Me, Terry, Brenda and Carolyn with the majestic Mt. H'Kusam towering in the background!
See the < 1 min video below - if you don't feel like reading!
It had been on my Adventure Wish List for 3 or 4 years, and this month I checked it off!
It's called the Kusam Klimb and it's not for the faint of heart, those afraid of heights, or those with bad knees! Located on the West Coast of Canada on northern Vancouver Island, BC, it's about 5 1/2 hours from where I live. The website promotes it as an 'endurance running event' but there is no lifetime where I can imagine running this 24 km loop which also happens to be a 1593 metre/5226 foot high mountain.
However, if there is one thing I am good at, it's figuring out ways I can bring the unattainable to my level and the thought of tackling this mountain, in more of a slow, slogging way interested me, for some reason I can't explain.
I hand-picked my team of 3 adventurous, fun, and strong (mentally and physically!) friends - each of them gave me an immediate 'yes' to the invitation and we commenced weekly training, months before our June climb. As the day grew closer, so did our excitement and trepidation - could we really do this? Yes, we would but it will be Hard, with a capital H. Most training hikes we had done were about 4 hours, this mountain would take (at least) double that time and would be much, much steeper than any we had tackled during training.
We had a beautiful, slightly overcast day, and our group was literally the only humans (bears and cougars, notwithstanding) on the mountain that Tuesday (we knew because you had to sign in). On the trail at 7 am, we quickly realized it was not a switchbacky, dilly-dally, regular kind of climb, it was a look-straight-up-see-your-friend's-feet-dangling-and-grab-the-rope kind of climb!
We reached (what we thought) was the summit after 6 hours of climbing straight up - we were, as you can imagine, exhausted but elated as we enjoyed the spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime (because I am never doing this again!!) views. We praised our fortitude and grit - we were proud and happy even though, at this point, we were so far behind our (optimistic) schedule. After lunch, we navigated our way down a steep descent only to discover we had been at a false summit!
We had to go UP again! I was done! I was tired! I was mad!
Enter the BMW session, Brenda and I had to Bitch, Moan and Whine to get our frustrations out of our system and then we regrouped and had another BMW session (Breath and Move Forward Willingly), got our acts together and hunkered down the final (it better be!) ascent! (See the < 1 min video below.)
At the real summit, we were rewarded with a giant triangle hanging from a tree to ring in celebration, we made snow angels, we tobogganed down a stretch (maybe not the safest, but super fun!), and we found an incredible emerald lake in the valley between the peaks, it was a dream!
After more hours of slogging down Mt H'Kusam with sore feet, cuts, blood, and bruises, we finally complete the loop; we think we may have broken a record for the longest time (13 hours) but we don't care. We are happy, we are proud, we are...sore! We are warriors - we set a goal, we trained, we supported each other and we did.
We finished upright, smiling and without medical intervention! That's a win for anyone, never mind 4 women hovering around 60 (I was the youngest and the slowest, btw)!
Now...your life, your version, your plan...
Just because we couldn't do the 'race' - it didn't mean we couldn't create our own adventure, in our own way, space, and time. What seems too big or unachievable in your world - how can you break it down or do a version of it, in your own way?
It's not just about the event, it's about the preparations, the training, the drive, the support and encouragement. It was about communication, connections, resiliency, the once-in-a-lifetime memories we made and so much more. What's calling you?
How could a BMW session limit the negative, and help you reframe and refocus? Where could you implement this in your life?
Here is how our BMW session looked/sounded!
