peak (14265 ft). However, Sanborn higher ups decided that Quandary was too covered with snow to warrant attempting it. I didn't argue even though I knew that my friends and mentors Erik Weihenmayer and Eric Alexander had just led a trip up Quandary several weeks earlier and had gotten around 55 people to the summit. Granted these were older and some much more experienced people than 12-14 year old kids at a summer camp. But I digress. Our objective now was the 13er Mt Ouray.

Colorado is best known for it's 57 peaks of greater than 14000 ft. However, what many don't realize is that Colorado boasts around 600 peaks that are higher than 13000 ft, many of which are far more physically, mentally and technically demanding than the 14ers. Although I didn't have much in the way of "experience" on many mountains (I'd only ever been on 4 mountains) I knew from my limited experience and even more from my meticulous research of mountaineering exploits to never underestimate a mountain.

I myself had underestimated Mt St. Helens in 2008 and it turned out to be the hardest thing I'd attemmted in the outdoors. That is, until we attempted Gannet Peak in August, 2010. So it rubbed me the wrong way when I heard campers, and even counselors say something like "it's only a 13er". Every mountain and endeavor has it's challenges and I'd learned to not underestimate any mountain no matter it's height or "difficulty". So I had my reservations that everyone on the trip would summit Ouray, especially when I was informed that Ouray was considered one of the more physically and logistically challenging trips that Sanborn offered. I later wondered why they allowed us to take 11 and 12 year old campers on such a strenuous trip.

From the outset I figured Ouray would be challenging especially with the benal attitude that we trip leaders brought to the table in regards to planning. Austin was our designated trip leader and had summitted several 14ers and had quite a bit of experience having worked at Sanborn the previous year. Austin took care of the trip planning and logistics although he quickly discovered that there wasd't any solid beta on file about Ouray, whether through Sanborn or through the internet. All we were told was that the trail was hard to find but easy to follow once we found it, and that once we got higher it was steep scree. Not exactly the meticulous trip planning that I'd become accustomed to in my climbing with Sight Unseen.

We had a group of seven or eight campers and us three counselors. When we first arrived at our campsite Austin scouted out where we thought the trail was and then met a couple guys who had just done a traverse of Mt Ouray. They had started on the opposite side and followed a trail up and over to our side. The idea appealed to Austin and Adam, and to me as well, even though I was hesitant because we knew absolutely nothing. The guys that Austin met said the trail was easy to find and follow and then departed.

So the next morning we got up a little before 1:00 AM and drove to the opposite side of Ouray to attempt the traverse. We thought we found a trail but then it turned off in an odd direction so then we attempted to bushwack in the correct direction. Then our younger campers started complaining and saying that they were scared we were lost. So Austin, Adam and I decided to go back and just do the standard trail. So we hiked back down and drove over to the trailhead. We'd already wasted about 2.5 hours on our little adventure. Now it was time to actually climb Ouray. My instincts were telling me that 4:30 AM was too late a start to climb and summit a mountain. Maybe my experience from the previous year on Gannet was kicking in, or maybe I was just paranoid.

We followed what appeared to be a trail until it suddenly ended in a wooded area. So now we wound up bushwacking searching for the trail. We didn't find it until close to 7:00. When we finally got on the trail, after having bushwacked for a few hours, we actually started gaining some elevation. One of our less in shape campers announced that he wasn't feeling very good and wanted to go down. This camper hadn't really been enthusiastic about the trip in the first place, but it was now an obstacle we had to overcome. Rather than making everybody in the group go down, Austin took this particular camper back down to camp while Adam and I continued upward with the remaining campers.

Adam and I led the campers up, climbing higher and higher while the terrain got steeper and rockier. We had to cross back and forth over a stream several times, before finally coming out on a large rock strewn slope that led up to a ridge which led to the summit. The slope that led to the ridge was much longer and steeper than it first appeared. As Adam and I climbed we had to stop frequently and urge our remaining campers to not stop and to keep going. Several were starting to seriously tire. I could tell they were having a hard time. Breathing hard, heavy steps, and stopping every 15-20 steps or so. I too was tired but not as much as I would have expected, this being my first time above 13000 ft in about four years.

One of our campers was having an extremely hard time. Adam and I both expected that he hadn't been drinking water and was now paying the price as he was cramping up all over his body. We helped the campers push through and finally cam up on a large flat open space just prior to the ridge walk that would take us about 400-500 vertical ft up to the snow capped summit. But standing there I knew deep inside that we weren't meant to make the summit. Adam and I brought everyone around and asked how they were doing. Everyone was in the 25-40 percent range and that was good enough for us. It was getting close to 10:00 and everyone was exhausted. We'd been moving for the better part of eight hours and the campers just weren't ready quite yet. The inexplicable thought that Adam and I could make a quick dash for the summit crossed my mind for one instant, but then I took a deep breath and focused on why I was here. I wasn't here to bag the summit. I was here to help these campers to reach their potential, to help them make their own circumstances, to help push them and to keep them thinking rationally, and above all to help them do all of that safely while enjoying the beauty of the outdoors.

So we announced that this would have to be our summit and we all had a toast. I sat back and would be lying to myself if I said I wasn't disappointed or saddened. But too my surprise it hurt much more that these campers couldn't make the summit. I'd seen them battle through the brush with no trail down below. I'd seen their spirits pick up when we found the trail. I knew that they were all struggling but not a single one spoke about not reaching the summit, and I wanted to be the one to take them there. But I also knew that sometimes the mountain is just a little too tough. I remembered something that Jeff Evans had once said, "when you try big things you have to expect to fall short". I'd fallen short on my goal of reaching the summit of Gannet Peak the summer before, and these campers were now falling short of their goal of reaching the summit of Mt Ouray. But I also knew that failure helped define us more than success.

