Ama Dablam

“Like the desire for drink or drugs, the craving for mountains is not easily overcome.”
– HW Tilman (1946)

I’m doing it for me, for the purity and for the beauty of expression – in movement, existence, and challenge.  To push myself to the extent of my own physical, mental and emotional limits, and to witness the boundless freedom this little blue ball has to offer. It’s an invitation to struggle and a guarantee of suffering.

But it was no easy decision.

The call came in from a climbing partner: “We scored a permit to climb Ama Dablam in the Himalaya next year, you should come.”

No way. It was an automatic response, fueled by my own misconceptions of no less than arctic temperatures, overpriced expeditions, murderous training, altitude sickness, nightmare travel, third world diseases, 3 am starts, blackened frostbite appendages, endless slogs up avalanche-prone slopes, and dying a frozen death 20-something thousand feet above sea level. I just bought a new house, had my business to run, and no way could I take off over a month. All for what – to force-feed the ego whilst standing atop a pile of frozen rocks?

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Then in a moment of true self-discovery, I returned to the time when I decided to start my own studio and my motivations for going it alone. It wasn’t for money or success, or even because I hated my gig at the time. First and foremost, in what many would find a counter-intuitive move, I found it pretty simple:  I was too comfortable.

I was at my job for 7 or so years and had it dialed. It didn’t feel much like work, and I was compensated generously with a good salary and 5-star world travel as a corporate photographer. But in that moment I realized I was no longer learning anything. Learning comes best when you are struggling, and being comfortable was no path to development.

And secondly, world travel and exposure to global culture wrestled me away from the invisible ethnocentrism as an American; even subconsciously I began to make subtle life changes in accord. One bigger issue I couldn’t wrap my head around was the devotion to work we as Americans hold dear, and how other civilizations seem to get much more out of life by virtue of  culture. Our 2-week-a-year vacation schedule seemed paltry at best, and while travel is encouraged adventure certainly isn’t: our vacation ads are for floating carnivals adrift in the sea where convenience is key.

Stealing some lines from foreign culture, I modeled my business to support my lifestyle of experience – work on rainy days and harbor the good ones for playing and adventure. I was enabled to feed  my passions as a photographer and adventurist, while keeping responsible to the studio.

But after a while the nagging comfort returned, and I sought to redesign my business again. Why not combine the passions and skills of both sides – the artist and the explorer – and create in the grand auditorium of nature?

So it seemed this opportunity arrived at the right time, and forced a little reconsideration on my part. By applying the same logic towards handling the fear and uncertainty of starting a business, I slowly started unlocking the sequence towards committing to such a grand adventure.

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“I’m in.”

Hearing the words out of my own mouth were as shocking to me as they were to my partner – almost as if it were someone else saying them. There was no quiver in my voice, just acknowledged confidence as to what lie ahead in the next 9 months of training and preparations.

The decision meant so much more than a plane ticket and mountain climb – but at the moment those words came out I reached a peaceful accord with myself to move forward. I was looking forward to the exercise in commitment of a huge training schedule and nutritional adjustments. I was ready to put my will to the test and hone my body and mind for such a challenge I’ve not known before.

As for the business, I reasoned with my trepidation and can fall back on my trusted staff and friends to cover the studio while on the expedition. Not to mention the opportunity packing a full kit to document the entire expedition will offer to the studio: stock photography and a solid portfolio in the greatest mountain cirque Earth has coughed up in a fit of tectonic uprising.

A summer of training and developing mountaineering skills quickly gave way to a winter sub-standard for alpine simulation, but the calendar stops for no man and we’re within the 4-month mark for arriving in Nepal pre-monsoon.

I am ready for the fear, suffering, and setbacks. I am strong. And I’m looking forward to the transition this journey will bring to my personal development as an artist and climber.

And I’m certainly thankful for the clarity in decision to start me on the path.

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For those interested in following along on the training and journey we as a team are working on sponsorship to include remote updates from the field. More information will be available and if you’re interested send an email through the form on www.chrisvultaggio.com to be added to the list.

Thanks to all for the support coming in already, and special thanks to Petzl for stepping up as a key team sponsor.

Namaste.

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