Mentorship: Lessons from the Mountains
When I was 10, my dad recognized that I had a desperate need to go on adventures. We lived in the Eastern Sierra at the time in a small little town called Independence. This pigmy gas stop town was famous for the go-cart see in Nic Cage’s Gone in 60 Seconds, and the only Subway in the next 60 miles for LA weekenders heading to Mammoth Lakes skiing or the climbing mecca of Bishop, California. It was so small a town, we had 33 kids in the combo Junior High/High School. My elementary class was the largest in all of K-12 at a whopping 18 kids. Needless to say, if I wanted to be entertained, the outdoors was my solace. That was in 2001, but Google Maps tells me not much has changed. Every single opportunity, I would get on my bike and ride two miles to the local campsite. It had a creek with a puddle of a pool, barely one foot deep. I’d just sit in it to escape the summer heat. I tried building a little fort beside it to create constant shade in my small desert Oasis. One day, he took me to the top of my beloved creek, and I drooled over the waterfalls filling it in a place called Onion Valley, a place 20 miles up the mountain road from our doorstep, and right in the path of the Pacific Crest trail. I’d disappear up the trails without waiting for him and just get lost in my meandering. I was a ball of energy and adventure. My Dad wanted to harness it.
Mr. Sears was a social studies teacher.. or maybe science? In our little junior high/high school. The school was small enough that he probably taught both, and my dad worked alongside him on the same campus. Sears was a popular teacher, merely because he was absolutely cool. He was well known in the Eastern Sierras for his climbing and alpinism. There was a story known around the community how he scared the wits out of his wife. He had disappeared into the mountains when a snowstorm hit with no beacon and no means of finding him. A week later and a few days off his mark of return, Sears showed up at their front door in the dead of night like something out of a horror film, with icicles on his eyelashes and incoming beard. So the story went at least. For me, Mr. Sears would become one of the most pivotal men in my life: he’s the person that taught me how to climb.
The Greatest of Mentors
The first weekend of June 2024, I was given the extraordinary opportunity to attend the inaugural Outside Business Summit and Outside Festival. The entire event was filled with big name in the OREC industry, and I found the immersion motivating and stimulating. They had a series that they called IdeasXFilms, where the thought provoking stories of the outdoors were brought to the surface. One such event I was very lucky to attend: a panel with Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Malim Malik on the concept of…you guessed it… mentorship. For those of you that don’t have a grasp on who these extraordinary men are, here’s a summary for you.
Conrad Anker - widely considered one of the top mountaineers in the world, he led The North Face climbing team for 26 years and accomplished the historic expedition to extract George Mallory from Mt. Everest (one of the first men to climb Everest, but was lost on a later expedition in 1924). Conrad retired from high-altitude climbing in 2016 after a high altitude heart attack, and now focuses on the growth and development of the next generation of climbing.
Jimmy Chin - started as a photographer, but after being discovered and mentored by Conrad who saw immense talent, was given his first shot at videography for National Geographic…without video experience. Thanks to this push, and Jimmy’s extraordinary skiing skills and climbing skills, also honed under Conrad, Jimmy is now an Academy Award winning director for his Documentary Film achievements.
Malik Martin - Malik spent a portion of his life growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, where the mountains weren’t exactly encouraged for the Black community he called home. As he grew up, his passion for photography and filmmaking grew with him until he found himself on a filming project for Memphis Rox - a climbing facility focused on building an inclusive climbing community in Memphis - to promote the gym’s efforts for changing the OREC industry. There he met Conrad where his curiosity for climbing sparked. Malik is now known for the success of his film based on an expedition leading an all-Black team through their first ice climbing experience. The movie is called Black Ice.
These three men shaped what would become a remarkable panel to witness. The whole discussion was casual as all these men have become great friends, but Malik and Jimmy still sit in some sort of reverence to Conrad despite their own success and experiences. Jimmy at one point says that Conrad is essentially his “father” on the mountain. It’s understandable why. This man learned alongside climbing legends like Mugs Stump, Alex Lowe and Rick Ridgeway. From there, he’s gone on to mentor this generation’s most famous climbers as Emily Harrington, Alex Honnold, Renan Ozturk, and Jimmy himself. He’s climbed Everest to Antarctica, even surviving a heart attack at high altitude. The man is a an example of how to carry yourself in the mountain. But more importantly….he just says yes.
And so he said yes to both Jimmy and Malik and both of their careers have flourished in consequence.