When we'd reached the summit of Kilimanjaro in 2007, sure we all felt a major sense of accomplishment, inspiration, the whole shebang. But on the other hand many of us hadn't been particularly challenged despite the mountain's imposing form. I learned more about myself as a mountaineer the following summer on the slopes of Mt Hood and Mt St. Helens. And even more about myself in the summer of 2010 when I humped a 50-60 pound backpack for miles on end up and down thousands of ft of elevation change before finally having to turn back about 2200 ft below the summit due to blisters the size of half dollars on my heels.

Gannet had hardened me and made me more of a climber. I knew that Ouray wasn't nearly as hard as Gannet but I knew that these campers would hopefully learn something about themselves from this experience. I wasn't sure what they would learn about themselves but I knew that they would, someday.

We got down from Ouray after about 3-3.5 hours of actual descent time. We'd had to stop and provide fluids and electrolites to our camper that was suffering from severe cramps and pains all over his body. We took it extremely slow down the mountain and finally got everyone down to camp safely. After a lunch break we drove back to Sanborn exhausted. I kept my fingers crossed that I would get to go on another m%tain trip soon. And I also resolved to myself that I would need to return and summit Ouray at some point. Because once a peak's in my system it won't leave me until I've summitted and made it back down safely.

Mt. Wheeler 13,161

Mt. Wheeler, the highest mountain in New Mexico, a commonly climbed peak, but challenging none the less…

My girlfriend and I first struck up the idea to climb it late one evening while eating dinner together. To be honest, I wasn’t totally convinced we would make it a reality. She was eager to make her first summit attempt. I was a bit more reserved, id made summits and fallen short of them before, but all with Sight Unseen. If the trip really did take place it would be my first summit without the team.

I agreed, excitedly and with a hint of caution. Immediately she started looking into the different kinds of gear she would need. She had been backpacking before, but never a summit. We had gone to Cabela’s a few months earlier and picked out a good starter pack for her, other than a pair of boots it was all she had for a trip. We stopped in at the local gear store in Arlington; it was like she was a 4year old in a toy store again, Kind of like I was when I first started getting in to mountaineering.

I had a few spare gear items for her to use, she was quickly learning all the basics, the brands we like, why we like them and the differences between types of things. I enjoyed being the mentor. We got her all set up and just needed a date and time to leave. This was the part I knew would cause problems.

I was still interning at the city of Arlington’s Office of Emergency Management to finish up my degree. I had been there since the start of the summer, and it was already early July before we had everything we needed. Finally we hammered out a timeframe. August 4th, we would leave with her dad, drive to Cimerron New Mexico and stay in their family’s cabin out in the hills, about an hour from the trail head.

At this point I was a little nervous mixed with frustration. Naturally I had to know where we were going, the trail we would take, the time frame, and all the essentials. For some reason my Google powers were quickly failing. Information on the mountain was hard to come by, a few sporadic trip reports, each one with different and conflicting information. I tried to plan our route the best I could with Google maps, but that’s not always reliable. Worst case scenario plans kept forming faster than an actual climbing plan ever did. I figured we might have better luck with information once we were actually there, so I locked down the emergency plan in case we were just out of luck.

Before I knew it we were piling into her dads pickup, the monster truck, as Caitlin’s 2 year old nephew would call it. We headed out to their cabin; her dad came to do some maintenance on it and would take us to and from the trail head. The evening before we started our climb, her dad handed me a guidebook he found in the cabin. “A guide to New Mexoc’s Mountians”, I flipped to the section on Mt Wheeler, reading through the many different trails to take. It was the first real bit of information regarding trails I had seen. It eased my concerns as I found the trail we were planning on taking.

The following morning we drove out to the trail head. Long winding mountain roads littered the path to the trail head. It was a good feeling to be back in the hills again. Eventually we found ourselves driving along a one lane, gravel road that lead to the parking area for the trail head. We went over the plan again and set off. The first leg of the climb would be roughly 8 miles to lost lake, our camp site. From there, we would get an early start to the summit and plan to be off the mountain by about 6pm the next day. As we started moving up the steep switchbacks, my heel started rubbing on my boot. I hadn’t worn them in awhile but I didn’t think they would hurt. We stopped and covered the hotspot, hoping to prevent a blister, luckily it did.

As we kept moving we stopped for lunch, a delicious combination of cliff bars and my personal favorite, gold fish. We had been hiking for a few hours and had gone roughly 4 miles, moving fast in some places and slower in others. Eventually we reached the altitude where we would start to traverse around protruding bends in the mountain, opening up the spectacular view of the valley below. Being visually impaired I could only actually see bits and pieces. Just knowing where we were and feeling the cool mountain breeze was exhilarating.

After crossing a few more bends we came up to lost lake. It was a small, crystal clear mountain lake at about 9,850. As I looked up I saw the dark rain clouds coming in, so we quickly searched for a campsite, hoping we could get everything set up before it started to rain. In a rush we found a rather sub par place, pitched the tent and hunkered down for what we were sure would be a heavy storm. It started to drizzle, and quickly stopped. It teased us for about an hour before we both were fed up with the site and the weather so we got up, put on our boots and went to look for a better site.

Not but 25 yards away we found a good one. Another group was camping not far from there, so we picked up our gear and quickly moved. As we started to settle in, a heard of mountain goats came striding through the camp area. Young and old, big and small, they constantly ran through the area, all day long, stopping only to stare at us.

