Recently, I was asked by a friend and mentor if I wanted to summit a mountain with him and a group of my friends. I am always down for an adventure, and therefore my answer was obviously yes. My friend sent us numerous texts about what to prepare for with regards to the climb. He sent our group texts about hydration, energy levels, sunscreen, food, what the climb entailed, etc. and I, like any other prideful person, read the texts briefly and pretty much ignored them. I figured I didn’t need any of that because I was already prepared mentally and physically to summit a 12,281 ft mountain without any issues.
The first day of the climb, went well and I still had full confidence in my ability to summit without any issues. However, our leader kept warning us to drink water, to put on sunscreen, and to prepare for the dreaded “Suksdorf”, which is an incredibly steep stretch of 2,000 feet of elevation to the false summit. After that, we would have to climb down into what was known as “The Bowl” and then hike another 1,000ft up to the real summit. I remember one of my team members saying “The mountain will humble you. You may not think so, but one way or another the mountain will humble you.” And I just sat there and thought to myself “Not me”.
We made it to the bottom of Suksdorf and I gazed up the literal mountain of snow. It was steeper than I had expected, but that didn’t stop me from being the first person headed up. I trudged ahead of everyone and began the steep climb up the mountain. About ¼ of the way up I started to feel it. I started to feel my pack weighing me down, I started to feel the elevation take my breath away, and I started to feel my heart beat quickly in my chest. About ½ up a team member passed me, and I started to rest about every 30 steps or so. The air was thin and only getting thinner and the nausea of elevation sickness was starting to set in, but I was still determined. About ¾ of the way up I started having thoughts of turning back. I was spent. Done. My breathing was shallow and I could barely eat or drink because of the nausea. I have always strived to have strength. So much so, that I got the word tattooed on my body in Hebrew a few years back as a reminder to never give up, never back down, and never fold. But in that moment, ¾ of the way up Suksdorf, I felt as weak and as frail as I had ever felt before.
Long story short, after a lot of prayer I eventually made it up Suksdorf, into the bowl, and slowly to the summit where two of my other team members were waiting. The three of us congratulated one another on summiting and after a few minutes began our descent. The wind began to pick up (it was about 70mph at the top) and our tired bodies started getting pummeled by the brutal weight of its force. We met our leader on the way down as he was still heading up in search of part of our team. He told us to continue down the bowl and over the ridge to Suksdorf, which seemed easy enough… until we got to the bowl.
Inside the bowl, everything looked the same. Each ridge was just like the next and suddenly we didn’t know where the entrance to Suksdorf was, which could prove to be a problem considering the other ridges led off cliffs. The three of us trudged around in the beating wind, miserable, scared, and sick to our stomachs. I collapsed. Literally. And as I lay on the snow I remember praying “God. I’m done. I don’t have anything left. Please, help me.” It was then, as we were collapsed in the snow that we saw our leader coming down the mountain towards us. When he reached us, it took everything I had to follow him to the entrance of Suksdorf. We all ended up linking arms for stability against the wind, and then, out of what seemed like no where, two heads popped up over a ridge and I recognized them as 2 of our team members who had been waiting at the top of Suksdorf.
Once over the ridge, we were blocked from the wind and everything was quiet. I sat for a moment in shock, honestly trying to process what had just happened. The moment was emotional for several of us and I felt the weight of the mountain beating me set in. We glissaded down the slope, which had taken me 3 hours to climb, in 5 minutes and continued down the mountain. After a little glissading accident in which I got in a fight with some lava rock and clearly lost, and a few more hours of painful walking we were back to the car and headed home.
That was four days ago.
I am now writing this blog from my couch, which I have pretty much not left due to the pain of 2nd degree sun/wind burns on my lips and face, as well as a pretty gnarly bruise on my hip. And as I am sitting here I can’t help but think about two very important lessons I learned.
The first lesson I learned was about humility. So often do I find myself thinking that I can do everything by myself and that I don’t need help, and so often do I find myself so stuck in my own world of pride that I forget what it means to have true strength. True strength is not necessarily the ability to take on a task by myself, but the ability to admit before the Lord that I am weak without Him and need His help. Micah 6:8 tells us to walk humbly with our God. And Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” God gives strength to those who walk humbly with him, and therefore humility, must then be the heart of true strength.
The second lesson I learned was about the importance of preparation. We as people might be able to go out and complete a task regardless of how we prepared for it. But the manner in which we complete the task is entirely dependent on our preparation. Yes, I summited the mountain, and I am proud of that, but had I been better prepared and fully took to heart what my leader had said, I might not be sitting on the couch suffering through 2nd degree burns. Our ability to complete a task fully depends on how much time we put into preparing for the task.
The Lord calls us to be prepared. 1 Corinthians 16:13 says “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” I have found that it is much more difficult for the devil to sneak up on someone who is prepared for the attack than it is for him to take hold of a person who never saw it coming.
As the departure date for my race gets closer every day, I am consistently reminded of the importance of preparation. I realize now that proper preparation is required for a trip such as this, and prayerfully hope that when the time comes, I will be able to pass through the fire without getting burned.
If you would like to hear more about the World Race, and my expedition route in particular feel free to contact me! Also, if you would like to contribute financially to my race please feel free to click the “donate” button. Thank you for all your prayers and support!
