A story of resiliance
About MeI was born in Estes Park Colorado in 1978. From a young age, I faced challenges. I was a very small shy kid and I struggled a lot with school. My dad could tell that I was going to have more challenges ahead of me, so he took it upon himself to toughen me up. To do this, he took me on extreme outdoor trips. He rephrased suffering as growth.
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I started climbing shortly after I started to walk. Every year my family would go to Yosemite, and my dad would take me climbing. I loved climbing, and by my early teens, I was doing climbs that my dad couldn't do.
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When I was 16, my family went to a climbing competition called the Snow Bird Invitational. I wanted to meet some climbers and get some autographs. But the day before the big competition, there was a citizens comp. So, I signed up. The climb was difficult, but I still managed to win.
After I won, the competition directors asked me if I wanted to sign up for the world invitational the next day. Of course I agreed, and the next day I was competing against the best in the world. It was very intimidating. I was just a scrawny kid up against the best climbers in the world. I tried my best and by the end I was the only competitor to finish the climb. It was unbelievable. I went from no one to the winner of world invitational. It was the catalyst of my career |
There was a war between the Kyrgyz government and a rebel group, and we were in the middle of it. We quickly realized we were in danger, when the rebels killed a Kyrgyz soldier.
Once it got dark the gunfire faded and the rebels started hiking us through the mountains. Everyday we would hike through the night. During the day, the rebels would hide us. Everyday our condition worsened because they didn't feed us. After six days, we were climbing up a mountain with only one guard. It was six days without food or water. I wasn't sure how much longer we could last. I knew what I had to do, so I ran up behind him. I put my hands on his chest and I just pushed him. The moment after he fell, I realized what I had just done. We weren't sure when the other rebels would get back, so we ran. We ran for four hours to a nearby Kyrgyz military base. They gave us food, water, and clothing. Then we got flown out from there. |
When I was 21, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime. A climbing trip to explore and climb a mountainous country in Central Asia, called Kyrgyzstan. I went with Beth (my girlfriend at the time) and two of our friends. It was like a dream come true. I was climbing in the Kara-Su Valley, with a girl I loved.
On the 10th day of our trip, we woke to gunshots. Far below us, there were guys with assault rifles waving us down. We did as they said, and when we got to the ground, we were taken hostage by a group of rebels. My dream quickly turned into a nightmare. |
About a year after Kyrgyzstan, Beth and I were remodeling an old cabin. I was using a table saw and my finger slipped and went right into the blade. We went to the hospital and for two weeks they tried to reattach the finger. One day a doctor comes in and he told me that they couldn't reattach my finger. He told me to find a new sport because I would never be able to climb again. I was like screw you and I went climbing anyways. I wasn't going to let him tell me what I am capable of. Slowly, I learned to adapt my climbing style. To this day, I still climb with only nine fingers. |