Everesting the Manitou Incline: 58,300ft of elevation change in 34 hours

"So it's actually kind of simple. Most people are familiar with work. Some are familiar with hard work, real hard work, and those are the people that are typically successful. They work their asses off. There is however, I am convinced, another level of output that exists within everybody. However, a small number of people gain access to this level of production. For many, it requires a significant life altering event to gain access to this level of production. For me it was getting my leg shot off by a machine gun, but the thing is, it was there the entire time. And while physical effort is certainly part of this, that is not all it is. It's the discipline, the focus, the sacrifices. It's the pain tolerance, it's the relationship with fear, the relationship with failure. It's the dedication to these aspects of life. It's being able to leverage all these character traits, harness them, and extend what we are able to do. Those that gain access to this level of work ethic, those are the ones that reach their dreams, because that is what it takes.” - NIck Lavery

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to interview for my “dream job”, something I had been steadily working towards for over 16years. Unfortunately I fell short and did not get it, which got me thinking about the difference between being successful and reaching your dreams.

Last weekend I had the chance to attempt my Misogi for the year, Everesting the Manitou Incline. Everesting involves performing hill repeats until one gains at least 29,032ft (8845m) of vertical gain which is equivalent to the height of Everest. Given that I would also had to complete the descents resulting in 58,064ft (17690m) of total elevation change, amounting to 15 consecutive laps on the Manitou Incline, this project was the definition of simple but not easy. It was my means for developing the mindset to unlock even the smallest fraction of that additional level of output that Nick Lavery believes exists within everyone. Nick realized his own dream by becoming the only above the knee amputee to re-qualify and return to a deployed Special Forces team in 2015 after nearly dying in Afghanistan only 2 years prior.

Summiting a night time lap (photo cred: Michael Arnsteen)

It was not pretty, but I got it done in 34 hours and 20 minutes with 29,150ft (8885m) of vertical gain, or 58,300ft of elevation change, in the books. This was my longest ever effort (by over 14 hours) with the most elevation change (by over 28,000ft). The reason why these metrics were so far right of my previous baseline was because I needed to explore my breaking point in order to reset my baseline. I mentally broke on the last lap and could not force myself to go up the entirety of the incline again. Having slowed down significantly by this point and having run out of water on the previous lap, my tired and broken mind hyperfocused on the fact that this last lap was going to take much longer on a very exposed and, given the time of day, warm stretch of trail. This was compounded by some poor gear choices I made, opting for a belt to hold my hydration and nutrition and leaving my usual hydration vest at home, which succeeded in convincing me I would not have the ability to carry the necessary amount of liquids to complete a full lap. With a fresh mind, I should have easily troubleshot this dilemma, but thoughts about quitting outright after an already respectable effort dominated my brain space. This was by far the lowest point in the project, sitting in a camping chair next to my car (which served as my aid station) contemplating quitting, yet in some strange way it is at these points where you are broken that you are the completest version of yourself you can be.

It wasn’t pretty but got it done

This challenge opened up new doors and experiences for me. After failing to toe the start line for my original Misogi in the summer due to a freak injury, I was forced to deal with failure and the nagging doubts that brought along. These doubts resurfaced big time when I sat in that chair. Additionally, I made a conscious decision to be a present dad throughout the year, and this required me to finish most of my big workouts by 6am to be home before Hannah woke up. Out of the roughly 425 hours of training this year for both Misogi projects, all but about 30 were completed before 6am. This forced me to grow my relationship with the fear of being on the mountain in the middle of the night, and continue to become more comfortable and functional with the sacrifice of waking up not when I wanted to, but when I needed to. 

One of the biggest lessons I have learned in the last two years is that there is a before and after, the before Hannah was born and after. Before I had different, more personal motivations for pursuing big projects and goals. That chapter is forever closed. My biggest motivation now is to accomplish things that would make my daughter proud of me, and be able to set a good example to show that she too can do hard things. She is still too young to understand now, but my hope is that she can look back on these things as she grows older and be proud of the fact that I am her dad, and understand that it is good to take on truly hard things from time to time. 

The half everest a month prior was a great confidence booster

This was the single biggest reason why I decided to not quit sitting in that chair, and convinced myself to complete the remaining elevation gain on the much shadier and gradual Barr trail that leads up to the summit of the incline. While not technically an Everesting (same ascent each lap), I will take the invaluable experience of overcoming a strong urge to quit any day, while still achieving the total elevation gain to complete an “Everesting Roam”. You don’t have to be a pro athlete to act like one. Show up for your workouts, your diet, your sleep discipline, your recovery, and your family. Lead yourself to accomplish the goals you want to accomplish.

You have to get creative with your training

I’d like to thank everyone that helped me achieve this effort, Neil Chris Austin Jarrod Michael and Jay for coming out to share a lap, the Dardens for bringing me much needed food, and most of all my beautiful wife and daughter for coming out to cheer and for their unwavering support. Thank you for giving me everything I could ever dream of.