hi everyone welcome thank you so much
for joining us today for our Google+
Hangout my name is Marianne pots and I’m
the editorial director of national
geographic adventure and joining me
today are five incredible adventurers
they are some of our National Geographic
2015 adventures of the year so I want to
start on the end Lewis pew and the
extreme swimmer and environmentalist
joining us from Cape Town hi Louis hi
next we have rock climber Tommy Caldwell
fresh off the first free ascent of the
dawn wall in Yosemite how’s it going
Tommy great yeah hello everyone Tommy is
actually in New York as I’m I at the
moment and next we have blind adventurer
Eric y and Mayor joining us from the
Colorado Rockies everyone hey and off
all the way from Katmandu we have
activists in mountaineer waspy in a
serene hello and then also in New York
will gadd who among many things
paragliding ice climbing just made the
first ascent of Niagara Falls this week
I will ya god that’s funny we made you
all adventures of the year for things
you’d already done and yet you keep
continuing to do more great things
clearly you’re very busy I’d also like
to say a special hello to the first
graders in Brooklyn Michigan who are
tuning in today we’re so happy to have
you so first let me tell you a little
bit about the adventures of the year and
while I do that please feel free to
submit your questions over social media
you can use the hashtag ADV of your chat
and we will feed them into our hangout
so we’re naming adventures of the year
for 10 years now we’re looking for the
most inspiring stories that touch on
exploration adventure sports
conservation and humanitarianism we’re
looking for people who are committed to
big dreams so you can see why we picked
these people here we want people who
show us how to better understand the
world around us and also challenge the
status quo and push the limits so
um we were able to have everyone with us
here today but we hope that you’ll go
online and read everyone’s stories we’ve
got luli stick kit DeLaurier the
filmmakers who made damnation liz clark
who was supposed to be with us but had
some weather difficulties out in the
South Pacific on her sailboat and also
Lonnie bed well who’s actually receiving
an award today and Gavin mcclurg plus
the unforgettable alexander joe beso go
online you have two days left to vote
for the People’s Choice adventure of the
year we’ve actually received more than
400,000 votes you have each of you has
two votes left so please use them wisely
all right so now for some questions we
actually have a combined question that
comes from Jennifer schooly posted on
Facebook and Brian McGinnis it on
google+ asked a similar question so
we’ve got what inspires you all to do
the things that you do and follow this
path in life and how has it changed you
so wass via I thought we’d start with
you what has inspired you to pick this
path and lies I don’t think I picked it
I think as far as I can remember just
like growing up in Bangladesh you know
the intensive dynamics where you have to
just balance your life with in between
so many extremes I think you just life
was you know I’m very gifted to have had
that background where life just pushes
you to you know adventure and so to me
right now the campaign that I’m running
it’s what inspires me r the resiliency
of the people of our nation you know and
the women who is struggling for for the
last 40 years and that inspires me to
keep going climbing is I think a very
nice parallel story to that oh great
that’s so let’s Louis what about you
what has inspired you to use the oceans
as your vehicle to talk about the
climate and in the environment yeah I
mean I absolutely love the oceans I love
being in the oceans ever since I was a
young boy I’ve been eating around the
oceans I was very fortunate to have to
Erin’s who loved history and I would
write history books and they would tell
me what about the great explorers people
like Amundson and Nance and Shackleton
Scott and then the Greg Mountaineers
edmund hillary and sherpa tenzing so
ever since I was a little boy I dreamt
that one day when I left school I would
go to the mountainous regions had go to
the polar regions had go into the oceans
instead I became a lawyer and I was a
merit I was a maritime lawyer and then
and then one day I was standing outside
st. Paul’s Cathedral the big Cathedral
in central London and I had a
conversation with a very very close
friend of mine called David Becker and
he said to me I said to him I said David
I’ve been working this law firm for a
long time but I just you know I’d love
to go to the Arctic into the Antarctic
and he said to me he said something
which changed my life he said Lewis he
said it is so important that you follow
your own dreams in life because if you
don’t you’ll be following somebody
else’s mmm and he said to me and he said
imagine if getting all the way to the
end of your life and realizing i’ve just
been following somebody else’s dreams
and and so I went off to the Arctic and
it set off a series of events that that
literally changed my life I I saw the
way this place was changing yeah every
year see the sea ice getting thinner and
thinner and less and less and then I
done a lot of swimming as a kid and I
decided I want to go to the North Pole I
want to go to the most northern place in
the world and trying to assume they’re
22 really hopefully shaking the pulse of
world leaders get them understand how
serious the situation is because in 2005
and 2006 so much the sea ice had melted
and and now every year I try to do
another big swimmer big adventure to
highlight what’s happening to our oceans
but yeah that’s great so with the seven
seas swim that you did this summer what
was the most inspiring thing that you
saw oh it’s you know I mean to look
drink during the the swims you meet so
many people who come and try and help
you and it’s just it’s amazing you
arrived in a town and you’ve got
find a boat’s and then you’re gonna be
swimming across a sea and just ordinary
folk who come out of the woodwork come
and help you it’s it’s it’s amazing I’ll
never forget in the Red Sea just just
especially in the Red Sea and in the
Arabian Sea would waste truly
outstanding oh great Tommy what about
you Lewis hit on following your own
dreams is that something that resonates
with you yeah I mean it definitely does
for me it’s kind of a question of just
answering questions and being curious
and just trying to figure out what we
are capable of and then also you know
living in the mountains the way we do
has a way of creating this real intimate
relationship both between you and the
mountains but between you and the other
people that you go on these adventures
with and that’s one of my favorite parts
i feel really really close unfortunate
every day to be doing what i get to do
so i just keep on doing it yeah well
actually speaking of relationships Eric
as a as a blind person going on
adventures you clearly have a lot of
close relationships with people who go
on on the adventures with you yeah
definitely I am I’ve metic amazing
people over the years that’s been really
one of the fun parts you know when I was
uh went blind when I was 13 just before
my freshman year in high school so I was
a big you know shock obviously sitting
in the cafeteria and you know at a table
and listening to all the excitement and
laughter and food fights passing me by
you know I I wanted to be part of all
that you know I didn’t want to be
sitting on the sidelines listening to
life go by and so getting out there and
you know kayaking and climbing and being
around the world getting to climb I got
to climb a little bit with will a few
years ago and I mean that’s just been
and such a thrill to be there and it’s
definitely meeting people like Lonnie
bedwell who’s also blind like me there’s
a phenomenal kayaker we call him the
long dark because he likes to be sent
into the biggest holes and uh and so and
and when you’re blind you’re definitely
doing a lot of things together as a
commuter
you’re trusting each other like like
most adventure but even maybe even a
little bit more intensely you know
having a kayaking guide is yelling
directions through a high-tech radio and
you know you have like a split second to
make the command to get that right or
you may be gonna get hammered oh so
definitely the relationships you build
are really really powerful and I think
that’s one of the huge motivators for me
oh great so we have a question from
Julian when from California who posted
on our blog he wants to know how you got
started and if you needed to have a
college degree to get into adventure and
I’d add to that how did you not give up
along the way and maybe we’ll start with
you will I don’t think a college degree
is really a necessity a new adventure
anybody but college sure is a great
place to go and have some adventures you
know you got a lot of time and if you’re
cunning those Suns getting money to go
on adventures which is what I did it by
school they would I was head of this
outdoor program and they’d give us a van
and money to go out and have adventures
so I was really lucky that way so I
don’t think it’s a necessity to have
that but if you could make it work for
you it could be fun and many of the
skills that I learned in school such as
writing and speaking if you if you can’t
write then you can’t write these
proposals and say hey I would like a
