Author archive for Nate Lanting

           “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks”         ~  John Muir

Ascent Up Mt. Rainier

This year was different than most climbing years. It presented new challenges and more “failure” than I expected or knew how to handle.

How will I respond to failure? How will I choose to tell the story?

There’s this mantra out there, maybe it’s on a bumper sticker somewhere or maybe it’s called the American Dream, that if you work hard enough you will get what you want. When I was a kid I remember my parents telling me I can become whatever I want to be, as long as I put my mind to it. I think I asked my mom if I could work at Disneyland when I grow up. I’ve obviously missed my calling. But that’s how life works right? You can get what you want by the power of your will.

Or is it?

Mountains help us out.

I appreciate that about mountains. They are realistic. They don’t apologize. They don’t care about my feelings. They are indifferent to my life goals or my 7-step plan. Sometimes a mountain lets you climb, and other times it doesn’t. Somehow being at the mercy of a mountain sets my perspective just right.

Reality … check.

Camp Muir, Mt. Rainier

If you take a look back at an earlier blog post from this year, you’ll read a story about a serious mountain “gut-check”. Back in May we went after Mount Hood and we pretty much failed. It was tough. The mountain was not kind. We weren’t prepared and we got whipped, with about half of the team turning around early. Our team felt scattered and could have fallen apart. It was hard. But it became both a teacher and a motivator.

We trained harder, we got faster, stronger, and more connected as a team. “This time we will be ready!” Some climbed extra mountains to prepare. Diets became more strict. Technical training increased. Mount Rainier was in our sites and we were going to get it this time. This time will be different.

Mountains help us out.

Mount Rainier said no. Mic drop. At 13,500 ft, a snow-plug the size of a football field fell through making the route impassable. The mountain decided it wasn’t going to let us climb. No one climbed to the summit for three or four days, us included.

Reality… check.

We say this phrase a lot, I’m sure you’ve heard something similar a time or two…“life is about the journey and not the summit”. WHAT. Get out of here. I want the summit! I’ll be honest with you, I want to get to the summit and then get the heck off the mountain. Another notch on my belt. (Maybe I should work at Disneyland; where dreams do come true.)

Team Debrief of the Rainier Climb

This year the metaphorical mountains we had to cross and trek over as a team were more technical and demanding than years in the past. This required more out of us every step of the way. More teamwork, more communication, more strategy, more change of plans, more love, more humility, more of us in every way. In the moment it sucked, but looking back, I wouldn’t want it any other way. This journey made us a team, and made each of us better women and men because of it. This team became accustomed to the value and worth of the team itself. In the end that’s what life’s all about anyway, who you take along on these messy, beautiful, life-adventures.  This is the kind of life I want to live; living in the tension of the journey, with the risk of failure or success up in the air, doing it alongside those I love. These are the kind of stories I want to tell. The epic tales of a team.

Lounging on the newest mountain accessory. The inflatable couch.

I think it was best said by Matthew and Uncle Mark the evening before we set foot up the mountain back in August. Below, read what Matthew had learned. He nailed it; Relationship, failures included.

Sometimes we need failure like we need air. Sometimes a change of perspective isn’t what we planned on, but exactly what we need; reminding us about how to be human again and drawing us back together.

Mountains, help us out.

Matthew and Mark share their reflections

“I went from having no relationships, to having so many people surrounding me that love me. It’s really been those relationships that have gotten me to this point. If it wasn’t for my team and leaders, I would have never grown physically or spiritually as I have.

Im at the point now where I know that it’s not just about summiting; whether I made it or not. This (points at people around the table) is the victory that I have been seeking and searching for. Obviously that (the summit) is something I have been working for and is something I want, but it’s been the relationships that are the most important thing in life I’ve realized. You all are going to be here after Mount Rainier is over. So thank you.”  

~ Matthew Arthur, 2017 Climber

“THIS IS THE PROGRAM. What we have here as a team, who you are now sitting at this table, that’s who you are, that’s what you’ve gotten from this program”

~ Mark Ursino, RBP President

Winter air pours across my exposed neck and face as I reach out to grasp the handle of a large timber-framed door.  Slowly the door creaks open, leading inside a friendly mountain lodge. I move through a few more doors, and finally come to meet the team. It’s almost nine in the evening and the climb team is gathered inside the Timberline Lodge at the base of Mt. Hood, preparing for their first mountain climb. Some are huddled by a stone fireplace keeping warm, others are making final gear adjustments on the floor, and a few pace about, trying to relax before we set-trail. Nervous chatter fills this space. Anticipation, excitement, and fear are palpable between each “hello”.

