Last weekend, Sophie and I had an experience of a lifetime. Also, an experience I can say with pretty high confidence that I will never do again. We climbed and summited Mount Chachani (19,872 feet) - technically we were 50 feet off as ice on some very high and cliffy parts were, determined by our guide as, too dangerous. I am going to share a recap of the 21 hours and the lessons learned.
Friday night, May 10th we took naps after class and were picked up at the house we live at 9:00pm. We drove from 7,500 feet to 16,500 in three hours on about the bumpiest and most remote road you could imagine. After one hour of acclimatizing and preparing our gear we took off in the dead of night. It was below freezing and while the temperature did not change a whole lot, our internal ones absolutely did. The same coat that kept me comfortable in -30 degree weather in Minnesota didn't do much against oxygen deprived 20-degree weather on the mountain. Never have I shivered so much.
Sophie, I, and five other students along with two incredible guides took the slowest steps imaginable towards the summit. We took breaks against rocks to block the wind for water, aspirin or "soroche" pills to thin our blood, scarce amounts of food as eating is nearly impossible, to take naps (Sophie did while sitting up and even had a dream) and to breathe huge and deep breathes, searching for any oxygen. For the science minds out there: effective O2in the air at sea level is almost 21%, in Arequipa where we live - 15.6%, at 16,500 - 11.2%, and less than 10% at the top. Everest is around 7%. The terrain consisted of some boulders, a lot of gravel and sand, and a tiny bit of snow for the last hour. The actual trail wasn't too difficult besides the mental aspect of zigzagging up for 11 hours straight.
At the top right before noon our group was down to the guide (who has led teams for National Geographic and has found sacrificed Incans in the mountains), one other student, and us. Less than 30 minutes from the summit turned to one hour of learning simple rope and crampon skills to search for a safe trail and eventually return down from the unusual amount ice. Call it a summit. We made it back down in less than two hours, or in other words nine hours faster. The altitude, the cold, and the little sleep gave us colds and knocked us out hard for 13 hours of sleep. Worth it, yes. Do it again, no.
There was a lot of time to think hiking up Chachani. These thoughts ranged from prayers, to moral and character lessons, to the crazies that summit higher mountains that require real climbing, to remembering to breathe deep, and to the comforts of returning down. I will touch on the lessons learned.
Never have I done something so difficult. Sure, maybe I should have trained a bit more, but I'm not sure if it would have made a whole lot of a difference. Each step felt like a metaphor to learning Spanish, to a relationship with Jesus, and to succeeding at any task. The beginning requires a big step of faith and after that requires many small ones. The process might get a little more difficult or scary the higher you go, but so do the views and the experience. "Turning back might be best," was whispered dozens of times when the going was tough, but now I am so glad I didn't listen. (Some students had to and yes there is a point where your body can't take it, so the metaphor does break down a little here.)
When have you worked hard to train for a race and it wasn't worth the feeling at the finish line? When has the physical pain of getting over an addiction not been worth it? When has months of practice not been worth the championship? When has choosing sin over following Jesus made things better? My guess is never for each of those.
I encourage you to be all in for what you believe in. Every person, lie, or hardship that gets in the way will only make the process of moving forward that much sweeter. I’m talking to myself too. Some of my favorite memories have come from intentional and dedicated time: doing the Birkie’s 55km ski race, winning the state cup in soccer, graduating school with good grades, marrying Sophie, and knowing Jesus increasingly more. Be all in for goals you want, people you know, food you eat, and in your faith! And don’t compare them to others: normally that’s the first hardship that gets in the way from being fully who God created you to be!
-Matt McCann
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” -Romans 8:18-19