Making Things Right

It's been awhile. It wasn't my intention; please let me explain.

Huntington shouldn't have happened. It wasn't planned. But it did.

I came home high on the buzz of success and affirmation my training approach to climbing was working (I should note just because it works for me doesn't mean it will work for you. Alternatively what works for you may or may not work for me. Find your own path). Better yet it felt like I was prepared for my next Alaska trip. I can't begin to describe the focus I had.

And just like that it was all taken away from me. Or to be fair I had to let it go.

I still hadn't regained the feeling in my frost nipped toes from Huntington when I learned one of my colleagues was leaving for "external opportunities" and I had the "fortune" (misfortune?) of taking over his high profile project. The delivery date and associated timeline were so tight it was obvious to me the Dickey trip was no longer an option. By the end of the meeting it was more than my toes that were numb.

I will be the first person to say if I had chosen a different life path I never would have found myself in this situation. But I didn't. I'm a father and a husband first and for that simple reason I politely bowed out of the trip.

Though I never even set foot on the glacier it felt like failure to me. It still does. I let my partners Dylan and Roger down. I let everyone associated with the Mugs Stump Award down. I let my coach Rob MacDonald down. I let Mark and Lisa Twight down. I let Gym Jones down. I let myself down.

And though everyone says they understand and respect my decision that doesn't make it okay. The best way to make this right is to get right back at it. Show it was an anomaly; that it won't happen again.

Fortunately I should get the opportunity to do just that. My team was selected as one of the recipients of the Copp Dash Inspire Award.

I will do my best to make things right.