To the Nth Degree by DAN GABLE 21 | That One Great Leap by KAILA MULLADY 27 | Mustering the Courage by KEVIN JORGESON

FALL 2017

MUSTERING the Courage

EVERYTHING I LEARNED ABOUT BUSINESS I Learned on the Way to the Moon

SECRETS TOTO Becoming More Creative

INSPIRATION ttoo the Nth Degree

THAT

One Great Leap COVER PHOTO: KEVIN JORGESON ON THE DAWN WALL OF EL CAPITAN.

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7 | Everything I Learned About Business I Learned on the Way to the Moon BY COLONEL AL WORDEN WITH BILL PENCZAK 13 | Secrets To Becoming More Creative BY ANTHONY PAUSTIAN, PH.D. 17 | Inspiration to the Nth Degree BY DAN GABLE 21 | That One Great Leap BY KAILA MULLADY 27 | Mustering the Courage BY KEVIN JORGESON

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4 | ciWeek Magazine EDITOR’S NOTE

To the Nth degree. It’s a lofty goal, one that requires stamina and perseverance and mastery—and we can all admit it takes time to get there.

But what else does the Nth degree require? Truth-telling about ourselves and a willingness to forgo stories of grandiosity. In other words, humility.

Working in the independent-publishing depth to their knowledge, and a fimsy Jorgeson overcame both injury and world as a writer and editor is like understanding of their own feld that ego to achieve one of the world’s working in the wild wild west. While does not stand the test of time. greatest climbing feats. And in the Amazon has edged out the gatekeepers second installment of Colonel Al The truth is that getting to mastery—the (i.e., the traditional publishing houses) Worden and Bill Penczak’s two-part Nth degree—takes time, great efort, and from their posts as the bastions of series, you’ll read how lessons learned an ability to see yourself where you are, books—which is a good thing—it’s also from space travel helped Colonel right now, in the grand scheme of things, unleashed a world of creative (and Warden overcome some of the most and then to keep working no matter downright uncreative) writing. With the common problems in business, where you judge yourself to be. newfound ease of publication, there are innovation, and managing people. so many would-be authors who think In this edition of stories you will read in Whatever it is you’re reaching for, keep that hitting “publish” makes them an this edition of ciWeek Magazine, you’ll reaching. But remember, there are no authority fgure or a master in their arena. notice a common thread: not one of shortcuts to the Nth degree. these writers ever took the attitude of And why not, right? Our newsfeeds “I’m too good for this,” or “I don’t need make it easy for anyone to come across to put in the work because I’m already as an “expert” or a “guru” in a matter the best.” Every one of them had to of moments. Slap a good picture up overcome major setbacks to become with words that sound wise, and you’re SARA STIBITZ CO-EDITOR masters at what they do. You’ll read [email protected]. in business. about how Kaila Mullady overcame It’s the easy route. And yes, you have physical injury to become one of the to start somewhere, but instant social world’s best beatrhyming champions. media fame provides nothing but You’ll read how Dan Gable overcame vanity metrics and an unearned ego great family tragedy and became an boost. This approach results in a lack of Olympian. You’ll read about how Kevin

Fall 2017 | 5 Innovating since 1893 Sometimes the most innovative thing we can do is keep doing the right things.

At West Bank, we’ve spent more than a century building strong relationships one handshake at a time. With each handshake an innovative new business or family venture is launched. We’re proud to play a role in each new dream, just like we did back in 1893.

www.WestBankStrong.com Member FDIC | AL WORDEN’S COMMAND MODULE ENDEAVOUR. USED WITH PERMISSION.

PART 2: EVERYTHING I LEARNED ABOUT BUSINESS,

BY COLONEL AL WORDEN WITH BILL PENCZAK I Learned on the Way to the Moon

In the conclusion of this two-part series,Colonel Al Worden Bill Penczak continue their exploration of lessons learned in space flight and in business. See the Spring 2017 edition of ciMagazine for Part 1.

Fall 2017 | 7 Risk Is Omnipresent, So Risk Management Plan and Plan More. Requires Business Before the Challenger and Columbia Management accidents occurred, another tragedy on In 2002, large U.S. public companies Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy almost derailed faced a new regulatory mandate, President Kennedy’s challenge to put a Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), named for the man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. two Senators who sponsored the bill The fre in the capsule, later named Apollo in the aftermath of the Enron scandal. 1, took the lives of Roger Chafee, Gus These regulations were enacted to Grissom, and Ed White, who were to fy reduce systemic corporate fraud, and the very frst Apollo spacecraft into Earth’s called for stricter internal controls over orbit. The ensuing investigations by NASA fnancial data, reporting, independence, and the U.S. Senate robbed the program IT security, and high-level processes of nearly two years before putting a man THE APOLLO 1 CREW OF GUS GRISSOM, ED WHITE and procedures. Ten years hence, two on the moon. AND ROGER CHAFFEE. USED WITH PERMISSION. trends emerged. Public companies The Senate report[1] cited several shifted their SOX reviews from a contributing factors: It ain’t what you don’t compliance mandate to a performance enhancement imperative. Savvy • Failure to identify testing know that gets you private companies[2] use the same as hazardous into trouble. methodologies to manage risk and • Spacecraft hatch design It’s what you know performance improvement, as a result • Ground safety procedures of discovering that how a company for sure that just ain’t so. • Operational test procedures does things matters, and that protecting against bad decisions is as important as • Communications Twain’s words capture the notion of protecting against bad actors. • Combustible materials control risk, and the key to mitigating at least some of it. Poor business decisions can take at least • Engineering, workmanship, and two forms: not proactively protecting quality control defciencies In complex organizations, there’s the organization from the wrong things an inherent proclivity toward siloed When I re-read the Senate report 50 occurring (reactive), or the more strategic thinking and behavior, the result of size years later, I was struck by the fact that, approach of ensuring the right things and complexity. Some of it is territorial except for the technical failures of the happen (proactive)—greater market or political, or due to diferences in hatch and control of the combustibles, share, improved margins, or less churn of timeline priorities. Some of it is plain those same defciencies could be found customers and employees. The latter ties stupidity. You may recognize the in any business today. More importantly, back to the Twain quote about what we saying, “The larger the organization, the after a short circuit started a fre, no one “know for sure.” Nothing is for sure except dumber it gets.” perceived the danger until it was too late. death and gravity. Fortunately, I only have In today’s hyper-competitive world, As I write the frst draft of this article in personal experience with one of these. speed to market often wins over speed to late October 2016, the Samsung Note 7 Regardless of whether yours is an smart. But in the best organizations, these mobile phone debacle is in the news. No enterprise with thousands of employees, goals are not mutually exclusive. Despite doubt between now and the time this is or a startup of one or two people, the setbacks like the Apollo 1 fre, NASA was published, there will be other accidents most important risk management tool able to achieve a remarkable feat with an that could and should have been is communication. It’s about asking employee and contractor workforce of as prevented. Risk isn’t just on the launch the right questions. It means assuming many as 400,000 individuals. pads at NASA, it is rampant in the nothing. (SEE THE HARVARD BUSINESS workspaces and tools of management REVIEW ARTICLE IN THE RESOURCES SECTION worldwide. A colleague recently shared AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE.) a quote by Mark Twain:

[1] http://history.nasa.gov/as204_senate_956.pdf, [2] aabri.com/OC2013Manuscripts/OC13031.pdf

8 | ciWeek Magazine JACK GARMAN (ON THE RIGHT), THE MAN WHO SAVED APOLLO 11. USED WITH PERMISSION. BUZZ ALDRIN ON THE MOON DURING APOLLO 11. USED WITH PERMISSION.

