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The mountain has a way of checking our soul, of challenging us on multiple levels all at once.
We met David Allen at Snowbasin this year. He was strong, fit and capable, a gym owner, former athlete and powerlifter.. He always smiled when we referred to him as “Dr. David Allen” when he would return to the base of the mountain to brand his board. (Sidenote: David’s not a “doctor” but his name sure made us think of one from a daytime soap opera.)
At the Ascent Board, we see participants multiple times. At Snowbasin, participants come through the base as many as 13 times in their quest to conquer Everest.
We didn’t think much of “Dr. David Allen” other than a guy with a great smile going home with a red hat on his head……until Colleen received a DM from him the following Tuesday……David wanted to connect with Coach Derek who had helped him on the mountain. Colleen asked him how he was feeling and made a “Doctor” joke……..His response took her back….He said……"My body feels fine, I’m a little sore but not any more than a normal workout. Emotionally I’m completely wrecked.”
David had been invited by a friend to take on what he thought would be the physical challenge of climbing 29,029 feet. He was shocked to find himself emotionally torn open by the experience and really wasn’t prepared on where to go from there.
Listen and subscribe for more inspiring content from our 29029 Community. Learn more about 29029 Everest events https://29029everesting.com/https://29029everesting.com/.
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Editor's Note: We aren't just talking about climbing 29,029 at one of our 6 - 29029 mountain events (though we are going to do that too)......We are talking about THE REAL MOUNT EVEREST! Enjoy!
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Let’s talk about your dreams and ambitions……I know you have some! Maybe they are in the form of a bucket list item that you want to check off before you leave this life behind. Maybe they seem unattainable but for some reason you still can’t get them out of your head.
What if you actually got off the couch and started making those dreams happen? Where would you start? How would you get there? Would people support you? What would it feel like to look back and realize you made that dream a reality.
Grace Lee was tiny and mighty when she showed up to 29029 Stratton in 2021. She had an easy smile and a giggle and a wide-eyed wonder for the challenge in front of her.
Little did any of us know that just a year earlier, Grace was sitting on her couch when she decided she was going to climb the Seven highest summits on the seven continents of the world. She had watched a documentary….she was inspired.
Oh, but Grace isn’t a mountaineer. She didn’t ever go to the gym or play sports. She disliked the cold, camping and heights.
Grace is literally working herself from the couch to Everest. What is it going to take? Who will support her? How is she going to make this dream a reality? You’re about to find out, but watch out Grace’s dreams are contagious…..
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If I can climb 29,029 feet in 36 hours, with very little sleep and live to tell the tale…..What else can I do?
If you are signed up for 29029 get ready to ask yourself this question when you get home from the mountain. It’s inevitable. Doing hard things is a key that unlocks future potential. We gain a great perspective of what might be possible when we take on the seemingly impossible and find success.
The tale we have to tell you today didn’t actually start on the mountain, but the mountain was pivotal in setting the course for this adventure.
Ben Towill and Charlie Layton have a close relationship. They are friends and business partners, but this test had nothing to do with business and everything to do with rowing a two-man boat thousands of miles from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic to the tiny Western Caribbean Island of Antigua.
It’s probably important to note that Ben isn’t a rower, neither is Charlie. They jumped feet first into a challenge that most people would say they had no business even attempting.
Not to spoil the ending, but they make it and pull out of port wearing a 29029 RED hat!
So let’s go back to that red hat, the first one Ben earned in Snowbasin 2021, when Ben and Charlie were still testing their relationship.
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Most 80 year old men you find sitting comfortably in a recliner surrounded by their grandchildren telling stories of adventures long past. Jim Fisher is not one of those 80 year old men. Jim is still seeking adventures, still climbing mountains and still living his life to the fullest.
In 2021, 29029 Alumni Chuck Fisher invited his parents to climb with him in Snowbasin that year. Jim and Mary Fisher were 78 almost 79 years old when they pressed that red registration button.
Jim was an instant celebrity on the mountain. He was the source of a new kind of inspiration in our community. Jim was almost 80 years old but Jim was climbing.
He didn’t complain.
He didn’t stop.
We all watched in awe as he chatted and smiled his way step after step up and down those slopes.
2021 Snowbasin was a challenge for many reasons for Jim and when he left without a red hat a new fire burned inside of him. He had to come back. He needed to find his Everest.
And oh did he come back……..
In June 2022 at the start of our 29029 event season, we invited Jim to speak to our community on a special zoom call. Jim’s message and motivation is just too good not to share with the world.
