It’s a special moment in entrepreneurship and in climbing when setbacks and persistence finally yield to progress. Breakthroughs require careful preparation, learning, and the willingness to show up until the conditions, the team, and the strategy align.
Read MoreI love this story about what George Soros said to Byron Wein:
'The trouble with you, Byron, is that you go to work every day, and you think that because you go to work every day you should do something.
I don’t go to work every day. I only go to work on the days that make sense to go to work...And I really do something on that day.”
Read MoreWhen my friend Sam Dryden was a senior advisor to the Gates Foundation, he once told me a story: after he was President, Jimmy Carter went on a personal mission to eradicate the Guinea Worm, a terrible parasite in West Africa that infected millions of children. It was easy to cure kids of the Guinea worm – just teach them not to drink the dirty water where the parasites live.
The problem was that in all these African villages, there was a Witchdoctor who made a living selling some useless tribal remedy to the local families. Curing the Guinea Worm with education threatened the Witchdoctor’s business, and they fought President Carter and his colleagues everywhere they went.
Read MoreIn every valley of the alpine regions on Earth, there is a distinctive culture – it’s one reason why these places are marvelous to visit. After a guided trip, Clients can accurately describe the differences between the cultures in the Val Gardena and Arco, or between Aspen and Telluride. Mountain Guides embody the culture of their valley. They are responsible for curating it for clients and for maintaining it for the next generation of Guides.
Read MoreKen and Patti Ferrin taught me to heliski. I was already an aspirant ski guide and a decent powder skier when I first met them on the way to the Adamants in 1992, but I’d only been on five or six CMH trips and I didn’t yet understand the nuance of the lodge culture. Ken and Patti embodied the ethos of people that shaped their lives around heliskiing in the Columbia Mountains of Canada, and I had a lot to learn from them.
Read MoreI don’t have much time left in the mountains. I’ve skied and climbed more than 150 days each year since I moved to Colorado in 1985. After forty years here, there’s another 1,000 days for me if I’m lucky, hundreds if I’m not.
Each time I touch rock now is a gift, each powder day a blessing. You’d think after all this time I’d get bored and tired of this stuff. Instead, I’m filled with the same burning desire to climb each morning the sun shines in Boulder.
Read MoreSkiers live for bluebird powder days with our family and friends. But not every day is perfect and what makes us true skiers is not how we perform when conditions are favorable, but when things kinda suck.
No one understood this better than the Mountain Guide and Icon of extreme skiing, Doug Coombs.
Read MoreThroughout modern history, Educated Jews have exerted a pervasive, positive influence on our civilization. Wherever we are, our economic and cultural success elevates the societies we live in. Jews are a litmus test for democracy. In contrast and in every case, places that murder and drive away their Jews are neither free nor successful.
Read MoreIn the spring of 1966, the three greatest American climbers of their generation approached the final pitch of the Eiger Direct North Face. John Harlin, Layton Kor and Royal Robbins knew that their bold ascent of Europe’s most famous face would echo across the Continent with a new message: the Americans were among the best alpinists in the world.
Read MoreMy mentor in the venture business and the Founder of Boulder Ventures, Merc Mercure, prized brevity over all other qualities in our business relationship. Merc believed that clear, focused communication among partners enabled better decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, and reduced ambiguity amidst the chaos of our startup investments.
Read MoreFive to ten times a year, a big storm rolls through the Central Mountains of Colorado. Vail gets crushed with snow and becomes the best place to ski in North America. Being there is one thing but knowing what to do and where to go is another. What matters is your strategy and I’m here to give you two of those for a big powder day.
Read MoreEvery time we dropped a load at the high camp, we’d take the opportunity to go climbing on the peaks to either side of the K2 glacier, a collection of 7,000 meter bumps on the map with no name and no ascent history.
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