An environment in which people Incremental Innovation are comfortable enough to question Today’s business lore would Vs. Radical Innovation current thinking allows them to ask have it that new ideas are the revealing, and often exciting, Today’s business lore would have it that “what if” questions. Had there been hatched only in garages or new ideas are hatched only in garages any discussion of the danger of the or at kitchen tables...due to the ease combustibles in the spacecraft and the at kitchen tables... and connectivity of the Internet. It has become easy to forget that incremental design of the hatch, the tragedy could abort a mission nearly 10 years in the (inside the box) innovation happens have been avoided. If communication making. Bales quickly consulted the every day in large corporations. In 2015, were better between those in the software support engineer, who calmly the most U.S. patents weren’t issued to spacecraft, the control room, the responded that as long as the alarm Google or Facebook, but an “old line” operations building, and the blockhouse didn’t occur again, the alert was fne. company named IBM[3]—the patent on Apollo 1, the outcome might have The mission proceeded, with less than a record holder for 23 years. IBM, Samsung, been diferent. In today’s business minute of fuel remaining for descent to and Canon (number two and three world, better opportunity exists not only the moon’s surface. to reduce the risk of things going wrong, in patents) have formal processes for developing new ideas, diligence for proof but to increase the chance of things That engineer, Jack Garman, saved the of concept, and monetization to assure going right. mission. In 1969, they called Jack a hero. their success. Radical innovation (outside Today we’d call him a millennial. The Next Big Idea the box) creates game changers that Won’t Come from [Note: Watch the landing and hear revolutionize the heretofore mundane: Where You Expect the 1201 and 1202 error discussions at airline travel (Travelocity), music youtube.com/watch?v=KBz5KXCJ88Q.] consumption (Spotify), or classifed After a journey of 250,000 miles, the advertising (Craigslist). Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle, was Jack Garman, who at the time was a We hear about the radical innovations, 3,000 feet from achieving the frst half 25-year old engineer working for NASA, because we interact with them of President Kennedy’s bold challenge. is credited with saving the Apollo 11 as consumers, as opposed to the Seconds before touchdown, an alarm mission. He’s shown here with Chris incremental innovations occurring in sounded and paralyzed nearly everyone Craft, receiving an accommodation. at Mission Control. The 1202 alarm Samsung labs. We are romanced by indicated a computer system overload, the notion of the upstart (the 16-year- which allowed the guidance ofcer, old in her parents’ basement inventing Steve Bales, only seconds to decide to something and getting silly rich).

[3] fortune.com/2016/01/13/patents-2015/

Fall 2017 | 9 they believe in, a greater sense of social and corporate equality, and an innate desire to contribute to something bigger than themselves. Therein lies the opportunity for millennials to shine, and for management to tap into a dynamic resource. The challenge is understanding their motivations and leading them in the right way. That entails listening without bias or criticism and having the collective courage to try something new, even if it exceeds our comfort zones.

AL WORDEN’S FIRST-EVER DEEP SPACE WALK. Had Apollo 11 guidance ofcer Steve THE CREW OF APOLLO 15 (DAVE SCOTT, AL WORDEN USED WITH PERMISSION. Bales stopped to question 24-year-old AND JIM IRWIN). USED WITH PERMISSION. Jack Garman, or let his ego intercede, I When I was growing up, we wanted to might not be writing this article today. the amount of thrust required to lift a become professional baseball players Steve trusted his people, he listened, 6.2-million-pound machine, as tall as a or musicians. Today’s youth want to be and he saved the mission. 36-story building, from a launch pad into Internet billionaires. space. As we’ve heard for the past 50 years, the technologies that enabled the But most businesses fall in the great Technology is the Apollo and space shuttle missions have middle between IBM—with their billions enabler—more so today found their way into businesses and our in R&D budgets—and that kid in the There are 10 times as many lines of code homes decades later.[5] basement with a dream. The elements in the 2016 Ford F-150 than in the Apollo they share, however, are the need for The proliferation of technology for 11 LM,[4] and 82 times more in the Android innovation, and the ability to tap into commerce, manufacturing, and operating system. At the time, the Apollo their human capital to discover it. The communications today is nothing short mission was a technological marvel. need for innovation needs no discussion. of staggering. Moore’s Law, which states Today, the technology seems archaic. But That’s the foundation of capitalism. the number of transistors per square our frst generation VR viewers today will inch on integrated circuits will double Fostering an environment in which likely seem quaint in 2025. every year, recently celebrated its new ideas can germinate and grow is Although the Russian Sputnik satellite 50th anniversary, even though pundits more difcult, and the challenge is for was the frst launched into space, and doubted the trend could continue. It will, management to fnd the next big idea. cosmonaut Gagarin was the frst man in because it has to. Somewhere entangled in that quest is space, American technology provided the role of millennials and others, who New or lower cost technologies have the ultimate advantage in the moon if properly challenged or listened to leveled the playing feld, making it race. The development of silicon chips in could supply the genesis of the next easier for smaller companies to be on California allowed for solid-state devices breakthrough idea. more equal footing with larger ones. that could withstand the rigors of Virtually any company can work from I grew up in the Great Depression and space. Computers built with solid-state the cloud (I’m writing this in Google learned to be frugal and conservative. technology incorporated 64K memory, Docs and haven’t had to hit “save” I haven’t worked with millennials, but signifcant at the time. yet) without the need for servers and my baby boomer, upper management Improved communications technology, people to maintain or protect them sons-in-law tell me millennials have the genesis of today’s ubiquitous from hackers. diferent work habits than their boomer smartphones, made a 1,500,000-mile bosses. Beneath the desire for work- We are morphing to the Internet of journey possible. And development of life balance and a seemingly casual Things, where our cars, homes, ofces, materials such as titanium lessened the demeanor can lie passion for causes and friendships can all be linked weight of the rocket boosters, reducing