Dinner time came and I broke out the whisperlite. It had been giving me problems before we left and I was praying it would be in a good mood. I was hungry. I started to work with it and it kept dying on me. Caitlin came over to take a look, and go figure, it fired right up for her on the first try. Not thinking much of it we slapped together a quick mountain house meal that soothed the soul.

We went to bed early, anticipating an early start. When the time came though, we didn’t leave until about 7am. We decided to go fast and light, taking only one pack, loaded with water and an extra warm layer. Eventually we came up on Horseshoe Lake at about 11,500 ft. We could see the summit. It looked closer than we thought. As we kept moving we came to a fork in the trail, naturally we took the more defined one which took us across a steep basin to a ridge just below the summit where it switched back. The summit was literally 30 feet above us with the trail leading on past the peak in the wrong direction.

Normally I don’t endorse what we did but the trail was becoming rather annoying with this many switchbacks and teasing manner. So we took our own path vertically about 30 feet until we reconnected with the trail again. We were at the summit, 13,161 feet. There were a few people already there, having lunch, signing the registry at the top and taking pictures. We did our share of the same and spent about 30 minutes admiring the view, savoring the moment. I was in awe that we had even made it a reality. Our first climb as a couple. It had more emotional value than physical, immensely different from a team summit, but still a summit.
As we followed the trail down, we ended up coming to the top of Mt Walter, Wheeler’s sister peak at about 13, 141. Not expecting it, we stopped and savored a second summit before heading back to lost lake. It was an interesting experience, two summits in as many hours.

On our way down we stopped for a quick rest at lost lake before packing up and heading out. The whole way down we discussed how we had actually just made our first summit together. Caitlin started talking about how she wanted to continue backpacking and mountaineering. It seemed as though a new found passion had been born. I was glad to hear her say that. While descending to the parking lot we kept discussing different peaks we could try, when the best time would be to climb them. Looking back on it now she was acting the same way I was after returning from Peru in 2006.

It was the first trip of many and the beginning of something new. I can only wonder where the next climb will be.

Out of Darkness

Hey TSU followers. I realize I've been absent from the blog for a while. I felt like doing some deep thinking this morning so I typed up this short piece about rock climbing and what it means to me. I'll try to post some reports about the incredible summer I had in 2011 soon. For now enjoy this piece of rare deep thinking.

Climb High,

KCoon

Out of Darkness

As I half balanced, half clung with desperation to a finger lock and knee bar, I reached up to clip my rope into the quickdraw that Brendan had managed to get into the bolt but failed to secure the rope through. My entire body trembled and I knew that I was going to peel if I didn't clip. I made an effort but my finger lock gave out and I tumbled backwards calling out "falling" as I did so. I came to a bouncing hault after a fall of about 25-30 feet and I couldn't help feeling disappointed. But at the same time I felt exhilarated.

I tried to clip the rope several more times but each subsequent attempt took more and more out of me, and was followed by a long whipper. It mattered and yet didn't matter.

Brendan and I had spent pretty much the entire afternoon working on this one route, a 5.10 plus called "The Ram" located on the "Bank Rob Wall" at Shelf Road just outside of Canyon City, Colorado. Brendan and I were dedicated weekend climbers but both of us wanted to be better. So on our last trip to Shelf Road two weeks prior I'd made the suggestion that we just grit our teeth and attempt to lead a 5.10. We debated on a 5.10A or a 5.10 plus. And for some reason we chose the 10 plus.

That first time we'd only made it up to the seventh bolt (out of nine) and had felt too nervous going for the eighth, because we were both nervous about falling. But on this trip we were both determined to "slay the Ram". We both made several gallant attempts before Brendan finally managed to clip the rope through the eighth bolt. But then neither of us were strong enough or had the guts to go for the ninth bolt.

I felt disappointed with myself for not being able to complete the climb, but I vowed to come back and "slay the Ram" at some other point. But in the subsequent weeks since attempting the Ram I've come to realize several things about myself and climbing. It took some examining of my past, present and future and shoot it's still not all clear to me, but I more understand myself because of climbing now.

When I was six years old I lost my sight to Retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye) and I thought that everything was just not going to be okay. Fortunately for me, I met Erik Weihenmayer (a world class blind athlete and climber) only about a month or so after I went blind.

Erik and I talked for a while and Erik just told me that I needed to live my life and not be afraid. He made a suggestion that I go ahead and try rock climbing. It was a scary but truely exhilarating proposition. I wondered if I could have the guts, the strength, etc to climb a vertical wall.

About a year after meeting Erik, I climbed for the first time at our local indoor gym. A family friend and I developed a system so that I could locate the holds by using my hands and feet as if they were the hands of a clock and the wall a clockface. David would call out where each hold was by telling me positions on a clock.

As I began going to the gym more and more, my confidence grew. My family got into climbing and it became our family activity. After a couple of years, my parents signed my sisters and myself up to compete on the competitive climbing team that was getting started up at our gym. I took to competitive climbing with a passion unlike any I've had before. My sisters, teammates and I were at the gym almost every day whether it was a scheduled practice or not. Our coaches gave us techniques and exercises to do which we strove to master. Hangboard competitions became fiercely competitive among the team. At one point I could hang straight armed for more than three minutes from two decent jugs on our gym's hangboard.