whole whack of money to go and do
something completely ridiculous you
could I please have it so you gotta you
gotta develop all these skills and
speaking and I was on my like debate
team so that taught me how to argue and
things like that yeah what is fun in
college so I highly recommend it you
should get watch me and we had a
question related to that from Alex Gil
in the UK who posted is important is it
important to have a photography or film
coverage when you go out on an adventure
what do you all think about that I
suppose I might test that one too will
actually again because we just saw your
photos from Niagara Falls and so for
those of you who maybe haven’t heard the
news yet will and a friend just made the
first ascent of Niagara Falls one of the
most iconic waterfall
in the world also it’s not very frozen
flex what you have you know people there
to document it is that an important part
of telling being a successful adventure
and telling a good story you know that I
do all these sports because I love them
probably like everybody is on this panel
here and you know they’re all my hero is
any one of these people are incredibly
rad so better to better question for
them in Subway’s but I do these sports
because I love them but my job is also
and sometimes to document them and share
them and I break it down into that when
I go out skiing with my friends in the
mountains for the day we kinda have a
rule it’s like no GoPros we just go out
there and go at it because we’re there
to hang out and enjoy the mounts
together and then if i’m doing an
adventure like climbing Niagara Falls
that has maybe a wider audience possible
that i’m also there to make a film but i
try and separate those two things and a
lot of times the there are two different
things and and one can get in the way or
the other or you can share something
really cool a lot of people and maybe
change some perceptions and show off
your sport in a different way and maybe
have an impact as Lewis doesn’t on the
light on the wider world and that’s
pretty cool oh great well we just got a
new question from ria shalini and google
plasti says when you’re at the point of
giving up what are the things that help
keep you moving uh well I think you all
have probably something to comment how
about regarding that laughs yeah you
want to give it a go uh well I just I
think meditation really works and
visualization and I just keep telling
myself that you know just to keep the
focus but that’s my focus is always on
safety first and you know to be able to
have that clarity during you know such
extreme conditions is I think really
important to sort of keep you straight
on your motivation of the whole journey
itself so I reflect on that and what
what am I really doing it for and then
if it’s sorry guys
alright well so that as Tommy would you
care to comment on not giving up when
you’re at the brink yeah I mean I think
that these like these sports that were
involved in are so inspiring that that
that’s a that’s enough of a driver in
itself and you know some of us have this
I think a lot of us have this need to
kind of battle that’s built into the
genetics of who we are and so for me
those moments when it gets really tough
or kind of the moments when I feel the
most alive and I think that helps in
yeah there’s definitely times when you
feel like giving up but um that’s just
part of what tells you that you’re
having a worthy worthy adventure what
about you Lewis we’ve seen you that
you’ve gone swimming in some of the
wildest places the coldest the highest
places with trash what has kept you from
giving up in moments of doubt can I give
you a South African analogy there’s a
word in Afrikaans and the word is
phosphate which literally means bite
hard and it’s it’s it’s a wonderful word
the only way I could think I can
describe it is that you imagine in the
African fought a lioness running after a
ville de beers and she runs off to head
filled abyss and then she grabs it and
then she holds on underneath its neck
and she’s holding on and she’s biting
very very hard and she is going to be so
careful because the horns of the ville
de beers because of the feet of the
Builder beers and that bill de beers is
fighting for its life they are both
fighting for their own lives there’s no
social security on the felt in Africa
okay and they are doing that that Linus
is doing that and she is holding on
until another lioness jumps on the top
and eventually they’ll bring that bill
the beast down they do it because they
have to do it because they have to feed
their cubs they’re doing it because I
have to survive now I when when things
really get tough and you know the world
is divided between pioneers and
followers you’re either a pioneer oriole
follower and when you
pioneering a you know a mountain and as
as some of these other people are doing
you just you’re not sure what’s going to
happen the only way you can have that
phosphate in my view is if you focus
entirely on your purpose and for me when
things get very very tough and I am
extraordinarily cold and I don’t know
whether at the end of the day I’ll be
alive or dead I have to focus on on
their deep in a purpose and for me it’s
about highlighting what’s happening in
the oceans because I’ve seen them change
and and I don’t want it to continue yeah
so Eric in terms of that deep purpose
pulling you forward when you’re out
whether it’s climbing Everest or in this
case kayaking down the colorado river
without vision even to guide your way
you must really have that inner
commitment as well I think it is an
inner commitment it’s a for me I think
about it like just a commitment of what
kind of life I want to live and I think
of it like sort of like I call it a no
barriers life you know just that’s the
kind of life I want to be a part of and
I want to be a part of great teams and
do big things and elevate others along
the way and um you know I definitely
experienced a lot of fear and doubt
along the way I’m definitely you know
laughs not like a blind Evel Knievel
getting shot out of a you know Canada
cross the Grand Canyon or something you
know I definitely am and plagued with
fear and doubts and you know like
thinking you know you’re this blind guy
what makes you think that you’re going
to be able to climb Mount Everest and so
you definitely have those moments but I
think when you look at the big equation
of the of the journey that you are going
to go through if you understand how the
mind works the mine is gonna have those
overwhelming moments those moments where
you’re consumed by you know just maybe
on the border of thinking that you’re
not going to be able to complete this
and you just have to understand that
that’s the way that’s the that’s part of
the journey and you embrace that I’m not
doing it
for you know that the fear the doubt or
because I’m an adrenaline junkie I don’t
drive on that what I drive on is at the
end of the you know along the way and at
the end of the process you have these
wonderful gifts that you’re given and
you have to kind of fight through that
other stuff to get to the gifts now
that’s yeah I mean that’s really
inspiring I have a question here that
came in for Tommy Andrew web on google+
this actually came in for Tommy but it
works for I’m guessing all of you we’ve
got Andrew Webb who says a very simple
question for you do you drink coffee and
how do you drink coffee when you’re up
on a big well adventure climb and is it
different than when you are in your
regular life and I’m guessing I’m just
guessing all of you have some kind of
preference for caffeine at certain times
or another ok I’m drinking coffee right
now yeah yeah I have a funny
relationship with coffee actually I I
really love it when i’m home and more
for the caffeine kick than anything else
and then when I’m out adventuring a lot
of times I stopped doing it cuz I’m
already so stimulated that coffee kind
of puts me over the top we’d still die
still do have a you know a small cup of
coffee in the mornings when I’m out
adventuring just for the ritual of it
but yeah for me it’s all about
controlling the energy level anyone else
any uh field rats in with meet you like
I can’t handle coffee in the mountains
it makes me very jittery but normal life
I in civilization I take it but I drink
a lot of motti up in mountains it’s like
summit power drink I highly recommend it
related to that we have Eileen Bennett
quiz on google+ asks about what you all
eat when you’re on adventure she wonders
if it’s cookies what I’m guessing it
might not be but what what are your kind
of go to adventure foods that you look
forward to will oh boy um okay I pretty
much eat everything the las vias
laughing because we bet out together the
mountains that she’s seen the carnage
that can ensue but uh I don’t think I
mean the great thing about these sports
is your active and you’re switched on
and you’re outside and your burn
so much juice that you can pretty much
eat anything that you want and it tends
to skew toward the high-fat side of the
world when you’re out really cool
temperatures and I run better on sugar
and other situations and yeah I’d be
kind of lying if I didn’t say that there
might be the odd Red Bull in there on
most days also so that’s my coffee
substitute that sounds good I think
along the same line of questioning we
got some questions about training and
Vincent cuz celio on google+ want to