[4] itworld.com/article/2725085/big-data/curiosity-about-lines-of-code.html; eitdigital.eu/news-events/blog/article/guess-what-requires-150-million-lines-of-code/, [5] spinof.nasa.gov/Spinof2008/tech_benefts.html

10 | ciWeek Magazine Seventy-fve percent of middle market importantly,Col. Al Worden culture was companies using AMT saw signifcant isCommand the path Module for Pilot of Apollo 15 and or positive impact on margin. And these employees—andretains the record for were middle market companies, with management—tothe deepest space revenues between $10 million and $1 EVA, for which The discoverGuinness Bookthe best of in billion. (See the Resources section for a themselvesWorld’s Records on gavethe link to the full report.) journeyhim the moniker, to a higher “The world’s most We’re venturing into space again, through purpose.isolated man.” After Blue Origin and SpaceX. I’m excited retiring from NASA inCommunication. 1975, Worden became President of Maris that we’re exploring space again but MoreWorden thoughtful Aerospace, management Inc., and later served and as can’t help but observe that Jef Bezos communicationVice President of BF might Goodrich have Aerospace. prevented He (Blue Origin) and Elon Musk (SpaceX) was Chairman of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundationthe accident until from 2011 occurring and since then on thehas been are investing billions earned from their Apollospeaking 1 andlaunch writing pad. about business and the creative use of technologies rooted in the space program. In 2011, Worden’s memoir Falling To Earth made the top 12 of The LA AL WORDEN SPEAKING DURING ciWEEK 8. Apollo program to fund a return to space. USED WITH PERMISSION. Times Bestseller list. Maybe we’ve come full circle. Bill Penczak was a marketing consultant and managed. We are on the cusp Final Thoughts— for the frst 20 years of his career, advising of practical applications of artifcial national and regional consumer, retail, and intelligence (AI). IBM built Watson, a The Three Cs B2B brands such as Dell, AT&T, and Motorola. Since 2005, he has held global and national sophisticated AI computer, that won I’ve had the unique blessing to be an marketing and sales leadership positions $1,000,000 on Jeopardy playing astronaut and a businessman and to in professional services frms. They are collaborating on a book on this same topic to against really smart humans. In October live long enough to refect on both. My be published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. 2016, Salesforce.com, the cloud-based conclusion is that the success of Apollo consumer relationship management and the success of a business today (CRM) provider that’s rapidly expanding comes down to the three Cs: Constant communication is the key into other solutions, unveiled Einstein, an Courage. It took courage for JFK to getting the most from people, AI application that provides predictive to make a gallant challenge to the particularly millennials, who want to modeling on customer databases. country, particularly during a difcult know the big picture and what’s in it While Einstein isn’t fully proven, or part economic period. Jack Garman spoke for them. Communication has a way of of the base cost of a Salesforce.com courageously and saved the Apollo 11 reducing risk in companies. subscription, anyone can access all mission. It requires the same fortitude the functionality of a Salesforce.com’s to toe the corporate line or to invest in CRM system for about $100 per month, new technology that might afect short- leveling the playing feld. term proft in the hopes of longer-term Resources Data demonstrates that technology growth and proft. COMMUNICATIONS The Silent Killer of Big Companies, Harvard Business Review; A good can have a direct, positive impact on article about the value of communications in large organizations NASA’s culture was so strong hbr.org/2012/10/the-silent-killer-of-big-companies company performance. The National Culture. that a janitor felt a part of landing a man CORPORATE SPIN AND POOR COMMUNICATIONS Center for the Middle Market published marketplace.org/2012/01/17/business/best-corporate-spin-year on the moon. We overcame technical, a white paper on the impact of THE NEXT BIG IDEA AND MILLENNIALS political, and timing challenges because There’s a new book called Competing Against Luck: The Story of advanced manufacturing technology Innovation and Consumer Choice by Harvard Professor Clayton we were on a mission. And management, Christensen that asks the question, “What job did you hire that (AMT) on middle market company product (person) to do?” Here’s a link to a summary. revenue, margin, and other KPIs. The technicians, engineers, contractors, and AMT AND MIDDLE MARKET MANUFACTURERS A fairly comprehensive study among manufacturing companies companies that used AMT practices the guys in the space suits all knew we with revenues between $10 million and $1 billion, citing the impact of Advanced Manufacturing Techniques on several Key such as automation, control systems, were creating something bigger than Performance Indicators. ourselves. Your corporate culture defnes middlemarketcenter.org/Media/Documents/advanced- computer technology or robotics, had manufacturing-techniques-among-us-middle-market- 27 percent higher revenue growth than acceptable behavior and expectations manufacturers_advanced_manufacturing_report.pdf their peers who weren’t using AMT.[6] of the myriad of personalities—big and small—in your organization. But more

[6] middlemarketcenter.org/Media/Documents/advanced-manufacturing-techniques-among-us-middle-market-manufacturers_advanced_manufacturing_report.pd

Fall 2017 | 11 THE CITY OF WEST DES MOINES, IOWA ®

for Innovation

SECRETS TO BY ANTHONY PAUSTIAN, PH.D. Becoming More Creative

Decades ago, my dad––always the jokester––would tell a favorite joke, in multiple parts.The genius of his approach was in how it was told––as two separate jokes, delivered back-to-back, each totally dependent upon the other. No one realized the connection until the end (often after it was revealed), which is what always made it funny.