When the competition season rolled around and my coaches and parents began to battle with officials on whether or not I would be able to compete because of my blindness I didn't much pay attention. Finally, the officials relented and I was allowed to compete. I climbed hard at every comp, taking fifth in my first comp and placing as high as second. I was invited to nationals to compete but I was so cocky and the trip was too expensive that my parents decided that I wasn't ready to compete at the highest level.

Instead we went on a two week camping and climbing vacation around the southeast. We camped in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. I onsighted my first 5.11"A during this time, as well as flashed numerous other 5.10 and 5.11s. I returned to the gym and climbed hard all summer, but when the school year came again getting to the gym became harder. I was now in middle school and in a new division. Slowly my family and I fell out of climbing.

I continued to satisfy my hunger for climbing by reading books and writing papers, stories and essays about rock and mountain climbing. In eighth grade I started getting into more hiking and mountaineering when I got the opportunity to hike the Ankascocha Trail with Global Explorers into Machu Picchu. After this trip I climbed and summitted Mt Kilimanjaro, again with Global Explorers.

After summitting Kili, the friends that I'd made on the GEx trips and I came together and formed our own climbing team, Team Sight Unseen. Together we climbed Mt St. Helens, and then made an attempt on Gannet Peak. I received my guidegog during these years as well and felt that my path would be more defined by mountaineering and hiking now than rock climbing. I was also really getting into downhill skiing, cycling and wrestling so I figured those would all keep me happy and content.

As I entered college though, I felt a yearning for vertical rock; for feeling my mental and physical strengths to be pushed to their utmost as I sthove to figure out the correct sequence of moves to det past the crux on a hard climb or boulder problem. Slowly, I found myself reading up on rock climbs and climbers, telling myself it was just a small thing that would pass. I was too busy with college wrestling, thinking about become an indoor cycling instructor and mountaineering, to pay attention to rock climbing. I had been a decent rock climber but those days were over for me.

Then I found myself reading about rock climbing techniques and remembering the drills that I used to do in training. I remembered the thrill I felt at hearing my name called for a second place ribbon at a comp. But more importantly and more vividly than anything, I remembered the pride, sense of accomplishment and the happiness I felt at completing a particularly difficult climb. And I realized that rock climbing was my passion and the thing that I was best at. Rock climbing had brought me out of a state of depression and into a state of happiness. Rock climbing had brought from the dark and into the light, and I wondered if it could do it again.

My friend had worked at a summer camp and encouraged me to apply for a job as a counselor at this same summer camp. I applied and was offered a job for this past summer. I moved to Colorado in late May, went through staff training and the first few weeks of having campers. Every time that I had "time off" I managed to find a group of people that were going climbing, and if they weren't somehow I still managed to get up on the rock. Most mornings or evenings I found myself going down to the camp's small bouldering house where I put up several difficult boulder problems...projects for me to work on throughout the summer. Working on these problems gave me the old feelings of working toward a goal, of building my confidence back up.

Soon I abandoned top rope climbing and began focusing on my sport leading ability. Brendan and I somehow drifted together and became climbing partners. We went to 11 Mile Canyon, Shelf Road, and Garden of the Gods together, pushing each other to get better. When Brendan and I went on our last trip to Shelf at the end of the summer before it was time for me to fly back to Florida, we discussed taking another crack at the Ram. For some reason though I wasn't feeling up to trying to "slay the Ram" just yet. It might have been age, it might have been experience, it might have just been the clear and crisp Colorado mountain air, but I came to the realization that climbing isn't about how hard a route you can put up. It's not about making the first ascent of a route. It's not about making money. It's not about the adrenaline. It's not even just about the compaoionship of being around other climbers, or if you're a free soloist, not just about being alone and one with the rock. It was a combination of all of these. It felt good to push myself, to feel when I got Elvis legs. It felt good to conquer a difficult route. It was awesome just hanging out with my climbing partners and having a good old time. It felt great to be one with the rock and nature. And it even felt good (after the initial disappointment) to not complete a route because it gave me something to shoot for in the future.

So Brendan and I decided to forgo attempting the Ram, and instead we just climbed. We both lead our first ever 5.10A and talked about what it would be like to climb around the world. Not necessarily the hardest things, but just experience climbing in different cultures and places. We both wanted to be trad climbers and travel. And we both wanted to keep improving to become the best climbers we could possibly be. So that's what I'm going to do. Sure, I have ambitions, hopes and dreams of doing some radical stuff, but right now I'm happy if I can just get out to the rock and climb. For there's nothing like coming out of the dark and into the light.

Make Your Own Circumstances

I'm not one to blog about my thoughts, but recently I've gotten sick of this whole "oh, the circumstances aren't right" thing. People can't do this or that...can't take advantage of things, won't go somewhere, won't do something for whatever reason. I recently ran into this quote:

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."

I never found the author, but I like to believe I live my life by it everyday. Work hard in whatever it is you do, climb harder, climb from dawn to dusk, go that extra mile, add that extra 10 pounds to your set, hike that extra 2 miles...whatever it is. If you work hard at something it will come to you. Sitting back and waiting for things to happen is not going to get you anywhere in life.

I like to think that's what this team is all about. Yeah, things haven't exactly been a smooth road for us. We started out as a bunch of amateurs (and still are...just with some experience now), but I'd like to think we are "making our own circumstances if they aren't already there". I've gotten certified in Wilderness First Aid and Leave No Trace ethics while taking plenty of trips backpacking, climbing, and snowboarding. (including a trip in May down to Florida to work with Kyle). Kyle is working at a camp in Colorado all summer. Pete is living the outdoors life leading trips with NOLS, and leading biking trips. Ben just graduated from the University of Oregon, and is now working outside, and still leading trips with Ice Axe men. Joe and his wife just had a kid, so he is enjoying that new mountain in his life. Justin is showing his girlfriend the outdoors, and doing trips with her.