A few large north-facing windows frame the moment best. I walk over and peer out. Mt. Hood stands tall and silent, covered in crystallized white ice and snow, somber and ready for our arrival.  The mountain is slowly turning a deep blue and orange as the sun fades behind the hills. A beautiful and thrilling sight. I take a deep breath, a moment to calm and center myself. I check my watch, it’s now nine o’clock and time to go. Turning back, I cut through the team’s excited chatter, and announce,  “Alright, it’s time”.

As if we are readying ourselves for battle, we make our final gear preparation, tightening our boots, securing our helmets, adjusting our packs and wielding our ice axes in hand. We are ready to climb. With five months of training behind us, now an entire mountain is looming overhead. For the next few hours we put it all on the line. A four mile trek, and six thousand feet of elevation gain up to the summit. A serious gut-check. An adventure, filled with perseverance, fear, and achievement. We gather for a final briefing, shout our team mantra “No Limits!”, and set up the snowy hill. No turning back now. Off we go into the darkness; one step up at a time.

Mt Hood Summit Team

One month ago, the climb team was on it’s way up the snowy slopes of Mt. Hood, testing it’s limits for the first time.  Our team mantra since our first hike has been “no limits!”, a statement reminding ourselves that we can go farther and do more together. This mantra was put to the test on Mt. Hood. We met our limit that night. Only one program climber made it to the summit. As we sauntered back down the mountain, failure hung overhead and the team was at a crossroads.

“Will we go on? ‘No limits’, really? Can we actually go farther together?” Valid, unspoken questions standing in the face of a newly formed team.

As I look back on the Mt. Hood climb and our ascent upward, I’d like to share my reflections and the story that’s unraveling.

Each year we come to this point. A true test of “team”; a real moment of definition. Everyone reaches Mt. Hood, ready or not, and we climb. Not knowing what the mountain will give us or how the team will perform. And it seems that year after year this mountain becomes a turning point in the story; a real change of perspective.

This year was quite the gut check. To start, before we even arrived at Mt. Hood, two of our program climbers could not climb for a few personal reasons.  Next, we climbed with a strong and constant thirty mile-an-hour wind, sucking the energy right out of us as we hiked. After seven hours of slow climbing, three climbers called it quits only five hundred feet from the summit. Exhausted and freezing, we were down to one program climber out of six. We reached the top through a near-vertical ice chute called “the Pearly Gates”. This was a tough climb.

The Pearly Gates

For those that made it to the top, there was excitement and pride. For those that did not, disappointment and failure. If you do not climb Mt. Hood, you do not continue on. Summiting Mt. Hood is the prerequisite climb to our Mt. Rainier climb in August.

Failure is a part of life, but never easy. This makes life hard. The challenge of failure becomes less about the actual failure itself and more about how we choose to respond in the face of failure. With such little success after a first difficult climb what are we supposed to do next? How would we respond in the face a failure?

As a leader, I have made it very clear that both in climbing and in life, it’s not about the summit of a mountain, but the journey it takes to get there. Often we have no idea what life will give us or what will be around each bend. It’s important we are ready and well supported to take on the challenges that come our way. Sometimes we have to change our plans, adjust, and reset our perspective. We have to take a turn in the road.

For those climbers that did not summit Mt. Hood that night, that was supposed to be the end. After a few days of emails back and forth, we were reminded that “the team” itself was the most important part of the program. We shout “no limits!” before every workout or climb for a reason, and we were going to stick by this mantra. We were a team, summit or not. We were going to stick with it, train harder, and continue on together this year.

Mountains are not easy to climb, that’s why we climb them. They challenge us significantly in each faculty of our being. Since Mt. Hood each climber has reflected on their experience differently. But one underlying theme that’s risen is that we are a team, and we will continue on together. Many have mentioned that their perspective shifted days following that climb. They realized that the team and the relationships they formed are the most important part of this program. That together, with trust and hard work, they can do more together than apart. A turning point in the story; a real change of perspective.