Fall 2017 | 13 Today, when I speak about creativity, I The balloon lifts of of the ground. The frequently begin the presentation by older man lights up a stogie. The parrot telling a version of the frst part of begins to loudly talk and squawk. The Dad’s joke: older man complains about the noise. The woman complains about the cigar A little girl is skipping down the street smoke. Words are spoken. Yelling when she comes upon three colored and arguing ensue. It fnally reaches a bricks lying on the road: one red, one point where the balloon operator says, yellow, and one blue. She pauses, “Enough! Unless you both want to be reaches down for the red one, thinks for thrown out of the balloon, toss that Dr. Anthony Paustian is the Provost for a moment, and heaves it into the air. The Des Moines Area Community College in bird and those cigars immediately.” brick hits the ground hard and breaks West Des Moines and the author of Imagine!, The passengers begrudgingly comply. Beware the Purple People Eaters, and A into pieces. After laughing a bit, she After a few seconds, the woman says, Quarter Million Steps. reaches down for the yellow one and www.dmacc.edu/west “Look! There’s my parrot. But what’s in heaves it higher into the air. The brick www.QuarterMillionSteps.com its mouth?” (I now look at the audience hits the ground with a greater force and ©2017 Anthony Paustian. Used with permission. with my hands extended and they shatters. Laughing almost hysterically, All rights reserved. always say, “Cigar,” and then I say “A she reaches down, grabs the blue one, blue brick.”) and throws it even higher into the air. It never comes back down. Creativity is nothing more than making new connections between things that What’s the secret to have yet to be connected. When I creativity? It has less to do say this, people usually think I mean What’s the secret to creativity? It has connecting things that are very diferent, less to do with ability and everything to with ability and everything such as Sam Colt connecting the design do with focus: of the ship’s wheel of a seafaring vessel 1. Slow down and take your time. to do with focus. to his design of the revolver, or applying old ideas to help solve new problems. 2. Disconnect from technology when The result is always the same. No A good example of the latter is when you want to maintain your level laughter. Blank stares. Crickets. Fred Smith connected the Federal of attention to a problem or issue. Following the brief, awkward silence, Reserve check-clearing system, originally Those little red dot indicators on even though I know it really wasn’t designed in the early 1900s, to the your smartphone apps trigger a funny at all, I tell the audience the joke modern need for expedited, efcient dopamine release that makes you was actually very funny—they just didn’t shipping logistics that would ultimately feel good, yet it’s highly addictive get it and lack imagination. become FedEx. However, and more and kills creative thinking. To quickly lighten the mood, I then typically, creativity is simply connecting 3. Actively listen (and not just follow that joke with one that is actually thoughts or ideas that occur only “hear”) by mentally repeating funny, speak for a bit about imagination, moments apart (think blue brick). what enters your ears to improve memory retention. and then move on to the second part of In the past, this wasn’t as big a problem the original joke. because life moved more slowly, and 4. Write down your thoughts and We’re at the state fair, and a young man recalling information wasn’t as difcult ideas for easy reference later is giving hot air balloon rides. An older because we had less information to (which has also been shown to woman, holding a parrot, walks up and contend with. Yet, with the daily deluge yield better results by slowing climbs into the balloon’s basket (I then of information bombarding our brains down the thought process). ask the audience: What do parrots through app notifcations, tweets, Although these ideas aren’t new, do? The typical response is “talk.”) A text messages, and the like, combined they are proven to enhance creativity. minute later, an older gentleman with a with the enormous pile of minutia that Sometimes, in order to think diferently, pocketful of cigars also climbs in (I again seems to overtake our lives, it’s easy make a new connection, or create that ask,: What do cigars do? The typical to see how the connection between killer idea, it’s as simple as remembering response is “stink.”) two thoughts separated by only a few the blue brick. minutes can get lost.

14 | ciWeek Magazine Fall 2016 | 15 16 | ciWeek Magazine DAN GABLE IN “COACHING” MODE. USED WITH PERMISSION.

INSPIRATION BY DAN GABLE to the Nth Degree

Inspiration and accomplishments, along with good people, are what it takes to get to the Nth degree. I am extremely fortunate to have people who took good care of me in Waterloo, Iowa. and guided me well in the early years of my life.

Fall 2017 | 17 DAN GABLE AND BOB SIDDENS: TWO GUYS DAN GABLE AND HIS SISTER DIANE BEFORE HER TO EACH THEIR OWN: GARY KUNDELMEIER—CALM, WHO HAVE PROMOTED THE SPORT OF DEATH IN 1964. (CREDIT–GABLE FAMILY). USED COOL, AND COLLECTED—AND DAN GABLE MAKING WRESTLING THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES. WITH PERMISSION. HIS POINT. (CREDIT–UNIVERSITY OF IOWA ATHLETICS). USED USED WITH PERMISSION. WITH PERMISSION.

When I was young, sports were my it, but I was getting my education and alcohol and blame. I would lie in bed and thing, but academics were not on my preparing for my profession at the highest listen to the pain they were going through. radar until the eighth grade. That’s when levels. If only everyone had this opportunity, Now, with kids and grandkids of my own, I I attended a class where I really bonded just how far ahead would we be? understand how they felt. with the teacher. He was the wrestling The success continued, not without There were many nights of this before coach, and I fnally paid attention and setbacks, but the academics were good my mother brought me into their strived for good performance. That class and the wrestling was great with all argument. I joined the chaos by telling changed my life for the better, and I victories for me and the entire team. I my parents that I was going to change became a better student as well. Without bedrooms and live in Diane’s room to that class and proper respect for my help make this house a home again. teachers, I would have gone a diferent Her room had been sealed of from the route in life. Because of these infuences, rest of the house, and her door shut for the Nth degree was forming—discipline With the right mentors, almost a month since we moved back. in more disciplines—and good things our performance in life That night I opened her bedroom door were more likely to happen as a result. has a much greater chance and slept in the room (or at least my High school followed junior high, and my parents thought so) and never moved academics were good. Because of my of excelling. out. Even during college, and until my small size, I only focused on wrestling. mother passed on years later, my wife Having a good home life, plus my Kathy, and my girls, Jenni, Annie, Molly, experiences at the YMCA when I was and Mackie, all slept in Diane’s bedroom a young kid, and an inspiring Algebra went undefeated in all three high school on visits to the house. Moving into her teacher and wrestling coach, Coach seasons, and the team won state twice bedroom was the turning point (the Martin Lundvall, allowed me to thrive. and took second once. However, that Nth degree) that saved my family. New didn’t spare me from setbacks were of motivation was now in place to help the The transition into high school with Bob the mat; my sister Diane was killed in 1964. future. Because of our positive family Siddens as the wrestling coach and Diane had fought for her life resisting the outlook and the support of others, we guidance counselor was too good to be sexual attacks of her killer. In fact, she gave moved forward. true. Siddens was the top wrestling coach up her life instead of giving in. in the state. I had been lucky, but now I College came next, and wrestling was was also creating my own luck because Shortly after her death, we moved back the primary focus—a lifetime focus of the leadership skills I had learned. into the house where Diane was murdered, that sent me to Iowa State University in which was difcult. My parents engaged in Ames, Iowa. Now I had even more great I had a good home life, and when I was a lot of late night arguments that involved mentors, like national championship away, I was taken care of. I didn’t know

18 | ciWeek Magazine A native Iowan, Gable achieved an unprecedented wrestling career, including a prep and collegiate collective record of 182– 1 and a 1972 Olympic gold medal among many other national and world wins. Gable isn’t just a champion athlete himself. As a successful coach, he has personally inspired hundreds of the athletes to achieve their best. As head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa, he led his team to 15 NCAA team titles. Gable also served as the Olympic head coach three times and was a six-time World Team head coach. Gable made the list of ESPN’s Top 10 Coaches of All Time. GOOD MENTORING LEADS TO MORE OF THE SAME. DAN GABLE WON THE 1972 OLYMPIC GOLD—AND TOM BRANDS, THE 1996 OLYMPIC GOLD. USED WITH PERMISSION.

