u/Hot_Operation7166

On July 4th, 2024 I summited my first mountain. That mountain was Mt. Blue Sky in Colorado. My dad had invited to leave our Midwest town and join him ln a work trip to Denver. I was 16 going on 17 and starting my junior year of high school in only a few weeks time. I told my dad I wanted to see the mountains when we were there, I wanted to climb one but we didn’t have the time or physical capability to do so. So we didn’t, we took a shuttle tour to the top of Mt. Blue Sky that lasted a few hours, and over those few hours I developed a deep understanding and love for the landscape. I cannot explain the feeling of sitting at the top of the mountain, though I’m sure it’s a feeling all of you could say you’re familiar with. From that moment forward, I was vividly aware of the fact that I would never be fulfilled again unless I sitting on top of a mountain, or climbing one.

Three months ago, I graduated high school. I turn 19 in a few days and start collage in my home town in a little over a week. On August first I returned to Indiana from a week long solo trip in Colorado. It was an incredible experience. I spent time backpacking in the maroon bells, Indian peaks, and RMNP, which I can truly say was transformative. That trip was a few years in the making, hundreds of unsuccessful pitches to friends, hours a day of training and even more hours a day working to afford all the gear I needed.

But none of the backpacking was as fulfilling as climbing Mt. Ypsilon. I slept in a YMCA parking lot, woke up a 3am to make the hour and a half drive to the trail head, and spent 3 hours working my way up the mountain with company from 3 very friendly Swedish men. The weather was terrible, I was freezing and the wind felt like it would blow you off your feet if you would let it. It sucked and I loved it so much. I couldn’t stop smiling. Each time I looked up from the boulder field and into the clouds that blocked our view I would almost start crying. I knew that I was home, and I knew that that urge I had to climb when I sat on top of blue sky at 16 could only be fulfilled by climbing something bigger next time.

Now I’m aware this class 2 13500ft peak was a hike, not a climb, so please don’t scold me. But what I do know now is that I need to do more. I need to be on a real mountain, where my decisions have real consequences and where my hard work reaps rewards.

Now this leads me to my ask for advice: What can I do, as a young man from the Midwest stuck here for another 4 years to set myself up for a life in the mountains? People in this town don’t leave, they settle down and let the passions of their childhood leave for the safety of a good job, a wife, 2 kids, a big television, golf… but I’m going straight and choosing life. I want to be like all of you, so tell me: what hard work did you do to get you where you’re at, so I can do it too.

Thank you for reading, and best wishes

This was a nice clutch

Anyone else surprised with their lack of Jace pulls in reality fracture?

Tom Sawyer just came on at work and I perked up like a retired drug dog at a Grateful Dead concert

I was the only one who appreciated this gem after a night of drinking

Advice for a young (aspiring) mountaineer

PB Creek smallmouth :)

four pass in late July- are thermals essential?

Trading my 2017 lexus is 350 for a Baja… good or bad idea?

Road tripping at 18, tell me some must see places and hikes (US West)