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How To Deal With Fear

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I had the pleasure of giving a motivational speech to a group of volunteers for Habit for Humanity / Teton Habitat in Teton Village, Wyoming – at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort recently. The purpose of my motivational presentation, which included select stories and slides from my 20+ year career as a pioneering snowboarder and mountaineer, was not solely to motivate and inspire, but to share some of the lessons I have learned while climbing up and snowboarding down mountains from the Tetons to Tibet. Including how to deal with fear.

UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE – We all have challenges in our lives and the metaphors I use from climbing and riding connect with young and old folks alike because we all have hopes and dreams and sometimes turn them into goals. We all have ups and downs, highs and lows and my stories reflect some very high highs and some very low lows.

One example of a high I shared with the team of workers at Habitat for Humanity was summitting the Grand Teton for the first time in 1989 with the help of my mentor, Tom Turiano. After moving to Jackson Hole to learn to snowboard in 1987 to take a year off before college, I had dreamed about climbing “The Grand” and snowboarding down but knew I didn’t have the experience to safely get myself up there. Hence the need for a mentor. Mentors not only give value through sharing their expertise and experience but they receive as well. There is nothing more rewarding than watching the person you have been mentoring surpass you in skill and ability. That means you have done your job as a mentor well.

HOW TO SURVIVE – After somehow surviving the initial 2,000 foot fall after being hit and carried by an avalanche several years ago while climbing Mount Owen in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, I asked myself, “What is the single most important thing I need to do to survive now.” In this case it was to cough out the plug of wet, sand-like snow that was blocking my airway. Then was to evaluate my torn and battered body. Next was to move from where I was, in the throat, or choke, of the entire face where anything falling from above would funnel to. Moving with torn ligaments in both knees, a broken back and other injuries proved challenging. But by taking things one step at a time and doing what I could control I managed to move out of the way of more avalanches before being hit again and successfully descended several hundred more feet and survived a night out in the open with no shelter or warm clothing.

Making turns down the face of Mount Owen less than a year later was so very sweet. Some say I am an adrenaline junkie and take unreasonable risks. I disagree completely. I go into the mountains to feel alive, to feel and be happy. Climbing and snowboarding makes me happy. Being in wild places, in hazardous situations forces me to come to terms with what is really important in life. It helps me know myself, who I am and what I am capable of accomplishing. Being in the mountains brings me face to face with my own mortality, and in those moments I am alive, making life and death decisions and am completely present. That is not to say that I don’t experience fear. I do indeed experience fear. But I do not let my fear cripple me. I acknowledge my fear, discover the cause, analyze it, make any necessary adjustments and then let the fear go. Holding onto fear does not serve us well. Letting go, or releasing ourselves from the grip of fear is not only liberating but enables us to move beyond our self imposed limitations. After I let my fear go, a state of flow ensues as I begin linking one steep and exposed turn to the next.

You’re not going to learn these things from playing golf.

Following is a short video testimonial from Veronica Mulhall, Marketing and Volunteer Manager at
Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area, about my presentation.


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