head coach Harold Nichols, national It wasn’t simple. I experienced a lot of champion wrestler assistant Les pain and discipline, and I learned to Anderson, and my wrestling idol, twice- work smarter. I got back on track at national champion Tom Peckham, who an even higher rate of improvement was training for the Olympics. and understanding. These three were the best in wrestling. I fnished my wrestling career well, for Even while away during summer once again my mentors were great at training camps and kids’ clinics, I’d get the World and Olympic levels. Doug attention from wrestling’s best, like Blubaugh, 1960 Rome Olympic Champion, Oklahoma State coach Myron Roderick coached the 1971 Worlds in Sofa, Bulgaria. and University of Oklahoma coach The 1972 Munich Games were coached by Tommy Evans. Other athletes like Rich Bill Farrell, coach of the New York Athletic Sanders, Bobby Douglas, and Wayne Club. Both men took me in and supplied Walls helped bring me along to the Nth the knowledge I needed. I won Gold at Degree. Even my training partners at both the Worlds and the Olympics. Iowa State, including future Olympic After the Olympics, it was time to move gold medalists Ben and John Peterson, on and create my own family, and it was were being molded into Nth degree time to create champions on the mat AFTER TOM RYAN LED MOST OF THE 1991 NCAA MATCH competitors for the future. UNTIL THE LAST FEW SECONDS, HE AND DAN GABLE as a coach—champions for life on and LEFT THE ARENA. USED WITH PERMISSION. Many others helped me not just on the of the mat. Much the same continued mat, but in the classroom. Although I to happen to help move me forward. was a hundred miles away, I heard from My list of accomplishments grew The mentoring responsibilities never the folks at home almost daily through even longer than they were as a kid in end, they just happen in diferent ways the mail. These little touches helped me individual competitions. at diferent times in life. as I was a homebody. With the right mentors, our performance Finally, being mentored by good leaders I went seven years without a scholastic in life has a much greater chance of at every stage of life—childhood, wrestling loss, but that all changed in my excelling. A team efort is the best way, education, adulthood—helps develop last college match. I had 181 consecutive and in my case, it continued on with my future leaders. Over time, the masses th wins with one to go, and I lost. I could wife, Kathy. will be touched and the N degree will have fallen apart, but I didn’t, thanks to all be possible for more people. the mentors I’ve had through the years.

Fall 2016 | 19 JORDAN CREEK TOWN CENTER

SCHEELS DILLARD’S YOUNKERS APPLE COACH

VERA BRADLEY FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE & WINE BAR

20J.CREW | ciWeek Magazine THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY FRANCESCA’S SEPHORA KAILA MULLADY PREPARING TO BUST A BEAT. USED WITH PERMISSION.

THAT BY KAILA MULLADY One Great Leap

I’ve always heard in order to succeed you must “take a leap of faith.” I may have taken that a little too literally. As I lay in the sand looking up over the cliff I had just leapt from, unable to move, I realized this is what my mother has always warned me about.

Fall 2017 | 21 KAILA MULLADY AND 2016 AMERICAN BEATBOX CHAMPION, MARK MARTIN, PERFORM AS THEIR GROUP “LIGHTSHIP” USED WITH PERMISSION.

At the time, after a week in the hospital, national beatbox champion who taught me to then shaped me into the artist a broken back, and no way to make me new techniques and introduced me I am today. When my family was money for likely a year, I thought I to the community, including my mentor, disappointed by my decision to drop had made the biggest mistake of my Terry Lewis. out of college, having people around me life. Little did I know this would be who faced the same struggles kept me After watching me perform (while the door I was looking for, opening to motivated. Experienced musicians gave wearing my back brace), Terry invited opportunities I always wanted, even me advice that allowed me to be a full- me into the city to talk. Later he told me though in true Kaila fashion, I kicked the time musician in New York City. They that was the reason he wanted to work door down instead of knocking. shared their early mistakes and ofered with me. He had seen people bow out of their guidance. Without their support, I I had a brief career studying education a show because of a cold, but I traveled might not be where I am today. in college, but I dropped out to pursue two hours from Long Island with a performing and focus on improv theater. broken back. Terry then introduced I truly believe success leaves clues. I wanted to act. I wanted to sing. I me to the art of beatrhyming—the Find the best people in your feld, read wanted to do it all! Now lying in bed incorporation of beatboxing, singing, books, and ask questions. When you are with a broken back, I worried I might and rapping at the same time. It was a humble enough to admit what you do not have made the right choice. Acting no-brainer. If I could talk and beatbox, not know, you will fnd people who will with a back brace was a daunting task. I could incorporate beatboxing with gladly teach you. Unless I was playing the part of a robot, I theater. The possibilities were endless, I never thought jumping of a clif in needed another way. and it seemed like a way to combine my Long Island would land me on a street two passions. What did I have to lose? I’ve beatboxed since I was 9 years old. corner in New York City. But frmly I picked it up around the same time I Surrounding yourself with like-minded planted I stood, facing the Astor Place started playing guitar. A year before individuals is crucial to becoming Cube, working day after day with Terry my accident, through fate I had met a successful. The people Terry introduced on this new craft.

22 | ciWeek Magazine Broke at the time, I needed enough money to get myself home to Long Island and back to the city the next day, and then do it all over again. Looking of a stage, lights blinding, energy circumnavigating thousands of faces, is not hard. What is hard? One angry New Yorker on a hot day in July chasing me away from a building, or a man on the street who took my hard-earned cash before running full speed in the opposite direction. Ladies and gentleman, start your engines. Looks like today the ofce has become a race track as well. Performing in front of fve thousand people who have paid to have a good time is like shooting fsh in a barrel. They want to be there. They are ready to be amazed and dazzled. Out on the fast-paced streets of New York City, for even one person to stop for one minute means you are doing something right. Plus, with the added pressure of making money from what I was doing, I had to quickly learn what worked and what didn’t. I take that dedication into all areas of my career now. No matter the obstacles, I come back to it until I achieve what I want. There are very few women in the beatbox community. The majority of countries around the world segregate women and men during competitions. This doesn’t allow women to show they are just as good and reinforces a stigma against women. I knew that music and “RED,” 2017. USED WITH PERMISSION. beatboxing aren’t gender-specifc and continue to battle to end that stereotype. true though, so I did not let that stop me. evidence that women and men do not In my frst battle, I beat the frst American It only made me train harder so no one need to be segregated. I hope one day beatbox champion, a win that made me could use my gender against me. when a woman beats a man, her gender the frst woman in America to beat a will not be used against her. man in a national competition. Since that frst battle, I have won eight titles. I am the 2015 World Beatbox If you never take the risk to put yourself I was fying high after that victory. I beat Champion, three-time Beatrhyme out there, you never know what you will him fair and square, anyone could see that. Champion, three-time Loop Station fnd. Devote time to something you are Unfortunately, moments after winning Champion, and the 2014 Vice Beatbox passionate about and work hard if you I heard, “You only won because you are Champion. I still hear the same ignorant want to be successful. This is true with a woman,” which could have taken the comments, but actions speak louder a practice, an idea, an invention, or a wind right out of my sails. I knew it wasn’t than words. Every battle I win supplies relationship. You have to work out the

