Above The Clouds!

 

 

*** many amazing pictures and live video below...

Last weekend, Benjy and 9 of his good friends accomplished their adventurous goal of climbing Iztaccíhuatl (a legendary mountain just outside of Mexico City). This mountain towers over 5000 meters/17,000 feet and is a beautiful and majestic sight to see.

I am filled with pride for these guys and still get shivers and close to tears every time I see the pictures, hear the stories, or reflect on the life lessons that go hand in hand with an accomplishment of this nature.

To be honest, when this idea first surfaced I was just a little nervous about it. After seeing the pictures, my instincts had every right to feel that uneasiness. This was no "hike" - it was the real deal...and the guides that took this group up, applauded them for their courage and determination. "Many set out to reach the top and just cannot make it. It is very common for them to turn back and head down. Even under these weather conditions, you made it to the top and that says a lot about you"

All of us who stayed home and cheered them on had no idea what they were getting themselves into. I don't think they did either :) The pictures will take your breath away - the video will inspire you and allow you to hear and see the conditions they climbed in - the beauty of the mountain will awe you. These men worked together and had an experience that they will never forget and that will serve them in their heart and soul for the rest of their lives. Several, if not all of them, would describe this as the most difficult physical feat they have ever had to overcome. They set out to reach four summits and fought through rain, hail, snow and wind to get to the top of one of the 5000 meter summits. Although they desired to continue on to the following summits, their guides turned them back due to an oncoming storm.  They followed their suggestion and headed back down, victorious!

The pictures themselves will speak, and say all that needs to be said about their experience! But I will give a little commentary to guide you through the climb.  And for the record, there were many more amazing pics taken... I had a hard time selecting these few (ha,ha) for this post....

The task at hand!

 

Beginning the climb...

 

 

The best of friends...

 

Approaching snow - changing to warmer gear...

 

Beginning to get a little steeper...

 

 

Keeping hydrated... 

(anyone who knows my husband knows that it is a cardinal sin for him to share a drink with anyone - except for me or his boys - but I laughed so hard when he confessed to me that under the intense circumstances of this climb, he felt it unacceptable to refuse the request from his professional guide to share a sip of his gatorade!!!)

 

Up and up and up....

 

Keeping their eyes on the goal...

 

Looking back at how far they'd come...still going up...

 

They reached this refuge and settled in for the night - the altitude was so high that little sleep occurred - having to remind your own body to breath...many if not all suffered some kind of side effect to the altitude (headaches, exhaustion, vomiting or naseau)

 

Up at 3am to continue the climb...

 

Gearing up for the more serious stuff...

 

Horrible weather acted as an obstacle but didn't stop them....

 

Almost, almost there....above the clouds!!!

 

 

 

At the top!!

 

Group shot of this amazing accomplishment!

 

Attempting to press on to the next summit (a few hundred meters higher) but the guide suggested they head back down due to the extreme weather and oncoming storm.  The picture shows the poor visibility.

 

Congratulations to Benjy, James, Jorge, Cory, Chadd, Alejandro, Lad, Zane, Jose Luis, and Zane for an inspiring job well done.  We are so proud of you!!!

Please enjoy this video put together by James!

Iztaccíhuatl and the Shaping Power of Adventure from James Henderson on Vimeo.