know how you train for what you do and
also please remember to send us some
questions tagged them at a TV of your
chat and we’ll try to feed them in but
so back to the training lewis i know for
some of the Arctic’s swims you’ve done
some really incredible training to make
your body tolerant of the freezing water
in and wearing really just a bathing
suit you have how do you do your
training so it very much depends on what
type of sun i’m doing so the media will
follow the stones which i doona polar
regions unless it’s a possibility that
the polar bear is going to grab you
going to die of cold they generally
don’t cover this source which i do
around the equators but the equatorial
systems which I do in warm water you
know I’m very lean I’m about 85 kgs I’m
about to embark on by far the hardest
and colder Syria systems as I’ve ever
undertaken and I will be 105 kg so over
Peter two months I’ve gone from 85 up to
105 kgs and might eat loads of ice cream
and I just have to pack on that weight
and I then train you have to train in
the conditions in which you’re going to
battle and so we build a special
swimming pool here in Cape Town we fill
it with a ton and a half of ice every
day and I get in there and I train and
it’s pretty miserable but it’s
absolutely necessary because it because
of it’s tough here in Cape Town is going
to be extraordinarily tough in the
article in the Himalayas or in
Antarctica way around swimming well and
tell me how about you
what about the strength you needed to
stay for so many days on El Cap for the
dawn wall I mean I’m I trained a lot of
you know for the past six years I kind
of reform it before him out of my life
in a way to give me the best chance of
success on this thing and that means the
hard part is actually kind of the
offseason between between the climbs and
in this case the Don well specifically
was so much about like finger skin that
I wasn’t climbing that much compared to
how I usually do but but I think that um
you know when you’re really inspired the
training just just happens like you just
figure out what what needs to be done to
to gain success on what you do so it’s
really like finding the finding your
calling and that that kind of makes
everything else fall into place yeah and
Eric what about for you you have such a
unique situation in that you do very
variety of adventures but each one
requires a different sort of strategy
for how you’re going to pull them off
you know whether it’s kayaking or
mountaineering you have to have a you
know different system in place to make
sure that you safely can get them done
how do you approach training yeah when
I’m training for the I mean even the
mountains is so different you know cuz
there’s rock climbing and ice climbing
and alpine climbing so you train in
different ways you know but you
definitely tried to keep Bass fitness
and endurance so I mean I’m
unfortunately it’s for me boring things
like unless hours on the stepmill you
know in my house uh and you know I do a
little bit of weight lifting just to
keep from getting injured and I go to
the rock gym a lot and I could get
outside rock climbing a lot and in the
winter get out ice climbing quite a bit
and for kayaking it was it was very
different because I needed to get on
rivers and I live in Colorado so I had
to you know create a plan to basically
be around the world kayaking so I could
be kayaking every month of the year and
so I’d be in Mexico a lot kayaking and
just really building night the endurance
on rivers for me what’s funny about
kayaking was physically I could do it
but mentally I would get really fatigued
because I’m listening to
commands and you know sometimes just
getting hammered and you know swimming
through Rapids and so I you know within
a couple hours I would be just mentally
exhausted just done my brain had
switched off and so I had to actually
build my mental capacity which was
actually harder than the physical sight
oh well well in most fear you live in
Bangladesh mature and Katmandu
specifically for training what what are
you training for well for my next
expedition but I think just a you know
coming from Bangladesh where it’s almost
at sea level or below sea level I think
for us you know mountain people it’s
very necessary and I kind of agree with
what tommy and eric said that for me I
feel like I divided in three ways one is
the physical aspect of it second like
cardio and stuff that you have I do even
when in a min Bangladesh but second is
survival skills and so that’s why I live
half my life in Nepal just like being at
high altitude and living with the
conditions you know survival skills and
the third I would say the mental
training and do a lot of meditation and
yoga to keep me sane to balance
everything it’s great well so we have
heard from the first graders in Michigan
and there Elena Ellison has submitted
their question and I think we should
just jump to it the first graders would
like to know what you would say to show
that anything is possible the Hoos wants
to go first hmm I’ll take a cracker no
I’ll take a crack at that one first I
mean I think this whole idea that
anything is possible is is is a great
idea but it’s important to figure out
what the steps are to get somewhere and
to actually make things happen versus
just dream about them you know if you
want to be really good at anything you
have to go right how do I get there so
if you’re a first grader out there and
you want to do whatever it is you want
to do you have to figure out that first
little step and then take it you keep
building at it and keep building at it
that’s how these things happen they’re
not like one day I’m going to do
something really cool it’s I’m gonna do
this next little bit I’m gonna get good
at it it’s incremental and do it because
you love it and like Alan Watts said you
know you do something beautiful that you
really love then you’ll be obsessive and
compulsive and you’ll get into it it’ll
suck you into the flow that takes you
there but or he could be something that
you’re kind of good at and do all right
at so all your first graders go get it
you know whatever that small step is
good luck it gets awesome anyone else
have any advice on following dreams I
like what will said a lot this is eric
and i think yeah I mean it’s anything as
possible is a wonderful motivational
statement I mean but maybe if that were
totally true I’d be racing NASCAR you
know and I’m not so yeah I mean there
are there are a few limits to be quite
honest I mean technology maybe we’ll
solve some of those things but as will
said I mean you what you do is you
attack those challenges head-on and you
and I find that sometimes when you
attack things head-on in the right way
it kind of releases this energy you get
energized by that challenge and and it
enables you to drive through that
challenge and wind up in a new place and
you in your in this new place I guess
that’s called a breakthrough and you’re
like wow I can’t believe I’m here when
before I was there and so you just keep
having those you know incremental
moments moving forward and then a few
breakthroughs along the way and you wind
up in a new place and you’re really
proud of yourself so yeah keep attacking
tell me about what about for you we’ve
seen fits and is a big presence on some
of your expeditions of chip and tell us
a little bit about how you approach
guiding him through his decisions in
life I’m forgetting Fitz I just trying
goodbye example it’s funny once I had a
small child I started to think a lot
more about what was important to me and
it made me go after life with kind of a
renewed vigor i would say because i just
want us out a good exam
I started to dream even bigger because I
want him to dream big and um yeah I
think I mean the answer to the question
to that question specifically is for me
was a little bit about not letting other
people put and not impose their pursuit
of limits on myself you’re trying to be
an independent thinker and just really
curious that’s great so we got a new
question from Gomery Graham on Google+
who asks all of you if you plan to have
your 2015 plans top what you did in 2014
and but that’s referring to either
sports goals or personal goals I guess
that could go for any one of you that’s
gonna it’s gonna be a lousy year I know
this is eric i never go into the next
year’s thinking i’m gonna top the last
year i never do that you know because i
think that’s dangerous terrain you know
it’s not just like i’m gonna i did
something hard this year i got to do
something harder next year i think that
kind of thinking gets you killed maybe
so i think what i think about is what
what’s personally going to be
challenging and fulfilling in this part
of my life you know how do i sort of
help my how do i take the next step
that’s going to help me grow and evolve
is it human being as an adventure for me
a lot of my goals aren’t even physical
they’re building this movement of people
that you know kind of embrace the right
kind of mindset and don’t let themselves
get set pushed to the sidelines and sit
there waiting for opportunities but they
really embrace the right kind of mindset
we come together year after year and in
these events and talk about how to break
through barriers and kind of how we be
proactive in our lives so I think the
exciting part of life is that it is a
journey even though that’s a bit of a
cliche and you just kind of challenge