Regardless of where we are we are each individually living life to the fullest, and working to better ourselves with the goal that when we all come together again as a team (hopefully soon) all the hard work we each put in will help better the team as a whole.

I guess in the end I just wanted to reach out and tell everyone to live their life to the fullest. Get off the couch, get out of your house, and enjoy everything the outdoors has to offer. Whether that's just taking a day hike and venturing to the local state park for a day or going on a full-fledged week long backpacking trip is up to you. Just don't be settled with what you have. Always strive for more, and never be satisfied with what you have. There's always more to have out there. You only live once...enjoy it.

-Brad

UCF Blind Wrestler Pins Down Adversity

I was recently featured in Centric Magazine, a magazine produced by University of Central Florida Journalism students. The article focuses mainly on my wrestling career however briefly mentions Team Sight Unseen and one of the pictures show me wearing my Team Sight Unseen T-Shirt that Gore-Tex made for us for our trip to Gannet Peak.
See the article here:
http://centric.cos.ucf.edu/?p=161

High Sights and the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

In one of my college classes I had the task of writing a paper on a Communication Theory and then applying that Theory to an Organization. Being a mountaineer I wanted to apply a Theory to Team Sight Unseen, however when I started researching I found that there weren't enough references telling about TSU for me to make an A worthy paper. Since this was my first big time college paper I wanted to make an A and prove to myself that i could hang with the juniors and seniors (I was one of only 2-3 freshman in the class).
So I wrote my paper on the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership and applied it to High Sights...And yes I got an A on it. The paper is basically about...Well I'll let you read it.

Climb High,
Kyle Coon

HIGH SIGHTS AND THE PATH-GOAL THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

Kyle Coon

COM 3120

University of Central Florida

Introduction:

In this paper we will discuss the path-goal theory of leadership and how it applies to High Sights (a general name we've given the team that Erik Weihenmayer was a part of that reached the summit of Everest in May 2001). We will also discuss the various leaders that stepped up on the High Sights team and how their actions were beneficial to the team as a whole. The strengths and weaknesses of the path-goal theory of leadership will also be noted and how they can be improved as well as an add on/alternate way of viewing the path-goal theory of leadership.

How does someone handle the pressures of planning organizing and executing a successful mountaineering expedition to Mt Everest? How does someone handle the additional pressure of leading a totally blind mountaineer on said expedition? How does a team deal with the criticism of the world at large for thinking about taking a blind climber up the tallest mountain on earth? The answer...Having a vision, and having a strong team to carry out that vision along a path guided by strong leaders that will ensure the goal is reached.

Path-Goal Theory of Leadership:

The Path-Goal Theory of Leadership was developed/coined by Robert House in 1971. The path-goal theory indicates that the leader can positively inspire the performance, contentment, and motivation of employees by (1) clarifying the path on how to achieve performance goals; (2) bestowing reward for achieving these goals; and (3) removing obstacles that are stopping employees from achieving these goals (House and Mitchell, 1974). And those leaders who show the way and help followers along a path to reach those specified goals are effectively leading (House, 1997). And also according to the theory, leadership behavior tends to be directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-oriented (Evans and House, 1996).

But what does all of this mean? What is leadership and it's various forms?

Leadership:

Leadership, at the most basic level, is essentially the ability to influence other people. But how a leader influences those people (followers) is generally separated into four main forms of leadership: supportive, directive, participative, and achievement-oriented (Evans and House, 1996).

Supportive leadership can be taken at face value. The leader essentially "supports" his/her followers by showing concern for the follower's welfare and creating a safe and friendly working environment (Evans and House, 1996). This type of leadership technique might be useful during times of high stress or danger where a leader can encourage the follower to push through the project.

Directive leadership occurs when the leader spells out specifically what he/she wants their followers to do. The leader could potentially draw up lists of tasks to be completed by each member of a team and give dates when he expects those steps of the project done. This technique lends structure and can break down complex projects down into more manageable tasks thereby making the loads a little easier on the followers.

Participative leadership is when the leader may seek advice or ideas from his followers/team. The leader then combines the ideas of his followers with his own to accomplish the project. This technique is probably best in cases where the leader is head of a team of experts whose opinions are sought and who expect to be asked for advice.

Achievement-Oriented leadership occurs when a leader has great faiTh in his followers. The leader sets challenging goals, in work or self-improvement (and maybe even both together) and holds his followers to high standards and expected based on past demonstrations. The leader has great confidence in his followers and expects they will get their jobs done in an efficient and timely manner. (Evans and House, 1996).

But given these leadership techniques/styles, what makes an effective leader? What traits must leaders have in order to be good leaders? And what does being a leader mean without a team and a goal?

Lifetime mountaineer and motivational speaker Eric Alexander has a very simple definition of leadership that captures the crucial parts of being an effective leader. Leadership equals Vision plus Action divided by Character (Alexander).

Vision. To be an effective leader of a team a leader must have a vision, a goal, something to strive for. Without this goal a leader has nothing to inspire his followers/team members to follow him.

Action. An effective leader must be able to inspire his followers and himself to take action to reach his vision. He must put their feet upon the "path" and help them along it to reach their "goal".

Character. An effective leader must have the character and conscience to know the difference between right and wrong, to determine the safest, wisest and most beneficial course that will lead he and his followers to reaching their goal.