We hope you are as inspired as we are by Jim Fisher. We hope his message resonates to help you keep climbing your own mountains and seeking out new summits whenever you can….regardless of the birthday you are celebrating this year!
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Have you ever watched a great athlete perform? They can look flawless. Light on their feet. Perfect form. They make everything look effortless.
Whether it's at 29029 or another endurance event it’s easy to see the “front of the pack” and think “how can this be so easy for them”.....”and why isn’t it that easy for me”
I’m not sure what it is that makes us think that those who are winning the races and climbing in front of us are somehow having an easier time. No matter your ability, everyone is covering the same distance and even the best of us have underlying struggles, not visible to the outside world, that threaten to derail our performance.
Amber Conlin was the first woman to find her Everest at Snowbasin #2 in 2022. She was fast and fit, completing 29,029 feet of climbing and 30 miles of distance just after midnight 19 hours after beginning the challenge.
If you were standing at the summit in those dark, early morning hours, you would have seen a mom being greeted by her 4 children, her husband Tyler and her in-laws. All of them beaming and overflowing with pride.
But this 29029 finish was not the only Everest Amber climbed on her way to this point.
We may not always know the battles and challenges that rage on the other side of a smiling face and a brilliant performance, but as we dig below the surface what we uncover can teach us things for our own journey.
Amber can teach us what true happiness is and how she finally found it……not on the mountain…….but within herself!
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American Entrepreneur and Author Jim Rohn is often credited with the saying “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”
So look around.
Who’s in your circle?
Are the people you are spending the most time with people who you look up to; people who you want to be like?
Alvaro Nunez is one of those people you want in your circle.
Beyond his incredible success in business, he is always seeking to live his life to the fullest. He’s waded through the challenges of growing up an emigrant to this country. He worked his way through undergraduate school as a janitor. He had to reset his mind every time life threatened to derail his plans.
Through it all Alvaro developed a mindset that turns his challenges into his super power.
It will come as no surprise that Alvaro seeks to have relationships with people he wants to be like. That’s pretty much how he ended up at 29029 because Alvaro followed the many expeditions and adventures of Colin O’Brady and he got curious.
Then Alvaro found out that Colin was going to be in Miami…….Of course, he invited him to go skydiving.
Want to hear more stories from Alvaro and learn to Level Up your own life? Read his book LEVEL UP
Learn more about 29029 events HERE
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We don’t know about you, but we just can’t get enough of Joannie Rich!
If you haven’t, go back and listen to episode 41 so you can meet Joannie and get a glimpse of why she owns 13 red hats and plans to keep climbing.
Joannie is a wealth of knowledge not only on the mountain but at home too. She is generous with her time taking calls and answering messages from participants in our community. It’s part of what makes her such a legend.
While we had Joannie in the podcast hot seat, we figured it was a great time to get some answers to those questions everyone is always asking her. Enjoy a little bonus episode with Joannie Rich.
Find out more about 29029 Everesting HERE
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When most people sign up for 29029 they get used to being asked “but Why?”
Why in the world would you want to climb the same mountain for 36 hours?
Why would you want to put yourself through that?
Why would you climb in the rain, the sun, the dark, the snow?
Why would you dedicate so much of your time to earn a red hat?
Joannie Rich has been asked “why” more times than she can remember. That’s probably because she was the first 29029 participant in 2021 to wear a black bib, signifying that she had completed 3 previous events. She didn’t stop there, not even close.Joannie went on to become the first participant to earn the designation of “10-time finisher” in 2023. Remember, when the co-founders started 29029, they didn’t even know if people would come back more than once.
To date, Joannie has come back 13 times, climbed every single mountain we’ve offered and has never gone home without a red hat.
Whether she likes it or not Joannie has become a legend on the mountain. She’s fun-sized and fierce and always has the perfect outfit for her final lap of the weekend. 29029 wouldn’t be the same without her and with this little peek behind the curtain you’ll realize why Joannie’s answer to why is usually “why not!”
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On December 12, 2023 the three 29029 Co-Founders (Marc Hodulich, Jesse Itzler and Colin O’Brady) sat down to welcome our community to a new year and a new season!
Each of these men lives and breathes endurance sports. It’s not just their business, it is their lives.
Their takeaways for how to plan, prepare and balance a massive goal like 29029 is just what you need to hear as you prepare for a new year of challenges in your own life.