yourself and the way that’s right at
that time of your life hmm well in most
via we know that you have your seventh
summit coming up so that’s a big thing
carstens pyramid for 2015 but you also
have your program for women and girls
kept that you’re making strides on
what’s
on with that well a Karsten spear would
have been trying to climb it for the
last few years there are some technical
difficulties with Bangladesh and
Indonesia which is occupying you know
what’s popular where the mountain is but
we’re finally you know made a big two
and we’re finally going so it’s very
exciting but who I’m climbing with is
setting a new route so we’re we’re gonna
try to you know it’s a big expedition
from two sides of the mountain and then
so it’s very dangerous so obviously
there’s a lot of excitement but in the
middle of that so because all of this
was delaying I we had to sort of
postpone the foundation and so it’s
starting in February with 50 students
which is kind of uh so I’m going home
tomorrow to sort of and next week is
like big you know the Foundation’s work
is starting so really excited but
there’s also another expedition coming
up right after Carson so there’s a lot
of back-to-back events and just to add
up to what was said about 2015 they
think you know for a lot of fuss
adventures I think most of life is
unplanned like there are so many small
tenias things happening like I can’t
even think so far ahead that oh my god
next year by the end of 2015 I’m gonna
be like that so I think it’s very
important to live at the moment and take
lessons from you know the journey itself
and not just focus on the summit and
games remain mindful of that sounds
great well so one thing we’d love is if
to know if any of you adventurers have
questions for each other about the
things that you do not to put you on the
spot but i’m sure a lot of shared
experiences out there oh boy there’s so
many yeah well so I think I’m you know
Luis we know that on Monday you’re
making a big announcement will stay
tuned but do you want to give us a
little bit of dramatic foreshadowing yes
I mean I certainly think that 2015 will
be my biggest you have been training for
this expedition now for four years
and if we get it right it’ll be
something special campaigning for the
protection of a part of the world which
is simply unbelievable I mean it really
is the polar Garden of Eden largely
untouched largely and I mean almost all
of the world has been has been touched
and harmed by man but this places stands
out for being very very special and
we’ve been trying to get a marine
protected area so akin to a national
park been trying to get that there now
for portfolios each year we failed and
on Monday announced i’m going to do a
series of five swimmers there and then
afterwards go around a number of capital
cities to meet the heads of state to try
and change her mind on the issue it’s
very exciting is exciting and such a
great marriage of adventure and
conservation in a way that has impact so
Tommy you know we all watched as you
were doing the dawn wall ascent and
probably well I don’t know but it’s are
you thinking about what’s next are you
taking a break and hanging out with the
family I’m definitely taking a break
that was quite exhausting that that
whole process of the last many years but
I mean I know I mean I think about
what’s next but I that so well up inside
of me it’s like sort of thing where I
I’m not gonna be a lot of effort into
something and tell us I think that I’m
waking up in the you know early morning
with excitement staying up late at night
because I can’t up thinking about it um
you know that and that happen the
process has to really grow organically
it kinda has to just hit me um you know
to define what’s next is it’s really a
matter of being true to yourself tired
it’s hard to really plan that out ahead
of time for me it just gonna have to hit
naturally well I think we have one last
question and it’s actually from me so
you all use social media and different
ways to help tell your story
and you know as recently as five years
ago or whatever it was that wasn’t
possible how have you seen that social
media is both a helpful thing in what
you’re doing and get enacting change but
also like other is there a downside to
using it it’s all after that one I have
an interesting relationship with that
because uh you know six years ago my
partner haven’t started doing Twitter
updates I’m on the side of El Capitan
and it very cells like this is weird
like we shouldn’t have technology in the
mouth this is gonna this is going to
take us out of our zone and we’re not
gonna be able to experience these things
fully if we’re trying for bringing in
the whole world into that experience for
time but I actually started to change my
view on that because I would come off of
the adventures and people would come up
to me every day like oh man my work ass
off his job and those updates were the
bright shining light in my day like I
enjoyed that so much and it just it
showed me the opportunity to share and
really inspire it real I and made me
realize the feet are so much bigger than
these things are so much bigger than
ourselves and that’s just the
opportunity that you can’t pass up you
know if you can change a little bit of
the world with what you’re doing you’re
gonna get to take advantage of that
meant something that’s more important
than the personal experience to me but
you still have to have those times where
you go out and go out there and you know
I dropped my font my phone on the dawn
wall and and have it for a week and I
was pretty happy about that and what
about some of the rest of you yeah man
yeah I I use social media and I think
it’s important I mean it’s kind of
funding to be able to send back from
remote places in the world cool stories
and things like that but but I uh but I
want to comment on something that I just
keep hearing from these adventures that
I think is so cool and especially for
the first graders listening I noticed
like such a cool thing about like this
sort of folks talking about purpose and
adventure you know living life with
purpose and I think that’s so wonderful
and it’s so it connects with me so
heavily because when i was a kid going
blind there
a guy named Terry Fox he was a Canadian
yeah he ran across Canada lost a leg to
cancer and he ran across Canada and
instead of just shrinking in the face of
that challenge he rose up and he ran
thousand miles he didn’t finish his run
i think cancer came back and yeah and
killed him but but you know his legacy
raised I think how billion dollars close
to a billion dollars for cancer research
his name is still talked about I still a
hero peep so many people and I just
think that’s such an important message
for especially the young kids that are
listening here like that sense of
purpose you know it’s it’s not you know
it’s about you know these adventures
that are that are pushing envelopes and
definitely sending messages out and
making the world a little bit of a
better place I think that’s that’s such
a awesome message definitely uh yeah
well that’s a that’s a real good EndNote
unless you but is there anything else on
the social media front that anyone can I
can I add in there Mary Mary Ann it’s
interesting because i was asked by a
journalist yesterday is it easier now to
raise sponsorship then perhaps it was
let’s say a hundred years ago when
people were trying to walk the South
Pole oh the North Pole and I i said to
the settler journalists well you know a
hundred years ago when Captain Scott and
Amundson left that have had a lot of
media attention there then got on their
ship to the sailed down to the Antarctic
and then it has started their walk and
only when they finished would they then
be in front of the world’s media these
days it’s very very different so I
undertook the series of seven swims and
people expect there to be live tweeting
and blogging throughout so I’d do a swim
at the end of the swim with now be doing
blogging will be doing interviews to be
doing live interviews blogging tweeting
okay and it’s it carries on for our of
our of the hour and it’s extraordinarily
a tough on the modern guys now it’s it’s
something which the original explorers
never ever experienced the flip side of
it though is that it gives you exposure
to such a wider audiences that the old
explorers never got and so in order to
be able to raise sponsorship and stuff
are that I found Twitter absolutely
invaluable all the money which have been
able to raise for this next expedition
which was which is a very very expensive
expedition pretty much all of it came as
a result of context which I had made on
Twitter yeah Wow well I know I follow
all of you and what you do on Facebook
and social media I feel like it
certainly to Tommy’s point helps you
connect with people in New York and all
over the world in a great way well I
think that will probably do it for our
our google hangout i want to remind you
all to all of you who joined us today to
go online and vote for the People’s
Choice adventure of the year they’re all
adventures of the year but we do have
one people’s choice and thank you so
much for joining yesterday thank you all
the adventurers for making the time your
diverse locations to join us and thanks
have a great weekend thank you you too
thank you it’s gonna meet you off good
to be on a panel with you guys thank you
awesome
