I climbed the vertical height of Mount Everest in 36 hours—what I learned
What is your hobby? An innocent question, but one that bothers me.
I have always been a curious person who is interested in learning new things and has a hard time choosing one or two areas to focus on. After years of disappointment, I finally decided that my hobby was “collecting new experiences” and devised a plan: Each year, I would dedicate myself to a few new experiences that would challenge and change me.
I decided to climb Mount Everest in 2025. Almost.
I signed up for an endurance event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming called the 29029 challenge. The idea was to climb a smaller mountain 19 times in 36 hours, climbing a total of 29,029 feet (the vertical equivalent of Everest). Imagine a line of 300 people climbing up a steep hill, riding a chairlift down the hill, and then repeating the cycle continuously for a day and a half.
I was both excited and nauseous as I signed up. I’ve never tried anything close to this. What does it take? Could I dig deep enough when the inevitable pain and doubt came? How can I find time to do the training with a consultant’s travel schedule?
I’m proud to say that I won the coveted Red Hat award, given to participants who complete the event. But that was never the real reward. The real payoff was learning how to become a different version of myself; someone who can fully commit and keep going even when my body (and mind) begs me to stop. This new version of me now emerges better at work and at home.
I write down my commitments to help me keep track
As a consultant, I travel a lot, so there would always be a reason not to do my training. I’ve found that the more I write down exactly what I’m committing to and why, rather than keeping it all in my head, the easier it is to find a way to fit it all in.
I trained in snow, rain and heat for 20 weeks. Early in the morning and late at night in many countries and states. No matter the circumstances, no matter what I was feeling, I just kept showing up. When I stood at the foot of that mountain in Wyoming, I knew I had started working to be prepared for whatever happened.
“The real payoff was learning how to be a different version of myself,” says Ellmer, who “now looks better at work and at home.”
Courtesy of Kristy Ellmer
I now write down all my personal commitments and review them regularly to make sure I keep them in mind. For example, I had a goal to improve my skiing skills over the winter and start doing blue (or intermediate) runs. By writing down this goal and looking at it every week, I was able to spend more time skiing and watching videos on how to get better.
I learned special tactics to maintain my discipline
One technique I discovered was to narrow my focus to the steps immediately ahead of me (just the next workout, or just the next half mile) rather than thinking about the bigger, scarier end goal.
Another technique I discovered was finding value and even enjoyment in the educational process itself. In difficult moments, I convinced myself that they represented free opportunities to improve my mental toughness and resilience.
Since that experience, both techniques have helped me tackle other difficult but necessary tasks at home and at work.
This year I will be participating in the 29029 Trail, which is three mountain marathons completed back to back in three days. That’s an audacious goal for someone new to marathon and trail running.
Each week I review my goal and training plan and put it all on my calendar so all I have to do is have the next step in front of me. When the going gets tough, I remind myself to be present and to value the experience and its contributions to my growth.
I discovered invaluable sources of fuel to keep me going
I surrounded myself with coaches and mentors who had done the Everesting event before and talked to them often. By drawing on their wisdom and experience, I learned new skills, built my self-confidence, and regained my motivation when I was at low points.
“When we embrace climbing, it changes who we are and what we believe we can do,” Ellmer says.
Courtesy of Kristy Ellmer
I also found any reason to celebrate wins along the way, no matter how small. I once celebrated with my husband because didn’t Getting blisters during a training run.
Most importantly, I created a few simple, specific sentences and repeated them to myself often to reiterate to myself why I was taking on this challenge. One of my favorites was: “Let adversity make you stronger.”
I enjoyed the transformation
Transformations, whether personal or organizational, are never easy. When we embrace climbing it changes who we are and what we believe we can do.
I encourage everyone to pursue an experience that will challenge and change them. After climbing that mountain 19 times in 36 hours, I met a new version of myself. Because of the work I do and the discipline I maintain in both endeavors, my identity now consists of endurance athlete and best-selling author.
I am now ready to overcome challenges that I could not have imagined a year ago.
Kristy R. Ellmer He is managing director and senior partner of BCG, former chief transformation officer, and co-author of “How Change Really Works: Seven Science-Based Principles to Transform Your OrganizationHe leads BCG’s transformation practice and is one of the founders of BCG’s Behavioral Science Laboratory. TED Talk His speech on navigating change with confidence has been seen by more than half a million people, and he has spoken at companies such as Kroger, Valley Bank, Whirlpool, Aetna, Hershey, BHP and J.Crew.
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