Mt. Rainier comes in 54 days. And 54 days with more twists and turns in this story. But together, we are stronger. “No Limits!” remains our mantra, whether we fail or succeed, we continue forward.

“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves” – Edmund Hillary

The 2017 Climb Team

An ocean of clouds spilling over the vast landscape below, coated in a warming generous sunrise; a view only given to the few that journey ten thousand steps upward; only a final switchback to go now. Ice crunching and splintering below each foot; an ice axe in hand, holding vertigo at bay. Exhausted, a team of women and men take their final strides upward to the anticipated summit. A finale, a crescendo of accomplishment begins to play louder and louder in the background. Washington’s highest mountain top, a jagged ice-dome, towering over 14,000 feet, is conquered. The iconic Mt. Rainier is topped. This cohort breathes heavy and breathes deep, beaming with euphoric enthusiasm and celebrating as they reach this unprecedented height. These courageous fighters do the seemingly impossible, and accomplish a goal they set out for months before.

The summit of any mountain can best be understood by the journey in which it’s reached. There is more to this “summit” than meets the eye. Understanding the beginning of this story is important and for these climbers, the journey upward started a long time ago.

– – –

For the past six years, Climbing Out has trained, mentored, and journeyed up mountains with recovering addicts; helping them achieve goals beyond anything they ever thought possible. Our program uses climbing mountains as both a literal and figurative metaphor for the effort required to turn one’s life around. Each year, we partner with year-long recovery programs in Washington State, inviting men and women to join this climbing program. Our purpose goes beyond normal recovery approaches, adding physical fitness, personal achievement, and the highest level of teamwork and commitment to one’s personal recovery. We finish the year with a final summit of Mt. Rainier, a five day ascent as the culminating event of achievement.

This year, five program climbers from Tacoma Rescue Mission have joined the 2017 team. They have been training and climbing since November and are already making significant strides in their recovery. Their sights are set on the ultimate physical task of climbing Mt. Rainier. Through sustained hard work and support from a team, by August this year we hope each climber stands atop that snowy giant. I would like to briefly introduce you to the team, and as we journey through the summer ahead, you will hear more from each climber, the significance of this upward “climb” for them, and the heights we travel along the way.

• Abi Brewer, from Lakewood, WA, is a mother and an aspiring tattoo artist. She seeks to one day share her story and help others that have found themselves struggling like she once did. For her, the climb team has shown that she can do more than she thinks she can, creating hope toward becoming the type of mother and woman she wants to become.

• Matthew Arthur loves learning life lessons through training and climbing. “Doing things I don’t want to do, putting in the hard work, ends up showing up in other areas of my life” said Matthew. As he continues to grow, his goal is to build life changing relationships to help him move forward; becoming the best father for his daughter and eventually go back to school near Tacoma, WA where he grew up.

• Steve Dempsey, originally from central Idaho, is finding success and recovery this year in his program at Tacoma Rescue Mission and being a part of the climbing team. “I have realized the importance of team in my recovery process and that I can push myself further than I thought with the help of God and others.” Steve’s goals forward are to stay sober, go back to school, and have healthy relationships with his family and God.

• Tisha Moore, has a determined spirit, challenging herself to keep pushing every step of the way. Growing up in Pierce County, Tisha intends on joining a machinist’s apprenticeship program after graduating. When asked what her favorite part of the climb team is, Tisha said “It’s the amazing feeling of reaching each goal with teamwork, consistency and perseverance”
• Christian Winterholler, from Kent, WA, desires to be the best hardworking and loving father for his two sons. He keeps showing up to the climb team even when it’s been uncomfortable. With determined patience and holding a positive outlook, he is finding that hurdles in life can be overcome. Teamwork has also been a new life lesson for Christian. As challenges arise, whether in climbing or in life, he has begun to allow others to help him up along the way.

We each have our mountains in life; some small, and some large; each with its own necessary training, jagged peaks to scale, and potential unforeseen hazards along the way. We have learned through our Climbing Out Program, that it takes a team to climb up and over these hills; we cannot do it alone. As this team journeys toward Mt. Rainier in the months ahead, I invite you to look on, be inspired by these five climbers, and consider your own personal mountain ahead and the team required to climb it. We believe the view from the top is definitely worth the ten thousand steps upward.

See you out on the trail…