for joining us today for our Google+
Hangout my name is Marianne pots and I’m
the editorial director of national
geographic adventure and joining me
today are five incredible adventurers
they are some of our National Geographic
2015 adventures of the year so I want to
start on the end Lewis pew and the
extreme swimmer and environmentalist
joining us from Cape Town hi Louis hi
next we have rock climber Tommy Caldwell
fresh off the first free ascent of the
dawn wall in Yosemite how’s it going
Tommy great yeah hello everyone Tommy is
actually in New York as I’m I at the
moment and next we have blind adventurer
Eric y and Mayor joining us from the
Colorado Rockies everyone hey and off
all the way from Katmandu we have
activists in mountaineer waspy in a
serene hello and then also in New York
will gadd who among many things
paragliding ice climbing just made the
first ascent of Niagara Falls this week
I will ya god that’s funny we made you
all adventures of the year for things
you’d already done and yet you keep
continuing to do more great things
clearly you’re very busy I’d also like
to say a special hello to the first
graders in Brooklyn Michigan who are
tuning in today we’re so happy to have
you so first let me tell you a little
bit about the adventures of the year and
while I do that please feel free to
submit your questions over social media
you can use the hashtag ADV of your chat
and we will feed them into our hangout
so we’re naming adventures of the year
for 10 years now we’re looking for the
most inspiring stories that touch on
exploration adventure sports
conservation and humanitarianism we’re
looking for people who are committed to
big dreams so you can see why we picked
these people here we want people who
show us how to better understand the
world around us and also challenge the
status quo and push the limits so
um we were able to have everyone with us
here today but we hope that you’ll go
online and read everyone’s stories we’ve
got luli stick kit DeLaurier the
filmmakers who made damnation liz clark
who was supposed to be with us but had
some weather difficulties out in the
South Pacific on her sailboat and also
Lonnie bed well who’s actually receiving
an award today and Gavin mcclurg plus
the unforgettable alexander joe beso go
online you have two days left to vote
for the People’s Choice adventure of the
year we’ve actually received more than
400,000 votes you have each of you has
two votes left so please use them wisely
all right so now for some questions we
actually have a combined question that
comes from Jennifer schooly posted on
Facebook and Brian McGinnis it on
google+ asked a similar question so
we’ve got what inspires you all to do
the things that you do and follow this
path in life and how has it changed you
so wass via I thought we’d start with
you what has inspired you to pick this
path and lies I don’t think I picked it
I think as far as I can remember just
like growing up in Bangladesh you know
the intensive dynamics where you have to
just balance your life with in between
so many extremes I think you just life
was you know I’m very gifted to have had
that background where life just pushes
you to you know adventure and so to me
right now the campaign that I’m running
it’s what inspires me r the resiliency
of the people of our nation you know and
the women who is struggling for for the
last 40 years and that inspires me to
keep going climbing is I think a very
nice parallel story to that oh great
that’s so let’s Louis what about you
what has inspired you to use the oceans
as your vehicle to talk about the
climate and in the environment yeah I
mean I absolutely love the oceans I love
being in the oceans ever since I was a
young boy I’ve been eating around the
oceans I was very fortunate to have to
Erin’s who loved history and I would
write history books and they would tell
me what about the great explorers people
like Amundson and Nance and Shackleton
Scott and then the Greg Mountaineers
edmund hillary and sherpa tenzing so
ever since I was a little boy I dreamt
that one day when I left school I would
go to the mountainous regions had go to
the polar regions had go into the oceans
instead I became a lawyer and I was a
merit I was a maritime lawyer and then
and then one day I was standing outside
st. Paul’s Cathedral the big Cathedral
in central London and I had a
conversation with a very very close
friend of mine called David Becker and
he said to me I said to him I said David
I’ve been working this law firm for a
long time but I just you know I’d love
to go to the Arctic into the Antarctic
and he said to me he said something
which changed my life he said Lewis he
said it is so important that you follow
your own dreams in life because if you
don’t you’ll be following somebody
else’s mmm and he said to me and he said
imagine if getting all the way to the
end of your life and realizing i’ve just
been following somebody else’s dreams
and and so I went off to the Arctic and
it set off a series of events that that
literally changed my life I I saw the
way this place was changing yeah every
year see the sea ice getting thinner and
thinner and less and less and then I
done a lot of swimming as a kid and I
decided I want to go to the North Pole I
want to go to the most northern place in
the world and trying to assume they’re
22 really hopefully shaking the pulse of
world leaders get them understand how
serious the situation is because in 2005
and 2006 so much the sea ice had melted
and and now every year I try to do
another big swimmer big adventure to
highlight what’s happening to our oceans
but yeah that’s great so with the seven
seas swim that you did this summer what
was the most inspiring thing that you
saw oh it’s you know I mean to look
drink during the the swims you meet so
many people who come and try and help
you and it’s just it’s amazing you
arrived in a town and you’ve got
find a boat’s and then you’re gonna be
swimming across a sea and just ordinary
folk who come out of the woodwork come
and help you it’s it’s it’s amazing I’ll
never forget in the Red Sea just just
especially in the Red Sea and in the
Arabian Sea would waste truly
outstanding oh great Tommy what about
you Lewis hit on following your own
dreams is that something that resonates
with you yeah I mean it definitely does
for me it’s kind of a question of just
answering questions and being curious
and just trying to figure out what we
are capable of and then also you know
living in the mountains the way we do
has a way of creating this real intimate
relationship both between you and the
mountains but between you and the other
people that you go on these adventures
with and that’s one of my favorite parts
i feel really really close unfortunate
every day to be doing what i get to do
so i just keep on doing it yeah well
actually speaking of relationships Eric
as a as a blind person going on
adventures you clearly have a lot of
close relationships with people who go
on on the adventures with you yeah
definitely I am I’ve metic amazing
people over the years that’s been really
one of the fun parts you know when I was
uh went blind when I was 13 just before
my freshman year in high school so I was
a big you know shock obviously sitting
in the cafeteria and you know at a table
and listening to all the excitement and
laughter and food fights passing me by
you know I I wanted to be part of all
that you know I didn’t want to be
sitting on the sidelines listening to
life go by and so getting out there and
you know kayaking and climbing and being
around the world getting to climb I got
to climb a little bit with will a few
years ago and I mean that’s just been
and such a thrill to be there and it’s
definitely meeting people like Lonnie
bedwell who’s also blind like me there’s
a phenomenal kayaker we call him the
long dark because he likes to be sent
into the biggest holes and uh and so and
and when you’re blind you’re definitely
doing a lot of things together as a
commuter
you’re trusting each other like like
most adventure but even maybe even a
little bit more intensely you know
having a kayaking guide is yelling
directions through a high-tech radio and
you know you have like a split second to
make the command to get that right or
you may be gonna get hammered oh so
definitely the relationships you build
are really really powerful and I think
that’s one of the huge motivators for me
oh great so we have a question from
Julian when from California who posted
on our blog he wants to know how you got
started and if you needed to have a
college degree to get into adventure and
I’d add to that how did you not give up
along the way and maybe we’ll start with
you will I don’t think a college degree
is really a necessity a new adventure
anybody but college sure is a great
place to go and have some adventures you
know you got a lot of time and if you’re
cunning those Suns getting money to go
on adventures which is what I did it by
school they would I was head of this
outdoor program and they’d give us a van
and money to go out and have adventures
so I was really lucky that way so I
don’t think it’s a necessity to have
that but if you could make it work for
you it could be fun and many of the
skills that I learned in school such as
writing and speaking if you if you can’t
write then you can’t write these
proposals and say hey I would like a
whole whack of money to go and do