But a leader is not a leader unless he has followers. And he can not have followers without a team. This team must be built with different people each with different strengths. If a team is built with everyone having the same strength then the team will be unable to reach the goal that their leader has set before them if they run into an obstacle along the way that proves to be everyone's weakness. So, as an effective leader, it is the leaders job to remove these obstacles by building a strong team with each member having a strength where another member has a weakness. And this is precisely what Erik Weihenmayer did in forming "High Sights".

Erik Weihenmayer and High Sights:

As a young boy Erik Weihenmayer was diagnosed with Retinoschisis, a rare eye disease typically seen in older adults that causes the retina to detach from the center of the pupil p eventually to split altogether (Weihenmayer). Weihenmayer's vision slowly deteriorated over the course of his young life until he reached age thirteen when he became totally blind. Weihenmayer battled with blindness for a number of years insisting that he wasn't blind, that he could do things just as well as any sighted person that he didn't need help. Finally, one day on his way home from school, the driver of a van carrying handicapped students got sick of hearing Weihenmayer complaining. The driver ordered Weihenmayer out of the car and then threw a basketball off the side of Weihenmayer's head. In no uncertain terms the driver explained to Weihenmayer that he was blind and needed to learn to accept help when needed, if he did he "might just learn to catch again" (Weihenmayer).

Weihenmayer attended a month long skills camp at the Carol Center for the Blind in Boston Massachusetts where he learned numerous techniques to help him get through everyday life. But while at the Carol Center Weihenmayer was exposed to the thing that would shape the rest of his life...Rock Climbing. Weihenmayer became fascinated with rock climbing and pursued it as a challenge both physically and mentally. After he graduated from college and took up a teaching position at Phoenix Country Day School in Phoenix, Arizona, Weihenmayer became increasingly drawn to the outdoors. Throughout his college life Weihenmayer, his father and brothers went on long distance hiking trips ranging from the highlands of Peru to the glaciers of the Karakoram, to the forests of Irian Jaya.

A fellow teacher at the Phoenix Country Day School, Sam Bridges, became Weihenmayer's weekend climbing partner. And on one weekend climb in the desert Sam suggested to Weihenmayer that they try something "a little bigger...maybe Mt McKinley" (Weihenmayer). And thus, the foundation for High Sights were set.

In 1995, Erik Weihenmayer, Sam Bridges, Chris Morris and Jeff Evans, reached the summit of Mt McKinley, 20320 feet, tallest peak in North America. In 1997, Weihenmayer reached the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro at 19340 feet, the tallest peak in Africa. Slowly but surely, Weihenmayer began to gather around himself a strong and dedicated team. Over the course of the next several years Weihenmayer reached the summits of Aconcagua (22841 feet, tallest peak in South America), Vinson Massif (16050 feet, tallest peak in Antarctica), Mt Everest (29035 feet, tallest peak in Asia/the World), Mt Elbrus (18510 feet, tallest peak in Europe), Kosciuszko (7310 feet, tallest peak in Australia), and Carstens Pyramid (16024 feet, tallest peak on the Oceanic Continental Shelf) (Stoltz and Weihenmayer). By successfuly climbing and summitting these peaks Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind man to successfully climb the "7 Summits" (tallest peak on each of the 7 continents) on both the Bass and Mesner lists which depict which mountain is highest on each continent (Stoltz and Weihenmayer).

However, despite Weihenmayer's great achievements in mountaineering he did not do it alone. Throughout the years since he started doing big climbs Weihenmayer's gathered about himself a very strong and very dedicated team of climbers whom he trusts to help guide him to these lofty summits. The team has numerous names depending on their expedition, but on the whole we will refer to this team as "High Sights".

Path-Goal Theory Applied to High Sights:

On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to climb and summit Mt Everest (29035 feet). In the years prior to this Weihenmayer spent training and climbing with many partners and in 1999-2000 Weihenmayer had selected those whom he wished to climb with on the most daring and challenging of his expeditions to date, Chomolungma (Goddess Mother of the Earth), more commonly known z...Mt Everest.

Weihenmayer was first given the idea of climbing Everest by Pasquale Scaturro who'd heard of Weihenmayer's previous climbs and who'd summitted Everest himself and was wanting to lead a second expedition to the mountain. Weihenmayer and Scaturro (better known as "PV" to his team) began putting together a team of strong climbers who would be able to work well together and who would give the "TEAM" the best chance at success (Weihenmayer). (For now we will consider PV as the team's "designated" expedition leader and Weihenmayer as the Public Relations Manager.)

Organizing a mountaineering expedition is a complicated headache at best. But PV exemplified the Leadership formula outlined earlier in this paper when it came to expedition organization and management. Vision--to successfully lead a team of climbers to the summit of Mt Everest with one of those climbers being the first blind man to summit Everest. Action--PV was action embodied. According to Weihenmayer, PV thrived on planning and organizing large expeditions (Weihenmayer). Prior to the trip PV's garage was filled with plastic bins of freeze dried meals, oxallygen bottles and masks, tents, etc (Stoltz and Weihenmayer). PV also organized the training climbs and permits. On the mountain it was PV's decision who carried what loads and whether to turn continue on up the mountain or turn back, or to just stay put. Character--The ability to make the right decisions for the good of the whole team was put to the test very early in the team's existence. On a training climb of Ama da Blamm, PV was in a rocky gully with three other climbers trying to push the route higher through the high winds of the Monsoons which had blown in a month earlier than predicted (Weihenmayer). PV made the decision to turn the whole team around and descend giving up the summit rather than risking lives trying to just stand on top. And while on summit night on Mt Everest, PV's character came through again when he turned himself around when his feet began to freeze, but rather than being selfish and turning the whole team around he turned himself around and descended while encouraging his teammates to push on (Alexander).

