Hardwear Sessions

With only one good arm and the painful process of recovery in front of me, the thought of returning to the mountains, especially high altitude mountaineering, brought only regret and doubt. Until my wife, my long time climbing partner, told me she was climbing Denali with or without me. I realized that only the circumstances had changed and that I could and must adapt. I also realized that if I had these self doubts from my wounds, other wounded service members must feel the same. So I resolved to climb Denali in the company of likeminded wounded warriors. It wouldn't be an easy task if our bodies were fully intact, so I'm anticipating this climb to have a few challenges in wait for us. But I will not accept my wounds as a reason to forego my dreams. My arm may no longer perform as it once did, but my spirit and some ingenuity will overcome that obstacle. I had promised my wife many years ago that we would find a way to climb Denali. This wasn't quite the method I had intended, but perhaps someone up there had a plan all along. It's been a tough year but now it's time to turn misfortune into opportunity, and not just for me.

Photo Courtesy of Marc Hoffmeister

I got an email from my dad recently. It was accompanied an article by Ian Shive entitled "A Week on North America's Highest Mountain with Denali's Search and Rescue Team." The email text was to the point, all it said "When is departure date? How much time do you have left to enjoy this life???". I had to laugh for a moment as I realized how many times that thought has passed through my mind...every day of the 18 months I've spent in a combat zone....every patrol spent agonizing over where the next IED would be...every day that I spent in a hospital fighting to survive the wounds inflicted by the roadside bomb I didn't see. The answer is very simple...one more time! Don't misinterpret me. I'm not fatalistic, rash or irresponsible, I carry the extra gear required to maintain my team's margin of safety. But I also recognize that life is what we make it and fear alone is not a reason to avoid pursuit of a goal.

Photo Courtesy of Marc Hoffmeister

Climbing Denali for our team is about confronting our fears and moving beyond them in a mission of rediscovery. We are not hardened, professional mountaineers the likes of which you read about within these blogs, although we aspire to be. Our true goal is to inspire others with the story of our team, our recovery, our expedition and our goals for the future. I hope our aspirations will motivate others with similar obstacles to aggressively pursue their dreams. Thanks to Mountain Hardwear, we have the ability to achieve our goal.

Team Members: Marc Hoffmeister, U.S. Army, Matt Nyman, U.S. Army Jon Kuniholm, USMC, Dave Shebib, U.S. Army, Robert Haines (support climber), Gayle Hoffmeister (support climber)