The Chamber š° of Tech Secrets is open. After a week off, weāre back with some reflections on a recent attempt I made to climb the Grand Teton, which is why there was no post last week.
Last weekend, I attempted to summit the Grand Teton, which is the highest mountain in the Teton range inside Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. It tops out at an elevation of 13,775 feet.
Our climbing party departed high camp ~11,000 feet at 3:40am and headed up to the lower saddle and towards the summit. We made really great time, passing through the glacial moraine, making quick work of some fixed rope sections, and reaching the lower saddle in a short time. By 6:30am, we were just below the summit block where we would need to complete three pitches of roped climbing (5.*+).
We had been watching the weather, particularly a storm cell that was moving across Idaho and that was headed directly towards us. We observed large strikes of cloud to ground lightning in the distance throughout the dark hours of our hike. Our hope was that the storm would lose power and dissipate before it reached us. Unfortunately, as we reached the summit block, it became clear that the storm was actually growing in size while losing a little intensity, but would likely hit the Teton range ~10am. We did not have time to summit and descend off the technical parts of the route, and made the call as a group to pursue a consolation prize, āThe Enclosureā, which is a sub-peak of the Grand.
From there, we proceeded to down climb and return to high camp.
As I climbed into my tent to unpack my summit pack a few minutes after returning to camp, dark clouds descended on the mountain and the skies opened, dumping hail and heavy rain. We made the right call to bail on the primary objective and return to camp. Several other groups remained on the mountain and were lucky that the storm was not highly electrical around the Grand. It was just miles to the north towards Yellowstone.
What can be learned from pursuing a challenging objective and falling short?
Monitor and Forecast: On the way up the summit, we were monitoring our surroundings, watching the storms in the distance, and checking the radar to see what was coming. In addition, we were gauging the speed of the storms and forecasting when they might impact us. These actions led us to be ready to react quickly and make the right decision about our summit attempt while there was still time to avoid a disaster. We ruled out hourly forecasts as they are not useful on a mountain and went to the sources that were relevant to our journey. We benefit from monitoring and forecasting with systems as well. It is critical to find the signal in the noise and look at the metrics that matter.
Slow can be fast: On the way up the mountain, the guides continually encouraged us to perform a ārest stepā. This is a technique where you step up with one foot, leave your weight on the straight leg for a short time, and then complete the step up. Repeat, repeat. This puts weight on your skeletal structure and provides a very brief rest for muscles, and forces a pace of movement that is slow and methodical. On the way up the saddle, we were passed by two climbers who were NOT using this method. They flew by. Within three minutes, we caught up with them and passed them as they stopped to catch their breath from the anaerobic activity they were performing. We passed and continued on and never saw them again. Sometimes, slow is fast. In the world of software, this may mean spending more time investing in non-features early, such as solid design plans, reliable pipelines and thorough tests. These items slow you down in delivering featuresā¦ for a while. Then they make it incredibly easy to deliver rapidly in the future.
There are always others who are better: While we were climbing, there were day-trippers trail running from the parking lot to the summit and back. I am in good shape, but in no shape for that type of physical undertaking (right now). There will always be people to observe, admire, and learn from on the journey. Use them as motivation or as teachers. We can do more than we think. This applies to climbing mountains, building careers, and growing companies.
Attempt the ambitious and great things can happen even if you fall short: We attempted to climb the highest mountain in the Tetons. Its a mildly technical route but some of our party had never rock climbed before, never slept at altitude, or never experienced exposure in the mountains. We attempted to summit the Grand and we made it very close, which was an amazing and rewarding experience with no regrets. Aim high and if you miss, you still achieve something pretty awesome. This reminds me of the idea of OKRs at Google and other companies where they strive to set very ambitious goals (we use Jim Collinsā BHAGābig hairy audacious goalāat Chick-fil-A very often). It is okay to come up short of an ambitious goal so long as you gave it your all.
Donāt overcommit to objectives: I went to Wyoming to climb the Grand Teton. While we were on the mountain, I reminded myself that the most important goal was not to get on top of the summit, but rather to come back home to my family safe and well and excited for the next adventure. The Grand was a great goal, and weather aside we would have made it, but it is okay to change course when the environment changes. In our case, the weather changed the plan. In the startup or software world, finding product market fit or getting user feedback often changes our plans. We need to commit to our objectives, but be willing to pivot when we learn that they are actually secondary or tertiary to something more important.
You can learn from every attempt: Within 24 hours, our climbing party was talking about alternative options to get to the summit on a future try, including the idea of going from parking lot to summit and back in a single day with a minimalist gear approach. In the software world, we can learn from every attempt to solve a business problem if we 1) listen to feedback and 2) perform retrospectives or blameless postmortems. I like to use the questions:
What went well?
What didnāt go well?
What did you learn and what can you do differently next time as a result?
Trust those with experience: We went up the Grand with two guides that had a combined total of 30 years of guiding experience. Our guides understood the route, the weather, where to short-rope vs set up a full belay, and how to manage all of the technical elements of the climb. They had incredible mountain fitness and could have easily summited themselves if we were not there. They do this every day and have for years. We exhibited humility and trusted our guides to make all the calls and ensure that our climb was executed precisely and safely. The same can be very useful in the software world. Many have been there, done that, and seen the problem you are facing. Be willing to ask their opinions, listen to their advice, and allow them to make tricky calls. It just might keep you out of a storm.
There were many more lessons learned reflecting on this trip, but I hope these are helpful. As we often say at Chick-fil-A, nothing is impossible if we climb with care and confidence.
Love reading the beautiful analogies that draw a parallel with a āday in lifeā at Chick-fil-A. Perfect work-life balance. Keep climbing.
This is awesome! Great parallels you illustrate between (ambitious, yet judicious) high altitude climbing & the life of folks in the software dev arena or startup world.
Alex Honnold [Free Solo] gave a Keynote at EDA Summit 2023 earlier this year, which was a super neat interview offering a glimpse inside his brain & how he approaches climbing/decision making. Brian, I bet he would agree with much of what you wrote here in your substack!!
You may have also checked out these climbing documentaries (all solid)... Meru, 14 Peaks, The Alpinist. I've heard that "Dirtbag" is an excellent film too.
*Brian, what related books or documentaries you would recommend? Thx & great post :)