Amid these challenging times, it strikes me how lessons learned climbing mountains over 14,000 feet might be applicable to getting through this pandemic. Mountain climbing, like this pandemic, is a long, hard and often lonely slog, with much that is out of our control.
When I first began climbing mountains over 14,000 feet nearly 25 years ago, I quickly learned three things mountain climbers do frequently and almost by instinct.
They frequently Encourage one another! Mountain climbers are always telling each other “You look Good! You’re doing Great! You’re looking Strong!” Even if your climbing partner looks weak, you encourage each other. In times like this encouragement is not just kind, it’s essential.
We all need hope and help believing in ourselves and our ability to press on and survive. Never tell someone, no matter how bad they look, “You look tired”. To do so is to feed defeat, and there’s never talk of defeat on a big mountain. Exhaustion is always ready to lurch into people’s minds, so we must be purposeful to not feed it. We are often stronger than we think we are, so we call out the best in our friends: “You’re doing Great! You’re looking Good! You’re looking Strong!”
We Challenge each other, especially when someone starts to give up. This is tricky because there has to be some minimum level of trust and respect for someone to accept you pushing them. Since it would be dangerous to leave each other, I recall saying “We’ve come too far to stop. I’m going to the top and You’re Coming With Me! You can do this! Let’s Go!” And waving a friendly fist: “Or this is going to be your Santa Claus!” Real friends challenge each other.
We Secure each other, Steady each other and Provide Confidence when our friends are in a precarious position. An indelible memory of this came from the first time I had to cross a narrow ledge alongside a huge drop. A good friend tied a rope around me, put it around his back, held it firm with both hands, dug his feet in, and said with assuring confidence: “Go ahead. I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall.”
While climbing Mt. Rainer, a few years later, one of the toughest endurance climbs in the lower 48, I learned two additional climbing techniques that seem applicable to today.
The first is how to Rest; it’s called the “rest-step”. Big mountains take a lot out of us, and at high altitudes, you can’t constantly press forward; you have to step and rest, and step and rest, and step and rest. Unless you’re a machine, making it up big mountains requires giving yourself a lot of little breaks. A number of folks think they’re tough, but making it to the top of big mountains requires more: you must care for and allow your muscles, heart and soul time to rest.
The last and one of the most important techniques is to Feed Good Food to our muscles and mind in the form of pressure-breathing. High altitude climbs require very purposefully pushing all the old air out of your lungs so you can breathe in fresh, oxygen rich air. No matter how strong and tough you are, or think you are, it’s highly unlikely you’ll make it to the summit of a tall mountain, and back again, without feeding good food to your muscles, heart and soul.
So, whatever struggles you may be going through, my hope and prayer is that as you continue to press forward you’ll be purposeful to feed your heart and soul good food, be encouraged by little things, rest from striving every now and then, and receive at least a little peace knowing God won’t let you fall and has good things in store for you. You’ll see. You’re doing great! You’re looking good! You can do this!