something completely ridiculous you
could I please have it so you gotta you
gotta develop all these skills and
speaking and I was on my like debate
team so that taught me how to argue and
things like that yeah what is fun in
college so I highly recommend it you
should get watch me and we had a
question related to that from Alex Gil
in the UK who posted is important is it
important to have a photography or film
coverage when you go out on an adventure
what do you all think about that I
suppose I might test that one too will
actually again because we just saw your
photos from Niagara Falls and so for
those of you who maybe haven’t heard the
news yet will and a friend just made the
first ascent of Niagara Falls one of the
most iconic waterfall
in the world also it’s not very frozen
flex what you have you know people there
to document it is that an important part
of telling being a successful adventure
and telling a good story you know that I
do all these sports because I love them
probably like everybody is on this panel
here and you know they’re all my hero is
any one of these people are incredibly
rad so better to better question for
them in Subway’s but I do these sports
because I love them but my job is also
and sometimes to document them and share
them and I break it down into that when
I go out skiing with my friends in the
mountains for the day we kinda have a
rule it’s like no GoPros we just go out
there and go at it because we’re there
to hang out and enjoy the mounts
together and then if i’m doing an
adventure like climbing Niagara Falls
that has maybe a wider audience possible
that i’m also there to make a film but i
try and separate those two things and a
lot of times the there are two different
things and and one can get in the way or
the other or you can share something
really cool a lot of people and maybe
change some perceptions and show off
your sport in a different way and maybe
have an impact as Lewis doesn’t on the
light on the wider world and that’s
pretty cool oh great well we just got a
new question from ria shalini and google
plasti says when you’re at the point of
giving up what are the things that help
keep you moving uh well I think you all
have probably something to comment how
about regarding that laughs yeah you
want to give it a go uh well I just I
think meditation really works and
visualization and I just keep telling
myself that you know just to keep the
focus but that’s my focus is always on
safety first and you know to be able to
have that clarity during you know such
extreme conditions is I think really
important to sort of keep you straight
on your motivation of the whole journey
itself so I reflect on that and what
what am I really doing it for and then
if it’s sorry guys
alright well so that as Tommy would you
care to comment on not giving up when
you’re at the brink yeah I mean I think
that these like these sports that were
involved in are so inspiring that that
that’s a that’s enough of a driver in
itself and you know some of us have this
I think a lot of us have this need to
kind of battle that’s built into the
genetics of who we are and so for me
those moments when it gets really tough
or kind of the moments when I feel the
most alive and I think that helps in
yeah there’s definitely times when you
feel like giving up but um that’s just
part of what tells you that you’re
having a worthy worthy adventure what
about you Lewis we’ve seen you that
you’ve gone swimming in some of the
wildest places the coldest the highest
places with trash what has kept you from
giving up in moments of doubt can I give
you a South African analogy there’s a
word in Afrikaans and the word is
phosphate which literally means bite
hard and it’s it’s it’s a wonderful word
the only way I could think I can
describe it is that you imagine in the
African fought a lioness running after a
ville de beers and she runs off to head
filled abyss and then she grabs it and
then she holds on underneath its neck
and she’s holding on and she’s biting
very very hard and she is going to be so
careful because the horns of the ville
de beers because of the feet of the
Builder beers and that bill de beers is
fighting for its life they are both
fighting for their own lives there’s no
social security on the felt in Africa
okay and they are doing that that Linus
is doing that and she is holding on
until another lioness jumps on the top
and eventually they’ll bring that bill
the beast down they do it because they
have to do it because they have to feed
their cubs they’re doing it because I
have to survive now I when when things
really get tough and you know the world
is divided between pioneers and
followers you’re either a pioneer oriole
follower and when you
pioneering a you know a mountain and as
as some of these other people are doing
you just you’re not sure what’s going to
happen the only way you can have that
phosphate in my view is if you focus
entirely on your purpose and for me when
things get very very tough and I am
extraordinarily cold and I don’t know
whether at the end of the day I’ll be
alive or dead I have to focus on on
their deep in a purpose and for me it’s
about highlighting what’s happening in
the oceans because I’ve seen them change
and and I don’t want it to continue yeah
so Eric in terms of that deep purpose
pulling you forward when you’re out
whether it’s climbing Everest or in this
case kayaking down the colorado river
without vision even to guide your way
you must really have that inner
commitment as well I think it is an
inner commitment it’s a for me I think
about it like just a commitment of what
kind of life I want to live and I think
of it like sort of like I call it a no
barriers life you know just that’s the
kind of life I want to be a part of and
I want to be a part of great teams and
do big things and elevate others along
the way and um you know I definitely
experienced a lot of fear and doubt
along the way I’m definitely you know
laughs not like a blind Evel Knievel
getting shot out of a you know Canada
cross the Grand Canyon or something you
know I definitely am and plagued with
fear and doubts and you know like
thinking you know you’re this blind guy
what makes you think that you’re going
to be able to climb Mount Everest and so
you definitely have those moments but I
think when you look at the big equation
of the of the journey that you are going
to go through if you understand how the
mind works the mine is gonna have those
overwhelming moments those moments where
you’re consumed by you know just maybe
on the border of thinking that you’re
not going to be able to complete this
and you just have to understand that
that’s the way that’s the that’s part of
the journey and you embrace that I’m not
doing it
for you know that the fear the doubt or
because I’m an adrenaline junkie I don’t
drive on that what I drive on is at the
end of the you know along the way and at
the end of the process you have these
wonderful gifts that you’re given and
you have to kind of fight through that
other stuff to get to the gifts now
that’s yeah I mean that’s really
inspiring I have a question here that
came in for Tommy Andrew web on google+
this actually came in for Tommy but it
works for I’m guessing all of you we’ve
got Andrew Webb who says a very simple
question for you do you drink coffee and
how do you drink coffee when you’re up
on a big well adventure climb and is it
different than when you are in your
regular life and I’m guessing I’m just
guessing all of you have some kind of
preference for caffeine at certain times
or another ok I’m drinking coffee right
now yeah yeah I have a funny
relationship with coffee actually I I
really love it when i’m home and more
for the caffeine kick than anything else
and then when I’m out adventuring a lot
of times I stopped doing it cuz I’m
already so stimulated that coffee kind
of puts me over the top we’d still die
still do have a you know a small cup of
coffee in the mornings when I’m out
adventuring just for the ritual of it
but yeah for me it’s all about
controlling the energy level anyone else
any uh field rats in with meet you like
I can’t handle coffee in the mountains
it makes me very jittery but normal life
I in civilization I take it but I drink
a lot of motti up in mountains it’s like
summit power drink I highly recommend it
related to that we have Eileen Bennett
quiz on google+ asks about what you all
eat when you’re on adventure she wonders
if it’s cookies what I’m guessing it
might not be but what what are your kind
of go to adventure foods that you look
forward to will oh boy um okay I pretty
much eat everything the las vias
laughing because we bet out together the
mountains that she’s seen the carnage
that can ensue but uh I don’t think I
mean the great thing about these sports
is your active and you’re switched on
and you’re outside and your burn
so much juice that you can pretty much
eat anything that you want and it tends
to skew toward the high-fat side of the
world when you’re out really cool
temperatures and I run better on sugar
and other situations and yeah I’d be
kind of lying if I didn’t say that there
might be the odd Red Bull in there on
most days also so that’s my coffee
substitute that sounds good I think
along the same line of questioning we
got some questions about training and
Vincent cuz celio on google+ want to
know how you train for what you do and
