Curiosity

“The essence of life is ascent. Ascent is love. The essence of ascent is balance. Creativity is the essence of balance.” Voytek Kurtyka

I’ve used the line “ascent is life” for many years now. It is my favorite metaphor for life. Life is one long climb, and we never reach the top. Why bother? Well, I would add “Curiosity is the essence of creativity” to what Voytek said. I’m very curious. What will we find along the way on this climb? That curiosity has led me to some amazing highs and some devastating lows, but I still want to ascend. Curiosity is what brought me to endurance sports and it’s where I feel most creative. What can I do? How far can I go? What will I learn? Now my curiosity is leading me to help others on their journeys. I want to help people unleash their own creativity and find balance.

I was hesitant to get into coaching, because I disagree with the way it is usually practiced. Like much of western medicine, coaching can be too reductionist and mechanistic. People are highly complex. Especially as we push into higher training loads and longer events, the psychological aspects become paramount. Very quickly an athlete is beyond the realm of sports science as it is usually practiced. However, after many years of reading everything I can get my hands on to better my own training, and discussing ideas with fellow athletes and coaches, I believe I have a unique skill set to offer guidance to endurance athletes. A good coach must have a depth of knowledge of physiology. Psychology may be just as important. When we enter the realm of mountain sports, add to that list a knowledge of high altitude, clothing, gear, weather, navigation and tactics. Top that off with years of first hand experience. I have this experience, but more importantly, I can listen and relate to others to apply this knowledge to an individual situation. Blending these myriad and sometimes disparate factors can be challenging, but curiosity can lead to creativity, which in turn leads to that elusive balance.

I want you to find a goal that you’re passionate about. One that scares you, but keeps calling to you. One that will challenge you, and bring out the best in you, and even then will only be on the margin of possibility. I want you to be ready to fail, but willing to give everything to succeed. I want to help you with this process, and most of all I want you to find your own love of ascent.