Fall 2017 | 23 KAILA MULLADY COMPETITING AT THE GRAND BEATBOX BATTLE IN SWITZERLAND 2016. USED WITH PERMISSION. kinks no matter what you choose. Every My good friend Ben Mirin is a perfect Just because I dropped out of college time you see a crack, fll it in until it is example of this. Ben’s two passions in does not mean I won’t teach others. It smooth. The more you fll, the smoother life are beatboxing and bird-watching. is what I always wanted, but I did not and stronger it becomes. For a long time, Ben was torn. With a lot like the way I was being taught to work of imagination and motivation to create with children. I had to be realistic. Every With this in mind, slowly but surely my his ideal life, he invented a whole new choice you make has an end you should confdence grew. I was able to see what career for himself as a wildlife DJ. imagine before you make it. If I had worked, and the message I wanted to stayed in school, I would have started convey. When I began, Terry was already He creates beats from animal noises substituting by the time I was 21, paying an established musician. We would around the world and records them to of my loans with no time to perform. perform when I still could not string promote environmentalism. Now an together words or sing a note. I followed employee of National Geographic, he The only thing I wanted to do was the “fake it till you make it” rule. has had a very successful children’s perform, so that wasn’t an option. I also show and was able to travel to had to be honest with myself. I didn’t I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but when Madagascar collecting lemur and bird feel passionate about the cause I was I hit that stage, no one knew otherwise. samples to incorporate into his songs. about to embark on. I listened to my More gigs came in, and I found my way If Ben had taken the easy route and heart. I didn’t want to teach how to back to improv through beatboxing. I picked just one of his passions, he solve for X, how to sing a note, or what joined “North Coast,” New York’s premier would never be making the impact he happened in 1942. I wanted to open hip hop improv team. I was able to do the is today. Ben constantly inspires me to people up, help them feel comfortable things I loved: theater and beatboxing. fnd solutions that will help bring my enough to be expressive, and fnd power You do not have to choose when it passions together, and to authentically in their voice. Through beatboxing, comes to your passions. If possible, fnd a share my vision to help others fnd the I became an artist who also teaches way to incorporate them all. power of their voice. others. I frst worked with the hip-hop book club, an organization started by

24 | ciWeek Magazine artists to promote reading and writing leaving even me impressed. I then asked Kaila Mullady is a New York based performer to youth in libraries all around New York if he could say “chicken.” and the 2015 World Beatbox Champion, the 2014 America Vice Beatbox Champion, 3x City through beatrhyming. Again, there was no articulation in Loop Station Champion and 3x, reigning Beatrhyme Champion. Mullady performs The frst thing we did was read Edgar his pronunciation. I asked him if he throughout the world infusing beatboxing, Allan Poe’s “The Raven” the way it was noticed a diference between the way singing, rapping, poetry and theater to push the boundaries of creativity and show just intended, only to be met with drowsy he beatboxed and the way he spoke. what the human instrument is capable of. eyes. Once we added beatboxing, He knew his beatboxing was loud and Mullady has been a teaching artist for 5 rapping, and singing, “The Raven” became clear while his speech wasn’t. I posed a years: leading workshops all over the world their favorite song. I’ve watched kids too question, “What if when you spoke, you promoting reading, writing and fnding one’s own soul music. Her work using beatboxing afraid to speak up in class recite their own thought about each letter like it was a as a tool for speech therapy created a work through a microphone in a room full beatboxing sound?” His eyes grew wide, partnership with New York University, where a of people. Kids have a natural ability to “I get it!” He was smiling ear-to-ear. For class based on her ccurriculum was designed specifcally to build tools in the classroom. learn; you just have to make it fun. the rest of the school year, he would Giving back to communities and volunteering beatrhyme in class. are big part of Kaila’s creative process. My favorite challenge so far has been working with Lavelle School for the Blind, using beatrhyming as a music and speech therapy tool. I have watched Performing in front of fve learning, and the love of growing and developing as a better person. We hope children who are more or less mute pipe thousand people who have up to sing just one note. Music brings beatboxing can help men, women, and these children out of their shells. This paid to have a good time is children of all ages fnd the confdence work shows me how much of an impact of their voices and use it to share their beatboxing can have on others. like shooting fsh in a barrel. experiences with the world. Through my work at Lavelle, I started a Before I started my career, I thought partnership with New York University. I wasn’t going to be able to do it all. My partner and I like to say our They entered the class at Lavelle with How could I fnd time to teach, act, beatboxing and speech therapy class us one morning and witnessed one of and play music? Where would I even is like sneaking vegetables into a fruit the biggest breakthroughs we had with start? It takes one step, that’s all. smoothie. The students are having a student. Through beatboxing, I was able to so much fun, they never think they’re create a network that reached beyond One student in particular was an working on their speech goals. We’ve beatboxing. I found my way into theater, extremely gifted beatboxer. He could since started our own speech therapy incorporating singing and guitar into defnitely hold his own in any cypher and beatboxing practice, ofering free my work while using my voice to enact he could enter. His communication classes for three months in New York social change and awareness. I am lucky was a diferent story. It was very hard City. We are also in the process of to say that because of that one step, that to understand him. He lacked the gathering data to support our claim that one corner looking out onto a thousand necessary articulation to speak clearly, beatboxing is an extremely benefcial unknown faces, I found my way. I have but when he beatboxed it was strong tool for speech therapy. been across the world teaching and and clean. My team designs games to make performing. It takes a lot of work—there While teaching him beatrhyming, I communication and speech are only so many hours in a day—but if asked if he could say the word “chicken” development fun, because we you manage your time and are mindful for the whole class. It was barely strongly believe that for children to be of keeping a strict schedule, everything understood. Then we broke down the successful, they must develop a love you want can come to fruition. word. First he beatboxed just the “Ch” for learning. This mindset will be with I guess it is true when they say, “Those sound. It was as strong as ever. Next them their entire lives and help them in who don’t jump will never fy.” That one we did the “k” sound, which is what many ways outside of expression and great leap led me to soar farther than I beatboxers use for a snare. It was so communication. With imagination and ever thought imaginable. So here is my loud it almost broke the speaker. Last, hard work, you can make any activity question to you: where will one great he made a beat with the sound “en.” fun for a child. You can spark the love of leap take you? Each sound was produced perfectly,

Fall 2017 | 25

KEVIN JORGESON ON THE WALL OF EL CAPITAN AT DAWN. USED WITH PERMISSION.