No matter what mountains you are facing in this new season, know that when you lean into a community and open yourself up to new and uncomfortable experiences, you will grow into a newer, better version of yourself.
NOTE: Jesse’s wifi didn’t seem to have gotten the memo that it’s almost 2024 and we aren’t using 1996 dial-up anymore, so forgive us for some of the audio.
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The hardest thing about producing this podcast is that all of our participants at 29029 have a story. They have REALLY good stories. We are going to keep sharing those stories with you month after month and season after season.....but every once in a while there is a story that transcends the others.
A story that epitomizes what 29029 stands for.
Jon Samnick has been climbing mountains with 29029 for a long time. When Jon started there were no red hats, no red carpets…..there weren’t even coaches or training plans. There was just a mountain and newly formed community that was about to change everything for Jon.
Jon talks of how he is drawn to 29029. He’s open to the experiences the mountain presents to him. He’s not there for the red hat or some finish line.
He’s there to “make it meaningful”.
Listen and subscribe for more inspiring stories from our 29029 Community!
Find out more about 29029 Everesting HERE
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So! You signed up for 29029. Now what?
Maybe you are nervous.
Maybe you are excited.
Maybe you are even a bit scared…..okay you might be REALLY scared.
All of those emotions are okay!
You just signed up to climb 29,029 feet up a mountain in 36 hours. That’s big, but we promise you are going to love it!
Unlike other endurance events, 29029 will be different. You are going to be fully supported and surrounded by a community of like-minded individuals who are seeking to be their best and want to support you in the same journey.
One of the first people you will have the privilege of meeting and interacting with on this wild ride, is our Head Coach, Brent Pease. Brent is a brother, a husband, a father, a multi-sport athlete and coach. When he isn’t pushing his brother Kyle’s racing chair to the finish line of an Ironman or advocating for inclusion in sport for athletes with disabilities, Brent is writing 29029 training plans and answering your questions!
Brent is a huge reason why so many red hats now dot the world. He is one of the most experienced coaches in the country and has lived and breathed 29029 since our first event in 2017.
We figured there was no one better to help you feel confident in your decision to climb 29029 than him!
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If you ever have the chance to come to 29029, I hope that you take a moment to just observe.
Watch, listen and just feel…..You'll recognize something profound……29029 has little to do with climbing a mountain.
Of course, on Friday morning at 6am we blow an airhorn and send a 250 people climbing….So yes. There’s definitely a mountain involved.
But what you see, hear and feel at 29029 has everything to do with the people who are there, not the mountain they are climbing.
It’s this special community of mostly strangers embarking on a chance of a lifetime together.
Grace Henrikson found herself signed up for 29029 right before the world would lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. What’s so cool about Grace’s story is that since her first 29029 event (allbeit a virtual one) she has been a part of creating the community we all all benefit from today.
Today Grace owns 3 red hats and has volunteered on the mountain just as many times as she has climbed. Grace’s story is 29029’s story. A story of resilience, strength, commitment and a whole lot of fun!
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Part of my job as the host and emcee at 29029 events is getting to know the participants who take on the challenge to find their Everest. Over the 4 days that I get to spend with them, I typically get a good read on who they are and some of the roads and backroads they have traveled before climbing our mountains. Each one of them has a story and I see it as my job to unlock a bit of that narrative to help create powerful moments on the mountain.
But sometimes I don’t see the whole story. This was one of those times.
I first met Chris Bystriansky in 2021 at Snowbasin. He was a guy with a great smile and fun personality climbing with his buddies. He struggled and eventually called it a day 3 ascents short of his Everest. \
In 2022, he was back on the mountain in Snowbasin. I knew he had recently moved his family to Orlando with his wife and two young daughters. He and Alison split up their 29029 events between the two Snowbasin weekends that year so one of them would be home with the kids. Alison earned her red hat at Snowbasin #1 and Chris was back for redemption at Snowbasin #2. Again, he was charming and happy. He dug deep and this time conquered his Everest on that mountain.
It wasn’t until months later that Chris sent me a book he had written. When I opened the package and looked at the front cover I saw that familiar grin from the mountain……but then I saw something I didn’t expect. Something I hadn’t realized even after watching Chris climb a total of 23 ascents up Snowbasin in the past two years. On the front cover Chris was holding two artificial hip joints…..Just like his artificial hip joints. Chris not one but two artificial hips!
How does a 39 year old man handle 2 hip replacement surgeries in 18 months with a wife and a small child? How does someone come back from a major surgery and rehabilitation like that to complete multiple Ironman triathlons and climb two 29029 events….when before that being athletic but not an endurance athlete!
