Sam’s own words define his high-energy dedication to climbing: “The quest to understand myself through athletic pursuits has deeply enriched my life…As a result I feel a responsibility to explore and express myself through these realms for as long as I am capable and motivated.”
Learn more about Sam Elias.
View of Downtown Manhattan
Until this year, I had not spent any significant time on the East Coast. Following an opportunity and needing a change, in July and August, I moved to New York City. Immediately I was stuck by both the diversity in the city, as well as the pace. Both create an electric environment that is tangible. There is so much energy there, and so much productivity. I found it almost impossible not to be inspired as I walked the streets, or rode the subway, or even sat for a moment and just watched. It’s certainly unique and intense, and definitely not for everyone, though I truly believe that the city has something to offer anyone. What is undeniable -- it is one of the greatest cities in the world, and a home to so many people.
Midtown Manhattan, early morning
In the last days, I have been getting updates from my family and friends there. Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the city, and all of New England. Though the worst of the hurricane has subsided, the east coast is now faced with another storm, a Nor’easter. It is a desperate situation.
Here are some of my photos from the time that I spent there. I hope they demonstrate the beauty and uniqueness of the place, and inspire you to maybe say a little prayer, or donate a little money, or even some old clothes. Every lil bit helps…
~Sam... (http://instagram.com/bookofsamuel)
NYC never sleeps
Brooklyn Bridge
Midtown Manhattan, The Hudson River, and New Jersey
The East River and Midtown Manhattan
Street Inspiration
Click above to listen to a voicemail from Sam Elias.
What’s up? This is Sam calling from Everest Camp 2. We got here this morning, the team, everyone got here quickly and safely and everyone is feeling great. We had a really nice day up here just resting. We’re going to rest at Camp 2 again tomorrow and then the following day head up to Camp 3.
Everyone’s excited. Everyone’s feeling really good.
It’s nice to have Conrad with us. I got to walk with him today from Camp 1 to Camp 2 and it’s pretty amazing the amount of people that he knows up here. The amount of sherpas who have gone through the Khumbu Climbing School. They all stop and say hello to him. It’s just an honor to be able to be here with him and now have him climbing with us.
Everyone is in good spirits, we’re all really excited and the weather looks like it’s going to be really good for us. Just wanted to say hello to everyone out there and thanks for all the support and we will talk to you in the next few days.
We’ve been in base camp for eight days, and today we will head back up the mountain for our third rotation. We were hoping that our third trip up would be for the summit, but the weather has not been cooperating, and in terms of acclimatization, it’s getting to be too long for us without being up high.
The team spends time inside the Mayo Clinic Tent at Base Camp.
Six members from The Mayo Clinic arrived here in base camp while we were up on the mountain last time. With them were also two employees from The North Face, and one from National Geographic. The group brought over 600kg of really expensive and technical medical equipment. Thus, we spent the last week getting tested.
Our blood, heart, lungs, cognitive functioning, sleeping, general body composition, and energy expenditure were all examined and will be further analyzed. The reasoning of Dr. Bruce Johnson and his team was to study the cardiopulmonary system under extreme stress. The goal is to hopefully apply the findings to people with heart problems. He and his team have found similarities between what happens to the body as it ascends and is exerted at high altitude, and what happens to the body of a person with a failing heart. Similarities such as fluid in the lungs, changes in heart rhythm, changes in breathing, etc. For us climbers, it is an opportunity for what we do to potentially have an impact on the mass population, as heart problems are so widespread in the world, and we are all glad to participate. For more info: (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/244391.php)
In addition to working with the Mayo personnel, we were testing various prototypes and working with the two members from The North Face on developing better products. We had many productive conversations, and the unique and immediate interactions that happened in the field proved beneficial to all.
The athlete team is very connected to the product innovation, design, and testing process, and the people within the company that work in these areas. Derek Campbell, the Director of Global Product Innovation, and Landon Bassett, the Outdoor Division Brand Manager were sent all the way here to Everest base camp to see how we use our gear firsthand, and to listen to what problems we have, and work with us to modify existing products or to create new and better ones.
The end result proves that the system works very well, as The North Face products are always at the forefront of innovation and quality because they are truly – “Athlete tested, Expedition proven.”