also please remember to send us some
questions tagged them at a TV of your
chat and we’ll try to feed them in but
so back to the training lewis i know for
some of the Arctic’s swims you’ve done
some really incredible training to make
your body tolerant of the freezing water
in and wearing really just a bathing
suit you have how do you do your
training so it very much depends on what
type of sun i’m doing so the media will
follow the stones which i doona polar
regions unless it’s a possibility that
the polar bear is going to grab you
going to die of cold they generally
don’t cover this source which i do
around the equators but the equatorial
systems which I do in warm water you
know I’m very lean I’m about 85 kgs I’m
about to embark on by far the hardest
and colder Syria systems as I’ve ever
undertaken and I will be 105 kg so over
Peter two months I’ve gone from 85 up to
105 kgs and might eat loads of ice cream
and I just have to pack on that weight
and I then train you have to train in
the conditions in which you’re going to
battle and so we build a special
swimming pool here in Cape Town we fill
it with a ton and a half of ice every
day and I get in there and I train and
it’s pretty miserable but it’s
absolutely necessary because it because
of it’s tough here in Cape Town is going
to be extraordinarily tough in the
article in the Himalayas or in
Antarctica way around swimming well and
tell me how about you
what about the strength you needed to
stay for so many days on El Cap for the
dawn wall I mean I’m I trained a lot of
you know for the past six years I kind
of reform it before him out of my life
in a way to give me the best chance of
success on this thing and that means the
hard part is actually kind of the
offseason between between the climbs and
in this case the Don well specifically
was so much about like finger skin that
I wasn’t climbing that much compared to
how I usually do but but I think that um
you know when you’re really inspired the
training just just happens like you just
figure out what what needs to be done to
to gain success on what you do so it’s
really like finding the finding your
calling and that that kind of makes
everything else fall into place yeah and
Eric what about for you you have such a
unique situation in that you do very
variety of adventures but each one
requires a different sort of strategy
for how you’re going to pull them off
you know whether it’s kayaking or
mountaineering you have to have a you
know different system in place to make
sure that you safely can get them done
how do you approach training yeah when
I’m training for the I mean even the
mountains is so different you know cuz
there’s rock climbing and ice climbing
and alpine climbing so you train in
different ways you know but you
definitely tried to keep Bass fitness
and endurance so I mean I’m
unfortunately it’s for me boring things
like unless hours on the stepmill you
know in my house uh and you know I do a
little bit of weight lifting just to
keep from getting injured and I go to
the rock gym a lot and I could get
outside rock climbing a lot and in the
winter get out ice climbing quite a bit
and for kayaking it was it was very
different because I needed to get on
rivers and I live in Colorado so I had
to you know create a plan to basically
be around the world kayaking so I could
be kayaking every month of the year and
so I’d be in Mexico a lot kayaking and
just really building night the endurance
on rivers for me what’s funny about
kayaking was physically I could do it
but mentally I would get really fatigued
because I’m listening to
commands and you know sometimes just
getting hammered and you know swimming
through Rapids and so I you know within
a couple hours I would be just mentally
exhausted just done my brain had
switched off and so I had to actually
build my mental capacity which was
actually harder than the physical sight
oh well well in most fear you live in
Bangladesh mature and Katmandu
specifically for training what what are
you training for well for my next
expedition but I think just a you know
coming from Bangladesh where it’s almost
at sea level or below sea level I think
for us you know mountain people it’s
very necessary and I kind of agree with
what tommy and eric said that for me I
feel like I divided in three ways one is
the physical aspect of it second like
cardio and stuff that you have I do even
when in a min Bangladesh but second is
survival skills and so that’s why I live
half my life in Nepal just like being at
high altitude and living with the
conditions you know survival skills and
the third I would say the mental
training and do a lot of meditation and
yoga to keep me sane to balance
everything it’s great well so we have
heard from the first graders in Michigan
and there Elena Ellison has submitted
their question and I think we should
just jump to it the first graders would
like to know what you would say to show
that anything is possible the Hoos wants
to go first hmm I’ll take a cracker no
I’ll take a crack at that one first I
mean I think this whole idea that
anything is possible is is is a great
idea but it’s important to figure out
what the steps are to get somewhere and
to actually make things happen versus
just dream about them you know if you
want to be really good at anything you
have to go right how do I get there so
if you’re a first grader out there and
you want to do whatever it is you want
to do you have to figure out that first
little step and then take it you keep
building at it and keep building at it
that’s how these things happen they’re
not like one day I’m going to do
something really cool it’s I’m gonna do
this next little bit I’m gonna get good
at it it’s incremental and do it because
you love it and like Alan Watts said you
know you do something beautiful that you
really love then you’ll be obsessive and
compulsive and you’ll get into it it’ll
suck you into the flow that takes you
there but or he could be something that
you’re kind of good at and do all right
at so all your first graders go get it
you know whatever that small step is
good luck it gets awesome anyone else
have any advice on following dreams I
like what will said a lot this is eric
and i think yeah I mean it’s anything as
possible is a wonderful motivational
statement I mean but maybe if that were
totally true I’d be racing NASCAR you
know and I’m not so yeah I mean there
are there are a few limits to be quite
honest I mean technology maybe we’ll
solve some of those things but as will
said I mean you what you do is you
attack those challenges head-on and you
and I find that sometimes when you
attack things head-on in the right way
it kind of releases this energy you get
energized by that challenge and and it
enables you to drive through that
challenge and wind up in a new place and
you in your in this new place I guess
that’s called a breakthrough and you’re
like wow I can’t believe I’m here when
before I was there and so you just keep
having those you know incremental
moments moving forward and then a few
breakthroughs along the way and you wind
up in a new place and you’re really
proud of yourself so yeah keep attacking
tell me about what about for you we’ve
seen fits and is a big presence on some
of your expeditions of chip and tell us
a little bit about how you approach
guiding him through his decisions in
life I’m forgetting Fitz I just trying
goodbye example it’s funny once I had a
small child I started to think a lot
more about what was important to me and
it made me go after life with kind of a
renewed vigor i would say because i just
want us out a good exam
I started to dream even bigger because I
want him to dream big and um yeah I
think I mean the answer to the question
to that question specifically is for me
was a little bit about not letting other
people put and not impose their pursuit
of limits on myself you’re trying to be
an independent thinker and just really
curious that’s great so we got a new
question from Gomery Graham on Google+
who asks all of you if you plan to have
your 2015 plans top what you did in 2014
and but that’s referring to either
sports goals or personal goals I guess
that could go for any one of you that’s
gonna it’s gonna be a lousy year I know
this is eric i never go into the next
year’s thinking i’m gonna top the last
year i never do that you know because i
think that’s dangerous terrain you know
it’s not just like i’m gonna i did
something hard this year i got to do
something harder next year i think that
kind of thinking gets you killed maybe
so i think what i think about is what
what’s personally going to be
challenging and fulfilling in this part
of my life you know how do i sort of
help my how do i take the next step
that’s going to help me grow and evolve
is it human being as an adventure for me
a lot of my goals aren’t even physical
they’re building this movement of people
that you know kind of embrace the right
kind of mindset and don’t let themselves
get set pushed to the sidelines and sit
there waiting for opportunities but they
really embrace the right kind of mindset
we come together year after year and in
these events and talk about how to break
through barriers and kind of how we be
proactive in our lives so I think the
exciting part of life is that it is a
journey even though that’s a bit of a
cliche and you just kind of challenge
yourself and the way that’s right at