It’s a mindset and one that we would all benefit from.
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We all create stories in our minds. Some of those stories take the form of wishes and dreams.....maybe hopes and visions for the future.
But let’s be honest, some of those stories aren’t fairytales.
Some of our stories that we create are rooted in fear, shame, vulnerability and served up with a healthy helping of doubt.
Some of the stories you have told yourself about yourself are so unkind you would never speak something like that to someone else.
But yet……those are the stories that seem to play the loudest on a loop in your head.....especially when you attempt something outside of your comfort zone.
Julie Traxler wanted to climb the mountain at 29029. She wanted to wear the red hat. She wanted to watch the brands on the ascent board add up until on Saturday, she would stand atop her Everest at Stratton Mountain Vermont.
Julie hadn’t even started to climb on Friday when the stories she was telling herself…..not the fairytale and rainbow stories…..but the shameful, hateful poisonous stories......started to play over and over in her mind.
Julie’s experience at 29029 is raw and blissfully unfiltered. It is a story of a woman who saw the parts of herself that she hated the most reflected right back to her in the mirror that was her mountain.
The work that it takes to climb the mountains in our lives is hard. Sure, we love to share the beautiful pictures with breathtaking landscapes and exhausted happy people wearing red hats. We all love a good ending.
But to only share those images and those stories does not do justice to the journey that takes place inside the messy middle when we choose climb.
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Ready to find your Everest? Learn more about 29029 HERE
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If you’ve listened or followed this podcast before you know we talk a lot about “the why”. Why do we climb? Why do we choose to voluntarily put ourselves in a position to struggle in order to climb the vertical feet of mountain Everest.
Every single participant who presses that red registration button on the 29029 website is there for a different reason. We have participants show up with perfect clarity as to what they are seeking to find and accomplish through their 29029 experience. Others seem to find their why as they train over 20 weeks. Sometimes the realization of “why” develops as the 36 hour clock begins to count down on that Friday morning.
We see these “whys” all over the mountain. They are written on the back of t-shirts and pinned to hydration packs. They are carried in pockets or opened from envelopes. We’ve seen them written on arms and tucked tightly into hearts.
29029 isn’t about climbing a mountain over and over again, it’s all about why you are choosing to be there.
Mike Parnell had a why! He was going to climb 29029 vertical feet at Stratton Mountain in Vermont October 2021 and he was going to do it in the name of his young daughter Ryan who suffers from a rare autoimmune disease.
Though he raised over 100,000 dollars in Ryan’s honor, Mike didn’t really find out why he was on the mountain until after he left.
A chance meeting and an off-handed comment at the awards dinner would propel Mike through a door he never knew existed.....nor did he realize that 29029 was the key.
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When you create something new like 29029 you never know what will happen. It’s hard to tell if people are going to buy into the idea that climbing up a mountain for 36 hours over a weekend to try to reach the vertical gain of Mt. Everest is a good idea or not.
In 2017 when 29029 was launched, it was a small group of people who were known for enjoying crazy experiences. They loved it! Of course they did. In 2018 as the brand expanded to include an additional location in Snowbasin Utah a larger community had the opportunity to experience this new everesting concept. By 2019 and the pandemic year of 2020, 29029 Everesting had a full-blown community. There were alumni returning to the mountain each season. Those alumni were wearing their red hats and 7 summit triangle shirts. 29029 was growing.
Sitting here years later, it’s impossible to imagine our summers without the mountain. What started as a crazy idea that may or may not have work has become our passion.
Jenny Levison (or Souper Jenny as many of her Restaurant customers in Atlanta know) is one of those individuals who has been there since almost the very beginning. She too didn’t know quite what this 29029 experiment was……
But in the years between Jenny’s first climb in 2018 to today, as she is preparing to take on the mountain for her 4th time, she’s found something she can’t quite let go of…..
Jenny is going to take us back to the early days of 29029 and recount the moments and lessons the mountain has provided in her life. Though Jenny has never had the opportunity to place a red hat on her head……yet……..she comes back for more than that token of completion. She climbs for herself and for the people who tirelessly show up ascent after ascent and year after year as she’s chosen to just keep climbing.
Learn more about 29029 HERE
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Beginning in 2017, we have had a front-row seat to 1000s of individuals who have found their way to their own personal Everests while climbing 29029. We can share story after story of participants who found a bigger and better version of themselves in 20 weeks of training and over those 36 hours struggling up the slopes of a mountain. It’s inspiring to see people literally transform before your eyes into more than they ever thought they could be.