It was good to have them all in camp, refreshing new energy. It seemed that both the Mayo team and the TNF team were very satisfied with all that they did while here. Working and spending time with them allowed this rest cycle to pass by with ease. Now, however, they are gone, and it’s time that we go back up again. Stay tuned.
Click play below to listen to an audio message from Sam Elias who is at Basecamp on Mount Everest.
Saturday April 21, 2012.
It’s 6:02 pm at Everest base camp, 6:18 am in Boulder, CO where I left 5 weeks ago tomorrow. We’re about to eat dinner here. Today around noon, I lay resting in a yellow room - my tent - like a starfish, no shirt, ¾ length long underwear. My wristwatch read 91 degrees Fahrenheit, and the air was heavy, but thin to my adapting lungs. I must consciously inhale and exhale deeper. It’s uncomfortable but I’ve nearly grown accustomed to it. We’re residing at over 17,000 feet (5254m). It stank in there; only 3 showers in all these weeks, and not many fresh clothes.
My mind drifted. Around me, the landscape rises up with massive relief. My tent is oriented such that behind me there is Pumo Ri (7165m), and to its left in a semi-circle – Lingtren (6749m) and Khumbhutse (6665m). Then, out my front door is Everest (8850m), Lhotse (8501m), and Nuptse (7861m). Each except Nuptse is on the borderline of China (Tibet) and Nepal. Everest base camp is the cul-de-sac of the Khumbu valley and glacier. There is nowhere to go from here but up.
Down valley you can see the tops of smaller peaks – Tawoche (6367m) and Cholatse (6335m). This is a radical place - harsh and raw and extreme. It’s amazing to be here, but I feel out of place. Around me, the land speaks – rock fall, landslides, avalanches, serac collapses.
Every afternoon the wind picks up, the clouds come, and it gets cold quickly. It all adds to my sense of awe and anxiety as a visitor. This afternoon was no different. My bodily sensations brought my mind back from its wandering – I was cold. My watch read 29 degrees, and it was pounding snow. Things can change so quickly here. It is a magical place, but it commands attention. We are lucky to be here…
Time to eat.
One of the most amazing things to happen to my life because of climbing is the travel, exploration, and experience of new places, culture, people. It is intoxicating, and with each new place visited, with each new friend made on the other side of the world, I am left wanting more. It’s all that I want, really – to climb and have these new experiences. Generally, after returning from one trip, I already have another planned, and if not, it is never too long before I start planning one. I think that a natural part of the human condition is to, at some point, subscribe to the notion that ‘more is better,’ whatever it may be – more money, more stuff, more fame, more travel. As my friend Andrew Bisharat likes to say, “If one beer means fun, than 2 beers means twice as much fun. And, 4? …and…and…and…” The question – ‘Is more better?’ – is one that every single person must confront, some do it consciously, others subconsciously. By whatever means, it is a part of life, because at its root is the search for happiness.
Kirov, Russia. 'Just one more' shot of vodka in Russia after the final Ice World Cup
Despite her best efforts and careful guidance, my mother can explain through her observation of my life that I am stubborn and impulsive and ambitious. Unfortunately sometimes these things trump sensibility. And so, this was the realization while in Europe just few weeks ago. I travelled there with 2 goals – to (1) buy a van to permanently have in Europe, and (2) to climb. I, of course, accomplished both as any stubborn, ambitious person would, but it took a toll. It was the so-called straw that broke the camel's back. By the end, I was deeply homesick, desiring familiar surroundings and people. For someone that almost never feels this way and almost always feels at ‘home’ wherever I am, it was a very difficult time. Generally while travelling there is a healthy balance between experiencing new (foreign) things, and considering old (familiar) things. Nearing the end of my most recent travel, the balance had been heavily swayed toward thinking about and desiring the latter. I was very simply unhappy.
Munich, Germany. Base camp in Europe - 2000 Fiat Ducato.