While PV grappled with the logistics of leading an Everest expedition, Weihenmayer was fighting a public relations war with the many detractors who thought it wasn't possible, or that it was suicide for a blind climber to attempt Mt Everest. Premier American Himalayan veteran climber Ed Viesturs said that `I wouldn't want to take [Erik] up there myself. Because he can't see he can't assess the weather or the ice-fall or the ladders you have to crawl across. With Erik they'll have to be helping him...every step of the way. For me the risks are too great` (Weihenmayer). "In most people's minds, the notion of a blind climber is equivalent to that of a Jamaican bobsledder. At first it's hard to connect the two." (Weihenmayer). Then once the team turned around on Ama da Blamm failing to reach the summit, many pointed out that Everest was much higher and harder than Ama da Blamm so how could the team expect to reach the summit? However, Weihenmayer and PV and the rest of the team decided to throw everyone's doubts out the window and go to Everest anyway (Weihenmayer). Weihenmayer secured sponsorship from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) for the expedition and with a strong competent team went to tackle Mt Everest.

While on the mountain it was difficult for PV or Weihenmayer to always be the only leaders. At times others needed to step up and fill the role of leader. On a mountaineering expedition it's much more difficult to bare the burden of leadership alone than it is to share it. In a way the leader(s) of a mountaineering team need to part take a participative leadership role, discussing options with their teammates and analyzing the best methods and strategies to push the route higher. But the leader0s) must also show characteristics of Supportive, Directive, p Achievement-Oriented leadership as well.

On summit night, PV turned around and descended rather than risk losing his feet, life and the lives of his teammates. From high camp PV took on a Supportive leadership role as he encouraged and motivated his teammates to keep pushing on. When a storm blew in trapping the team at 27600 feet on the "Balcony" everyone congregated and debated on the best course of action while PV and others from below monitored the weather. Finally it was decided that the team would push on since the storm wasn't expected to last. Jeff Evans, and Sherm and Brad Bull climbed higher towards the South Summit, a point about a two hour journey from the true summit. When all of a sudden they found their way blocked.

The ropes the climbers had been following split and went in two different directions. One set of ropes traveled up through a field of nasty slippery rock "the kind where [one] takes two steps forward and one step back" (Evans). While the other set of ropes traveled up through a more gentle tgrain, but so ropes ! buried beneath two feet of snow from an avalanche. Here is where Jeff Evans had to make a decision whether to go the easy way for him and the hard way for Erik, or the hard way for him and the easy way for Erik (Evans). And so Jeff and Brad dug out the ropes up the easier terrain. Finally, they reached the South Summit and Weihenmayer followed with the rest of the team. Then as Jeff prepared to descend he watched as Weihenmayer began trekking towards the top of the world, and even though he was exhausted from clearing the ropes he was blown away by what he was watching. And so Evans fell into step behind Weihenmayer and together they stood on top of the world (Evans).

In total, 19 out of 21 climbers from the team reached the summit of Everest from their team (11 of 13 Westerners and 8 Sherpas) making it the largest number of people from any team, ever, to summit Mt Everest. Sherm Bull became, at the time, the oldest man to summit Mt Everest at age 64. Sherm and Brad Bull became the first Father-Son pair to summit Mt Everest together. And Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind man to stand atop the world's highest peak (Weihenmayer).

The team had a Vision of standing on top of Mt Everest. Designated leaders such as PV helped make that Vision possible through their Actions, such as planning and organizing the training climbs and expedition logistics. The leader can positively inspire the performance, contentment, and motivation of employees by (1) clarifying the path on how to achieve performance goals; (2) bestowing reward for achieving these goals; and (3) removing obstacles that are stopping employees from achieving these goals (House and Mitchell, 1974). PV (the leader) was able to positively influence the members of the team (employees) by working hard and showing he had the interests of the whole team in mind. PV and Weihenmayer helped instill the Vision (clarifying the path on how to achieve performance goals) and through their Actions and encouragement set everyone's feet on the right path towards reaching their goal. Each time the team reached a higher camp or trekked safely through the Ahumbu Ice-Fall (the most dangerous part of Mt Everest), it was a reward to still be alive and climbing higher and higher. PV removed obstacles by taking on a large portion of the organization by himself thereby freeing up the members of the team to train harder and therefore be better prepared for the harsh conditions encountered on Everest. Jeff Evans and Brad Bull took it upon themselves to remove the obstacle of the buried ropes leading up to the South Summit. If they hadn't Weihenmayer could have, quite conceivably, been too exhausted to continue on past the South Summit if he'd had to climb through the terrain in which one takes two steps forward, only to take one step back, which tears even the best of climbers up (Evans). Through this selflessness Evans and Bull showed the Character part of the leadership equation better than anyone else. They had their Vision in sight, they were taking immediate Action to reach that Vision, and they had the Character and selflessness to potentially sacrifice their summit bid so that Erik Weihenmayer could summit. Weihenmayer bore the burden of being blind and by working hard he whittled off the time it took him to travel through the Khumbu Ice-Fall. On Weihenmayer's first time through the ice-fall it took him more than 13 hours, on his final trip through the river of ever shifting ice, it took him about 5 hours (Weihenmayer). Through these actions Weihenmayer proved that he and his teammates weren't completely crazy because this improvement showed that each and every teammate could improve over the course of the trip and therefore reach the summit.