Now, Jimmy and Malik are both taking their own paths for the next generation as well: Jimmy as a father raising his own kids into the outdoors and Malik as a “pillar of [his]community.” On the topic of his kids and raising them adventurous, Jimmy emphasized that he wants the outdoors to give them another outlet to experience the world. It shows them how to get out of the cycle of social media and off their phones. “I want to make sure they have something else” he proclaimed. Malik, on the other hand, not yet facing the trials of parenting, is looking more toward his role as a mentor for other Black climbers. He focuses his work be the first one to break down the barriers he sees in the sport, and applauds and praises Jimmy and Conrad for believing in him so he could become the example that Memphis Rock needed and others like them.
“You Can’t Make Mistakes in Mentorship”
The words rang through my ears as I sat with my chin in my hands, elbows on knees, absorbing the whole talk. The three men were asked if they’re ever afraid to make mistakes when teaching new people in their fields and Conrad simply said “You can’t make mistakes in mentorship.” Now this allowed for a barage of jokes from Jimmy and Malik for Conrad’s ever endearing words on a mountain before they reach dangerous territory “Don’t fall…don’t make mistakes” but in mentorship, Conrad stood firm that it’s different.
Mentorship, he contested, isn’t about can you do all the technical things. Absolutely, that training is vital, but that’s not what mentorship is form… that’s what training is form. Mentorship is about the “exposure and encouragement” he proclaimed. It’s about pushing someone to not only feel empowered that they are ready to lead based on their training, but also to encourage them to test their limits and try to move past their comfort. It’s about carrying someone to the next level, when you have access and endorsement and they do not…you are the endorsement. It’s why Conrad pitched Jimmy to National Geographic even though he had never yet filmed. It’s why Conrad put Malik on a North Face zoom call while Malik stayed at his house. When you have the power to open doors from your vantage, open them for those that need that exposure and encouragement.
Finding Those That Need the Mentorship Most
Tracey Ross, the journalist heading the panel, hit Conrad and Malik with one question in particular. Why, when there are thousands of climbers that would want Conrad to mentor them, why would he choose Malik? He went into Malik’s character and enthusiasm, but really Malik gave us in the audience the bigger picture.
Malik reminded us that he comes from a community that is neither privledged in climbing…or privledged at all. But he had adults that encouraged him growing up that knew he was smart and he could be something. Their expression of those thoughts helped him solidify that belief in himself. But as he got older and discovered his passion for nature and the camera, he knew there wasn’t much support Black outdoorsy people and not much for photojournalism in Memphis. So what did he do? As he put it so well “There was no seat at the table for me, so I had to build it myself to sit.”
Malik’s choices to seek opportunity in his community is how he found himself meeting Conrad. That being said, if Conrad hadn’t taken the opportunity to look toward supporting Memphis Rock, a gym that had become well known for its efforts to build diversity and accessibility to Black climbers, then him and Malik never would have met and the lives. Malik - whose tears on stage got the rest of us in the auditorium losing sight with the mist in our own eyes - life has been irrevocably changed with these choices. Conrad decided to mentor Malik for his spirit, but he is mentoring Malik because both men actively sought out opportunity.
Mentorship Makes the Difference
Myself climbing my first crack climb in 2001. They’ve gotten a lot hard in my thirties.
Mr. Sears was only able to take me on a few climbing days before my family inevitably made our 2 year rotation to the next job opportunity, but his mentoring had a profound impact on my life. I had a crippling fear of heights that, ultimately, he helped me tackle through teaching me to learn and trust belay, and learn to let go. It drove my love for challenge and discovery in the backcountry.
That mentorship had a profound impact on my life. I would discovered new ways to explore in diving, skiing, riding and backpacking. When the opportunity to climb came again in my 20s, I dove in and haven’t looked back. This year, I learned to lead climb. I’m in the process of shopping for my first trad gear set and more repel gear.
It also drove a passion that led to my three year dissertation on the outdoor industry, and a building career in outdoor recreation. Sears taught me to climb in 2000 when still there weren’t many women at the crag unless their name was Lynn Hill. The seats had only just gotten to the table for women, and he invited me to be a part of that. I got lucky that he gave me the chair.
Now, every day as I build my career in the Outdoors, as I build my future, I take every opportunity I can to engage and revel in the adventure of it all, contemplating the mentors of my past and how their lessons will carry me onto this new path. I also work to build my own chair. While I know there are more seats at the table for someone like me than for some others in this industry, perhaps my chair building skills can teach another person how to saw the wood, and I can help them sit beside me once I find the table.