Over the past few seasons we’ve seen the reasons why people choose to climb, broaden and expand. While self-mastery is still a big motivator to take on the challenge of climbing 29,029ft, participants are showing up for far greater reasons than just themselves. We’ve seen people raise 100s of thousands of dollars for charitable foundations and personal causes. The impact of their 29029 experience rippling throughout their communities and the world.
Participants are using their own physical and mental strength not just to change themselves but to motivate all of us to step up to the challenge of creating a better world.
Dayna Boshard came to the mountain from a small town in Southern Utah with a big purpose. Her goal was to help children and families who lived, literally, in the shadow of Mt. Everest. Her climb would benefit their daily climb…. She had seen the faces of the Nepalese children struggling for basic skills and opportunity. They hadn’t signed up for the mountain they were asked to climb every day of their lives. But Dayna did and she was able to use 29029 to build something life-changing in a country she’s never stopped foot in.
Eternal Hope International -
It's 5:30pm on a Saturday in mid August 2019. 250 individuals have used the preceding 35 and 1/2 hours to test themselves on the slopes at Snowbasin Resort, Utah. Each attempting to complete 29,029 feet of vertical gain or mimicking the vertical accumulation of climbing from sea level to the top of Mt. Everest.
Though the event technically has another 30 minutes until its official 36-hour cut off time, most participants are back at their tents, showered, eating dinner and many are sporting new red hats. They completed the event.
But the mountain is far from empty. There is still one participant on that mountain. He left the base aid station just over 15 minutes ago and is attempting to complete his fastest lap of the last 36 hours before that clock rolls over to 6:00 pm and his time is up.
He is not alone.
Flanked by volunteers, 29029 staff, friends and colleagues, 29029 Co-Founder Marc Hodulich and Head Coach Brent Pease if he's going to make it, he is going to have to run.
What transpires in the next 30 minutes has become legend in the 29029 Community. Even those who weren't there know this story and are heard asking, "Did you hear about that guy in Snowbasin 2019? What was his name?"
His name is Kyle McClung and this is his 29029 Story!
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In 2021, Colleen, the host and emcee for the 29029 events, stepped off her flight to Albany, New York on the way to Stratton Mountain for another epic weekend. As she made her way down to baggage claim without realizing that two sets of eyes were following her gray 29029 hoodie down the escalator.
The owners of those eyeballs soon found some courage asked her if she was, in fact, Colleen "The Voice of the Mountain" at 29029. They introduced themselves as Joe Curtain and Mario Minnaert.
At that moment a friendship was forged, a selfie was taken and the first of many jokes about Mario’s choice in luggage….it was a full-fledged lady-bag you’ve seen your grandma using.....began. Colleen watched Joe and Mario conquer their Everests at Stratton that year and then watched Mario take the mountain and continue to climb.
Whether with his coaching business, his new podcast or the 100 mile race he would go on to complete….The lessons of the mountain went with Mario when he flew back home and they should remain with us too!
The powerful experiences that 29029 creates for participants, volunteers and even spectators are ones that can help propel each of us up the next mountain we will face.......because we all know there are always more mountains to climb.Don't miss an episode of the 29029 Podcast. Click to subscribe. Want more inspirational stories from the mountain. Find them here.
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How many times in life have you been willing to commit to doing something that you didn’t know the outcome? I’m talking about committing to a project that you didn’t know if you could handle. A deadline that would stretch you so thin you risked failure.
Generally, we don’t commit to things we are not confident we can complete. But that’s just our comfort zone. Where’s the growth in that? If we only set out to do things we know we are good at and we can “finish” we miss all the things we could be successful at.29029 is a safe place to fail.
It’s not that we don’t love red hats and celebrating climbing the vertical feet of Mount Everest. It’s that we recognize a finish line doesn’t define anyone. In fact, some of the most powerful lessons we’ve learned over the years aren’t from participants donning red bibs and hats. They are the lessons we’re taught by the people who are willing to push forward despite no hope for an Everest summit.
Meg Louvin has never worn red in her two times on the mountain. She doesn’t know what it feels like to crest the mountain on her final lap. What Meg does know just might be more powerful....that 29029 is not just about Everest, it's about all the summits in between.
We don’t go to battle against anyone else on the mountain except ourselves. If you are willing to take a giant step outside of your comfort zone you can redefine every other challenge in your life.
Just ask Meg…….
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