that time of your life hmm well in most
via we know that you have your seventh
summit coming up so that’s a big thing
carstens pyramid for 2015 but you also
have your program for women and girls
kept that you’re making strides on
what’s
on with that well a Karsten spear would
have been trying to climb it for the
last few years there are some technical
difficulties with Bangladesh and
Indonesia which is occupying you know
what’s popular where the mountain is but
we’re finally you know made a big two
and we’re finally going so it’s very
exciting but who I’m climbing with is
setting a new route so we’re we’re gonna
try to you know it’s a big expedition
from two sides of the mountain and then
so it’s very dangerous so obviously
there’s a lot of excitement but in the
middle of that so because all of this
was delaying I we had to sort of
postpone the foundation and so it’s
starting in February with 50 students
which is kind of uh so I’m going home
tomorrow to sort of and next week is
like big you know the Foundation’s work
is starting so really excited but
there’s also another expedition coming
up right after Carson so there’s a lot
of back-to-back events and just to add
up to what was said about 2015 they
think you know for a lot of fuss
adventures I think most of life is
unplanned like there are so many small
tenias things happening like I can’t
even think so far ahead that oh my god
next year by the end of 2015 I’m gonna
be like that so I think it’s very
important to live at the moment and take
lessons from you know the journey itself
and not just focus on the summit and
games remain mindful of that sounds
great well so one thing we’d love is if
to know if any of you adventurers have
questions for each other about the
things that you do not to put you on the
spot but i’m sure a lot of shared
experiences out there oh boy there’s so
many yeah well so I think I’m you know
Luis we know that on Monday you’re
making a big announcement will stay
tuned but do you want to give us a
little bit of dramatic foreshadowing yes
I mean I certainly think that 2015 will
be my biggest you have been training for
this expedition now for four years
and if we get it right it’ll be
something special campaigning for the
protection of a part of the world which
is simply unbelievable I mean it really
is the polar Garden of Eden largely
untouched largely and I mean almost all
of the world has been has been touched
and harmed by man but this places stands
out for being very very special and
we’ve been trying to get a marine
protected area so akin to a national
park been trying to get that there now
for portfolios each year we failed and
on Monday announced i’m going to do a
series of five swimmers there and then
afterwards go around a number of capital
cities to meet the heads of state to try
and change her mind on the issue it’s
very exciting is exciting and such a
great marriage of adventure and
conservation in a way that has impact so
Tommy you know we all watched as you
were doing the dawn wall ascent and
probably well I don’t know but it’s are
you thinking about what’s next are you
taking a break and hanging out with the
family I’m definitely taking a break
that was quite exhausting that that
whole process of the last many years but
I mean I know I mean I think about
what’s next but I that so well up inside
of me it’s like sort of thing where I
I’m not gonna be a lot of effort into
something and tell us I think that I’m
waking up in the you know early morning
with excitement staying up late at night
because I can’t up thinking about it um
you know that and that happen the
process has to really grow organically
it kinda has to just hit me um you know
to define what’s next is it’s really a
matter of being true to yourself tired
it’s hard to really plan that out ahead
of time for me it just gonna have to hit
naturally well I think we have one last
question and it’s actually from me so
you all use social media and different
ways to help tell your story
and you know as recently as five years
ago or whatever it was that wasn’t
possible how have you seen that social
media is both a helpful thing in what
you’re doing and get enacting change but
also like other is there a downside to
using it it’s all after that one I have
an interesting relationship with that
because uh you know six years ago my
partner haven’t started doing Twitter
updates I’m on the side of El Capitan
and it very cells like this is weird
like we shouldn’t have technology in the
mouth this is gonna this is going to
take us out of our zone and we’re not
gonna be able to experience these things
fully if we’re trying for bringing in
the whole world into that experience for
time but I actually started to change my
view on that because I would come off of
the adventures and people would come up
to me every day like oh man my work ass
off his job and those updates were the
bright shining light in my day like I
enjoyed that so much and it just it
showed me the opportunity to share and
really inspire it real I and made me
realize the feet are so much bigger than
these things are so much bigger than
ourselves and that’s just the
opportunity that you can’t pass up you
know if you can change a little bit of
the world with what you’re doing you’re
gonna get to take advantage of that
meant something that’s more important
than the personal experience to me but
you still have to have those times where
you go out and go out there and you know
I dropped my font my phone on the dawn
wall and and have it for a week and I
was pretty happy about that and what
about some of the rest of you yeah man
yeah I I use social media and I think
it’s important I mean it’s kind of
funding to be able to send back from
remote places in the world cool stories
and things like that but but I uh but I
want to comment on something that I just
keep hearing from these adventures that
I think is so cool and especially for
the first graders listening I noticed
like such a cool thing about like this
sort of folks talking about purpose and
adventure you know living life with
purpose and I think that’s so wonderful
and it’s so it connects with me so
heavily because when i was a kid going
blind there
a guy named Terry Fox he was a Canadian
yeah he ran across Canada lost a leg to
cancer and he ran across Canada and
instead of just shrinking in the face of
that challenge he rose up and he ran
thousand miles he didn’t finish his run
i think cancer came back and yeah and
killed him but but you know his legacy
raised I think how billion dollars close
to a billion dollars for cancer research
his name is still talked about I still a
hero peep so many people and I just
think that’s such an important message
for especially the young kids that are
listening here like that sense of
purpose you know it’s it’s not you know
it’s about you know these adventures
that are that are pushing envelopes and
definitely sending messages out and
making the world a little bit of a
better place I think that’s that’s such
a awesome message definitely uh yeah
well that’s a that’s a real good EndNote
unless you but is there anything else on
the social media front that anyone can I
can I add in there Mary Mary Ann it’s
interesting because i was asked by a
journalist yesterday is it easier now to
raise sponsorship then perhaps it was
let’s say a hundred years ago when
people were trying to walk the South
Pole oh the North Pole and I i said to
the settler journalists well you know a
hundred years ago when Captain Scott and
Amundson left that have had a lot of
media attention there then got on their
ship to the sailed down to the Antarctic
and then it has started their walk and
only when they finished would they then
be in front of the world’s media these
days it’s very very different so I
undertook the series of seven swims and
people expect there to be live tweeting
and blogging throughout so I’d do a swim
at the end of the swim with now be doing
blogging will be doing interviews to be
doing live interviews blogging tweeting
okay and it’s it carries on for our of
our of the hour and it’s extraordinarily
a tough on the modern guys now it’s it’s
something which the original explorers
never ever experienced the flip side of
it though is that it gives you exposure
to such a wider audiences that the old
explorers never got and so in order to
be able to raise sponsorship and stuff
are that I found Twitter absolutely
invaluable all the money which have been
able to raise for this next expedition
which was which is a very very expensive
expedition pretty much all of it came as
a result of context which I had made on
Twitter yeah Wow well I know I follow
all of you and what you do on Facebook
and social media I feel like it
certainly to Tommy’s point helps you
connect with people in New York and all
over the world in a great way well I
think that will probably do it for our
our google hangout i want to remind you
all to all of you who joined us today to
go online and vote for the People’s
Choice adventure of the year they’re all
adventures of the year but we do have
one people’s choice and thank you so
much for joining yesterday thank you all
the adventurers for making the time your
diverse locations to join us and thanks
have a great weekend thank you you too
thank you it’s gonna meet you off good
to be on a panel with you guys thank you
awesome
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