Bavaria
This year I have been home about 10 weeks, 10 of almost 33 at this very moment. I know for a fact that other friends and colleagues at The North Face have been at home less than I. It's a part of the deal, a part of the passion and commitment to climbing and the greater outdoor industry. ‘Normal’ people usually respond, “I don’t feel bad for you,” or sarcastically “Poor you! You get to travel all over the world and climb. It really must be difficult.” I have been overseas – Russia, Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland – for a total of 3 months already this year. Since, January 1, I have been to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Michigan, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and California. I own a van on 2 different continents now. I have climbed too many days to count, and at so many different areas. I am not writing to complain, or to brag. I am simply writing to share part of my life, part of the joys and pains. It is not any better or worse than anyone else, just different. Some people envy what I have, I envy what other’s have - The grass is so damn green everywhere but here. The lesson, the reality, is that we should all try to be happy with what we have. As the cliche and commonplace idea, it's easy to comprehend, but to live and enact the idea is the true test. This is what I came to understand more completely just a few short weeks ago.I shouldn’t go travelling because I think that happiness is on the next trip, or in the next country, or around the next corner. Happiness is right here and now. The equation: More = Better = Happiness is not universally and absolutely true. There is a point of saturation when even Andrew knows, having that one more beer actually means having less fun. But, we only know that, because we’ve learned the hard way, and honestly it’s the only way that I’ll have it.
Margalef, Spain
View of Riva del Garda, Italy from the crag Narango
View of Ginzling, Austria from the crag Bergstation
I have been back home for just a few days now, and I have had such strong, positive feelings of my presence of place - Just simply happy to be right here. I am trying hard to keep the feeling alive and present and available. So, here’s to ‘home’ and to happiness, and to learning the hard way. Here’s to thinking about what we have, and to cultivating gratitude. Here’s to being balanced in ambition and desire to have more or different things. Good luck,
~Sam
As a leading brand in the outdoor industry, The North Face is always striving to innovate and utilize current resources to push farther and create better products that suit the needs of the users. Also, as a leader, the company has made it a priority to build a proud global athlete team that extends it’s reach deeply into the outdoor recreational activity community and outdoor activity inspired community. Through pure symbiosis, the athletes are supported in the pursuit of their dreams, and in turn the company is supported and benfits from an immediate connection to the sports and lifestyles that it was created to serve. I am proud to say that I am a part of this connection.
Slogging to Cleopatra's Needle
Window Rock Cabin in Hyalite Canyon, MT
My "Mountain Residence"
Conrad tending dinner on the open flame
Lesser-known aspects about the relationship between the TNF athlete team and the internal company are events called ‘Summits.’ We have an annual athlete summit where all North Face athletes worldwide are brought together with select executives, managers, and directors to meet and interact, share input and ideas, and to also be educated about the company plans, direction, and goals. In conjunction with the annual athlete meeting, there are small summits all across the country that are aimed at bringing the athletes together with the actual product designers and developers; the actual people that create everything that is uniquely TNF totally from scratch. The goal is to get the creatives out into the field practicing the sports for which they make things with the athletes as facilitators, but more as collaborators, new sources of ideas, and fresh perspectives. It is a very organic means of conversation and interaction because the subject is directly at hand. The Summits are a steadfast priority for The North Face to frequently coordinate and invest in, from hiking and slot canyoneering in Arizona to mountain biking in Utah to skiing and snowboarding in California to ice climbing in Montana. After all, this method is the most authentic way to create products designed for intended activities. It should be the standard by which all companies should operate, but sadly it is not due to the nature of these events being costly and complex. But, in an effort to maintain direct connection to the sports and lifestyles that it was created to serve, and making authenticity a priority, TNF invests the resources. And, the end result is obvious – The very highest quality and best functioning products.
Kris Erickson and I
Peter Croft
In the last few months, I have been to 2 summits. The first was in March in Hyalite Canyon, Montana where we ice climbed and winter camped. Other athletes present were Conrad Anker, Kris Erickson, and Peter Croft, and there were about 15 employees that came out from the office in San Leandro. The second summit was in June in Yosemite Valley, California where we hiked and rock climbed. Here I was joined by Mark Synnott, Peter Croft, Lisa Rands, Heidi Wirtz, Alex Honnold, Matt Segal, Emily Harrington, and Olivia Hsu, as well as about 20 office employees. Both meetings were extremely inspirational and productive, and it was a real honor to see the talent, creativity, and enthusiasm of all the employees. I am eager to see what comes about from the them as a result of the ideas and input of the athletes. Stay tuned...
THE Valley
Base of Serenity Sons with Alex Honnold, Matt Segal, and Emily Harrington
Alex starting before anyone else is unpacked
Matt
Rapping
Emily taking a break from the boulders
Me on the summit of Midnight Lightning...dream come true
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