214: John Waechter Interviews Mark Pattison – Everest Climb

September 17, 2021

In today’s episode of ‘Finding your Summit’ podcast, host Mark Pattison, former NFL Player, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and mountaineer who has climbed the Seven Summits, flips the tables with John Waechter who interviews Mark about his highs and lows and what he went through. Mark shares his incredible life story & experience on Mount Everest.
Listen to “EP 214: 7 Summiteer John Waechter interviews Mark Pattison Everest climb” on Spreaker.

Episode Highlights

  • 1:33 – Mark and John talk about the common thing that they have — they ended up having climbed the seven summits.
  • 2:52 – According to John Waechter, we don’t return without losing some weight and going through some re-entry conditioning.
  • 5:07 – As per Mark Pattison, at the end of the day, all these things will heal in time.
  • 7:13 – Mark highlights: there’s no rule, there’s dogs crossing the street, people lying dead in the street.
  • 9:28 – Mark states that he is still in awe of those guys who have actually gone through that pain that he experienced recently.
  • 11:41 – Mark shares that Oregon schools wanted him as quarterback and the Washington schools wanted him as a receiver, but he chose to be a wide receiver.
  • 12:41 – Mark discusses that Dylan James taught him about discipline, going after goals, pursuing our dreams and giving it our all.
  • 15:01 – As per Mark, there’s going to be all kinds of obstacles for which we have to take detours, but we can’t take our eye off the ball.
  • 16:36 – Mark points out that a lot of people don’t understand how that process works.
  • 18:06 – He states that there are 32 teams, basically representing 32 different cities, with the exception of LA.
  • 19:30 – As per Mark, NFL was a struggle, but he kept fighting and never gave up.
  • 21:02 – John highlights that Mark was around the NFL for 5 years and that is above even today’s average. So that’s a big accomplishment.
  • 23:38 – As per John, Mark’s journey wasn’t just a five-year journey in a uniform — it’s been a lifetime in association.
  • 25:05 – Mark talks about his vision to create a magical place in Montana.
  • 26:24 – John asks Mark about the challenges and the efforts for raising money for the Epilepsy Foundation through Higher Ground.
  • 28:43 – They talk about that gap between football and climbing, as well as how it started.
  • 30:13 – Mark started a venture-backed company from Porsche classics — it was a gaming company.
  • 32:31 – As per Mark, success leaves clues.
  • 34:30 – “I’ve learned about myself is probably my greatest strength is I never give up. My greatest weakness is I never give up”, states Mark.
  • 36:12 – Mark says, “I said, I’m going to become the first NFL player to accomplish this and go after it. And that’s what helped emerge me out.”
  • 40:44 – John asks: What was the hardest and the most challenging thing?
  • 42:09 – Mark talks about the thing that really helped fuel him to the end and made him keep going through the icefall up and down.
  • 44:41 – “It’s great to have big goals, but that can also be called a New Year’s resolution”, states Mark.
  • 46:40 – As per Mark, a person that we can really trust and talk about different things, while being out in nature and climbing and pushing ourselves, it’s another one of those blessings.
  • 48:30 – Mark highlights that people who are up in the mountain don’t make much money.
  • 53:05 – Mark talks about the film which will premiere on the 23rd of September. The focus of the film is about the power of drive and helping others.
  • 55:31 – Mark says that he is going to be turning on new ideas, how does he get better and how can he help others.
  • 57:35 – Mark appreciates John and says that it’s not very often where the mics get turned around and they come in his direction.

3 Key Points

  1. As per them, we need to love the process if we want to become the best.
  2. They didn’t really make any money even though they sold the company, but it really prepared them for the future.
  3. As per Mark and John, “We should never underestimate what can be accomplished and achieved.”

Tweetable Quotes

My greatest takeaway from climbing Mount Everest, in particular in the Seven Summits, was that there’s never been a day that has gone by that in some way it didn’t touch me.” – John Waechter

I always come from humble roots, my parents both school teachers, and they were always like, you know, just be grateful for what you get.” – Mark Pattison

I think the biggest mistake that I see with so many guys is that they hear a number, and then expect to be in the first or second or whatever.” – Mark Pattison

And when I was just at the Raider reunion recently, and those guys treated me like I was an All Pro, you know, for what I had accomplished on Mount Everest — It was amazing, right?” – Mark Pattison

We have a vision, and the vision that I had was to create a magical place in Montana.” – Mark Pattison

I think through maturity, through impairment, through the right kind of medicine, there’s a variety of things in that jar that have created, the last seven months for her have been seizure-free and it’s really a miracle.” – Mark Pattison

Most of them don’t speak your language, which became a real obstacle with me and my sherpa on that day when I was trying to say ‘help’ — and he thought I was just having fun with them. Right? So, everything was different.” – Mark Pattison

My biggest takeaway was when I was there having to focus on one single thing and not deviate for over two months. That was the hardest thing for me or the most challenging.” – John Waechter

 

Resources/ Links
John Waechter: Website

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