MUSTERING BY KEVIN JORGESON The Courage

It’s a crisp winter morning in the eastern Sierra cowboy town of Bishop, California. As the sun crests the 14,000-ft summit of White Mountain, the Owens River Valley is filled with warm rays that take the nip out of the cold January air.Tucked near the base of Mt.Tom rest a cluster of tall granite boulders shaped like eggs and sprinkled across the landscape as if dropped from above. Climbers have been enjoying this famed boulder field and vertical playground, known as the Buttermilks, since 1941. For decades, climbers have used these boulders to hone their strength and technique. By the 1980s, bouldering had become a respected discipline of its own, instead of just practice for the real stuff in Yosemite.

Fall 2017 | 27 KEVIN JORGESON AT THE POINT OF NO RETURN DURING THE FIRST ASCENT OF AMBROSIA, HIS HARDEST HIGHBALL FIRST ASCENT TO DATE IN BISHOP, CA. JANUARY 2009. PHOTO BY TIM KEMPLE. USED WITH PERMISSION.

The Buttermilks are best known for a I didn’t always see climbing this way. Before long, we forgot all about the fact special brand of climbing called highball For the longest time, I thought the most that we were in the middle of a storm. bouldering, meaning the rocks are so important thing was how hard I could Instead, we became totally enthralled tall that a fall from the top would put climb. I would travel to climbing areas with the challenge in front of us, which a climber in the hospital—or worse. all around the world in search of the remained dry because of the overhang. Standing at the base of a 50’ tall boulder, smallest holds, the biggest moves, the Harry, Jamie, and I all traded attempts, fush with golden morning light, I chalk cutting edge of what a human could do which usually involved a few seconds my hands, breathe deep, and look up. on rock. Then, in the summer of 2005, it of intense efort before falling to the I’ve been training for two years for this all came crashing down. Literally. 3-inch-thick crash pads climbers land on moment. With most climbing, I try. when bouldering. On a warm summer day, my friends With highball bouldering, I must do (like and I huddled under a steep boulder Then something unexpected happened, Yoda). The consequences of indecision in Rocky Mountain National Park while as if someone had turned down the are too great. It’s time to execute. an afternoon thunderstorm rolled over force of gravity for a moment. I pulled There’s something special about us. Lightning struck a few hundred feet onto the rock, and for once I didn’t fall highball bouldering that draws me in. away. Rain and hail fell with such force on the second move. Or the third. Or Sure, it’s risky. But there’s more to risk we couldn’t hear each other’s voices the fourth. I was through the crux. I than the potential downside. The upside over the percussion. The boulder we could hear Harry and Jamie screaming rewards you with a complete mastery hid beneath happened to feature one encouragement over the pounding of your mind and body—despite the of the hardest climbs in the country, hail. But I was in no man’s land, where danger. For a feeting moment, I exist ironically named Nothing but Sunshine. I never expected to actually succeed. in harmony as part of the landscape To occupy ourselves while the storm With 15 feet of air under my toes and instead of a passive witness to it. blew, we started working on the moves. a dangerous pit of talus below, Harry

28 | ciMagazine DAY 1 FOR KEVIN JORGESON ON THE DAWN WALL THROUGH STORMS, HEARTBREAK, AND DOUBTS, TOMMY CALDWELL AND KEVIN JORGESON FORM A BOND. PROJECT. PHOTO BY TOMMY CALDWELL. PHOTO BY BIG UP PRODUCTIONS. USED WITH PERMISSION. USED WITH PERMISSION.

and Jamie extended their arms upward, once, my entire value system around spotting me in case I slipped. And I did, climbing recalibrates. Aesthetics and of the dripping wet lower angle, top experience now matter more than sheer section of the climb. My feet hit Jamie’s There’s something special difculty. I don’t know it then, but this shoulders, pitching me forward into shift is permanent. a headfrst dive into the crash pads. I about highball bouldering For the past three years, highball face-planted hard, arms outstretched bouldering has been my art, and the in an attempt to break my fall. Silence that draws me in. Sure, Buttermilks my canvas. Like any art, I hung over the scene as I slowly started can’t schedule the performance. I wake to move. I lifted my head, looked down, it’s risky. But there’s more up one day, and I know it’s time. The and realized my right hand missed the to risk than the potential preparation is over. I am inspired. Giddy crash pads entirely and instead smashed even. The outcome is all but assured. into the talus. One attempt to move my downside. The upside wrist revealed it was clearly broken. Climbers often talk about the line between bouldering (safe ropeless After a three-month rehab process, rewards with a complete climbing) and free soloing (deadly my frst climbing trip is to Joshua Tree ropeless climbing). This project toes National Park in Southern California. mastery of your mind and the line. Behind me, a half dozen of my Everything feels foreign. My inner body—despite the danger. closest friends keep a safe distance. dialog is that of a beginner again. “How Unlike Harry and Jamie in Colorado, do climbers put up with these painful there’s nothing they can do by spotting shoes? Man, this rock is sharp!” Clearly, me on this climb. I would crush them. I’m going to need to ease back into Instead, each carries a few crash pads this. I decide to leave the guidebook at aesthetic lines—sweeping corners that to protect the landing should anything the campsite and wander the surreal reach for the sky, the vertical faces go wrong in the frst 25’. After that, they landscape. Instead of looking for the speckled with edges, and laser-cut may as well not be there. hardest climbs, I look for the most cracks that beg to be climbed. All at

Fall 2017 | 29 IN 2001, TOMMY CALDWELL ACCIDENTALLY CUT OFF HIS LEFT INDEX FINGER WITH A TABLE SAW IN A HOME KEVIN JORGESON SPEAKING AT ciWEEK 8. PHOTO BY REMODELING ACCIDENT. FOR MOST CLIMBERS, THIS WOULD BE A CERTAIN CAREER BENDER. FOR TOMMY, IT ONLY JENNIFER COLEMAN. USED WITH PERMISSION. INCREASED HIS COMMITMENT TO THE SPORT. PHOTO: COREY RICH. USED WITH PERMISSION.

