Every *now* and *then* you gotta get the band back together!
Last weekend (most of) my Everest team and I gathered at Michael Brown’s farm to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our 2001 summit.
We set up ‘Base Camp’ with tents, had happy hour, baked up homemade ‘za, watched Farther Than The Eye Can See in Michael’s barn, belly-laughed around the campfire telling stories, and my dad even surprised us with a beautiful video he recorded.
It was like no time had passed. Nothing had really changed… except you might notice some extra pounds, wrinkles, and gray on us. We are still a team and always will be. These are my brothers and sisters — what you become after such a profound experience like the one we had together.
It’s amazing, too, to think of what each person has accomplished since our climb. PV organized and led the first descent of the Blue Nile and Nile River from its source high in the mountains of Ethiopia to its endpoint 3,260 miles away; Luis (the birthday boy) became part of the CO gov’t; Jeff built a beautiful family and authored a book; Charley’s taken on so many cool expeditions like attempting the West side of Everest, and Didrik roped up with No Barriers to help document our programs and participants. These are just select highlights to give you the idea.
Everyone from our expedition went on to thrive personally, professionally, and as citizens of this world — giving back to make the planet a better place. I’m grateful and proud to know them all. Thank you for hosting us, Michael and Julia!
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Some throwback Everest shots including Base Camp, tent scenes, small group and individual candids on the mountain before and after the expedition, a summit shot with the National Federation of the Blind flag, and all of us meeting President George W. Bush when we returned.