There were many examples of the path-goal theory of leadership demonstrated by Weihenmayer, PV, Jef Evans, Brad Bull, Eric Alexander, and the many others that climbed and summitted Mt Everest on that team. And without those displays of leadership, without the Vision, the Action, and the Character of those leaders, the team would have ultimately failed and nobody would have summitted. Instead through great displays of leadership, and even greater displays of teamwork, 19 of 21 climbers from the Team summitted Mt Everest.

Discussion:

The path-goal theory of leadership indicates that the leader can positively inspire the performance, contentment, and motivation of employees by (1) clarifying the path on how to achieve performance goals; (2) bestowing reward for achieving these goals; and (3) removing obstacles that are stopping employees from achieving these goals (House and Mitchell, 1974). We've tried to embody this ksst a simle Leadership equals Vision plus Action divided by Character equation that embodies the idea of having a goal, moving along a path to reach that goal and having the character to make the best decisions along that path towards reaching that goal. According to the theory, leadership behavior tends to be directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-oriented (Evans and House, 1996). However, as indicated previously in this paper it's best to have some combination of two or more of these leadership techniques in order to get the best results from the followers/team members and even better to share the leadership roles with other members of the team.

Problems and Suggesttions:

Despite how it's been presented here there are a number of shortcomings with the path-goal theory of leadership. For instance, this theory assumes that the leader, for the most part, is all knowing all powerful and knows what is best. In some cases this might be true, in most however no one person can accomplish everything by him or herself. Some may argue that climbing a mountain may not be the best example of how the path-goal theory is best presented since there are climbers who have successfully "soloed" many mountains. This is also a perfectly valid point as Reinhold Mesner proved in 1980 that a single person could climb and summit Mt Everest withht the use of supplemental oxygen and alone (Krakauer). And in 1977, Jon Krakauer soloed the Devil's Thumb, a 6000 piece of rock and ice in Alaska that demands extreme technical rock and ice climbst skills as well as backcountry mountaineering skills to climb (Krakauer). However, in most cases when people climb challenging mountains they do so in a team, which typically requires one or more people to step up as leaders.

Since this theory assumes the leader is all powerful and knowing, it also slightly devalues teamwork, except in the case of when participative leadership is in use. Leaders shine brightest when they help to lead a team through difficult times but that leader shines brightly because of the work of his teammates and because the teammates look to him as their leader.

This theory also doesn't emphasize the "vision" (goal) or "character" part of being a leader as well as the Leadership equation. The path-goal theory indicates that there is a goal and a path to reach that goal, but what it fails to do is stay focused on that ultimate goal while at the same time breaking that goal into smaller and smaller goals. "Vision" is the ability to see the big picture but also to break the big picture down into smaller and smaller details. The leader inspires the followers to reach the small goals in order to reach the ultimate one. For example, Erik Weihenmayer's ultimate goal was the 7 Summits, but first he needed to focus on the smaller goals of reaching the top of each rock face, and smaller mountain before he could attempt the bigger and tougher mountains. On Everest itself the team had to remain focused on first getting to basecamp, then through the Khumbu ice-fall, then to Camp I, and so on until summit night.

And finally, the "Character" of the leader is vital. Is the leader a good enough character to make the best decisions for the team o a whole or will he just make the decisions that benefit himself? If PV had continued climbing on summit night just to try and summit Mt Everest a second time, he might have succeeded, but it would have been at the price of possibly losing his feet to frostbite and having his teammates rescue him and carry him down from the summit when they were exhausted. And if PV had not summitted but still kept climbing and had suffered frostbite none of his teammates would have summitted and therefore none of them would have reached the ultimate goal. The same goes for Jeff Evans and Brad Bull when making the decision to dig out the ropes leading up to the South Summit.

No matter where we look examples of the path-goal theory of leadership can be seen. Almost any athletic team, collegeate or professional could be an example. Any business or political genius as well. It might be interesting to apply the path-goal theory to a Coach or Quarterback in the National Football League, or to the Star Pitcher of a Major League Baseball Team, or even to the political spectrum with Abraham Lincoln and his "Team of Rivals" helping him in the election of 1860. Or even take any branch of the military at any time in any war. Every great leader has a "Vision". Every great leader has the ability to take "Action" And every great leader has the "Character" to decide what he/she thinks is best for Their followers. These leaders are able to positively inspire the performance, contentment, and motivation of employees by (1) clarifying the path on how to achieve performance goals; (2) bestowing reward for achieving these goals; and (3) removing obstacles that are stopping employees from achieving these goals (Vision, Action, Character) (House and Mitchell, 1974) through a combination of supportive, directive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership behavior (Evans and House, 1996).

References

Alexander, Eric (2010). The Summit. Green Forest, AR New Leaf Publishing Group

Evans, Jeff (2007). MountainVision Lessons Beyond The Summit. Boulder, CO MountainVision Inc

House, R. J. (1971). A path-goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 321-339.

House, R. J. (1997). Path-goal theory of leadership: Lessons, legacy, and a reformulated theory. Leadership Quarterly, 7 (3), 323-352.

House, R. J. and Mitchell, R. R. (1974). Path-goal theory of leadership. Journal of Contemporary Business, 3, 81-97.

Krakauer, Jon (1991) Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains. New York, NY Random House Inc

Stoltz, Paul G. and Weihenmayer, Erik (2007) The Adversity Advantage: Tuqning Everyday Struggles Into Everyday Greatness. Old Saybrook, CT Tantor Media Inc

Weihenmayer, Erik (2002). Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye Can See. New York, NY Plume