By now, everything feels familiar. I’ve what’s possible for highball bouldering. exclusively on establishing frst free practiced the moves using the safety On the other, my success mandates that ascents on El Capitan in Yosemite of a rope dozens of times. Physically, I fnd a new discipline of the sport to National Park. Every season, Tommy I’m not asking my body to do anything master. Reinvention will be required. I raised the bar with a new frst ascent, it hasn’t done before. While I am chuckle at the irony. somehow harder and more mind confdent, the truth is I don’t know boggling than the last. His new project, Six months later, I sit in a movie theatre how I’m going to react once I’m in the now showcased on the big screen, was in Boulder, Colorado with several situation. I’m about to fnd out what it’s his most audacious yet. For once, this hundred other climbers to watch the like to be in uncharted territory wasn’t a story of success. It was chapter annual Reel Rock Film Festival, which one in what was clearly going to be an Looking back, I could try to recall highlights the past year’s greatest epic drama of Moby Dick proportions. what the next few minutes felt like, accomplishments. I squirm in my seat but I would be making it up. I don’t as the Ambrosia segment begins. I feel To understand Tommy Caldwell, you remember. From the moment my right like I’m living in the past. My future is must understand that he is a force, a foot left the ground until the instant I sat as uncertain today as I was that cold man who, after accidentally cutting of on top of that big boulder, it seemed like morning in January at the Buttermilks. his left index fnger with a table saw, I was on another planet. Little do I know, the segment that is was told by his doctor to start thinking about to appear next will change the about a new career. Instead he vowed to Sitting on top of Ambrosia, I should feel course of my life. return to professional climbing stronger joy and a sense of accomplishment, than before. Sure enough, less than a relief for escaping unscathed. Instead, I Tommy Caldwell is a living legend year later, he did just that. This alone distinctly feel I got away with something, in the climbing community and was should provide the foundation for an like I dodged a bullet. Instead of fulflled, even before we completed the Dawn epic story of an impossible dream, I feel empty. Before my feet return to Wall. I grew up reading about his slowly willed into the realm of possibility solid ground, I know my days of pushing accomplishments in magazines and after years of perseverance. But that the highball bouldering envelope are watching his videos. For the past ten wouldn’t be the truth. Ambition can only over. On one hand, I have just redefned years, Tommy had focused his eforts take you so far.

30 | ciWeek Magazine of the most improbable looking granite porcelain we’d ever seen. In closing, Tommy lays down his gauntlet. “When I look at this next generation of climbers doing things on the boulders and sports climbs that I can’t conceive of—if they could apply that kind of talent to the big walls—that’s what it would take to climb this project. Even if I can climb this, I want to plant the seed for the next generation to inspire us all.” His message resonates. Have you been called out before? Perhaps you fell asleep in middle school English class only to have your teacher embarrass you. Sitting in the darkness of the theatre, the feeling is similar. As obvious as drool on the desk, I know I am guilty. This is my fate. The only question is whether I will act on this knowledge, or continue to foat in a purgatory of uncertainty. About a month later, I muster the courage to write Tommy an email, asking if he needs a partner for his new project on El Cap. I don’t call because I don’t have his phone number; we barely know each other. Our paths crossed once before when I was 17, so I have no idea if he will even take my question seriously. Enough time passes that I fgure Tommy just laughed at my email. Around the time I give up hope, I receive a simple reply that says, “Sounds good! Meet me in Yosemite in October.” Tommy wastes no time initiating me with a giant slice of humble pie. I don’t know TOMMY CALDWELL ON PITCH 20 OF THE DAWN WALL. PHOTO: BRETT LOWELL USED WITH PERMISSION. it at the time, but he’s about to test my spirit. Doubting I have what it takes, he The source of Tommy’s drive is much looking swath of El Capitan to distract fgures it’s best to break me early than deeper than the curiosity and ego him from the anguish. Just like that, the drag me along for too long. Standing in that fuels most ambition. The truth is Dawn Wall project was born. the parking lot for the trail head, Tommy that Tommy was experiencing the frst shoots me a sideways smile and says Sitting in the audience, my jaw is agape. true failure of his life: the collapse of “Here, take this haul bag. We’re going While all the other parts of the flm his marriage to his fellow professional to hike up to the top of El Cap, sleep on festival presented a tidy beginning, climber Beth Rodden. From heartbreak, top, and spend a few days working on middle and end this segment is clearly his need to escape from pain was born. the top of the route.” I can’t lift it. In fact, I meant to tease, not satiate. For twenty Turning to the only thing he knew, have to sit on the ground to shoulder the minutes, we watch the world’s fnest big Tommy sought the most impossible pack and be pulled to my feet. Tommy’s wall free climber fall of pitch after pitch

Fall 2017 | 31 Kevin Jorgeson began climbing as a toddler— trees, fences, cupboards, ladders, everything. At age 10, he discovered rock climbing when he attended the grand opening of his local climbing gym. By age 19, Kevin was the top-ranked climber for his age in the country. He then turned his focus toward solving the most beautiful and dangerous boulder problems in the world. In 2009, he began work on the Dawn Wall project with Tommy Caldwell. On January 14, 2015—after 19-days on the wall and six years of work— Tommy and Kevin succeeded on what ’s being called the world’s hardest climb. www.kevinjorgeson.com

A PARTNERSHIP IN THE MAKING, TOMMY CALDWELL AND KEVIN JORGESON LOUNGE IN THEIR PORTALEDGE DURING A 2010 RECONNAISSANCE MISSION. PHOTO BY TIM KEMPLE. USED WITH PERMISSION. dad, a former Mr. Colorado body builder, by a crazy mix of luck and fate, Tommy haul bag of my back. When I fnally lifts his 80lb pack himself. “Shit, if I can’t and I eventually succeed on the world’s gaze down from the stars, I catch keep up with Tommy’s 65-year-old dad, hardest big wall, inspiring a global Tommy looking over at me, perplexed. I’m screwed,” I think. audience along the way. His expression becomes both satisfed Three hours into the fve-hour hike, Of course, I don’t know any of that at and amused. He has found a partner. I realize reinvention is a lot sexier in the time. I am only happy to have that concept than in practice. Nonetheless, I press on. Occasionally, in an assault to my respiratory system, the waft of old man farts drifts down the trail. Sadly, my chicken legs are too weak to pass Tommy’s dad, so I’m stuck drafting behind him for the entire hike. Five hours later, we fnally reach the summit of El Cap. Under a moonless sky, I drop the haul bag with a thud and say, “Yeah! That felt good!” Standing on top of El Cap for the frst time, staring up at the stars, I wonder about my future. I am about to discover just how difcult reinvention is. My ego sufers a brisk and painful death. My confdence disappears. My feeling of self-worth crashes. Yet, from the ashes of my identity, a sprout of potential emerges. Watered by Tommy’s patience and mentorship, my confdence slowly returns. My role as a pupil slowly evolves into that of an equal. Fueled KEVIN JORGESON’S HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTER TOPPING OUT A 19-DAY FIRST ASCENT OF THE DAWN WALL ON JANUARY 14, 2015. PHOTO BY BLIGH BILLIES. USED WITH PERMISSION.

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