My Journey To Climbing The Seven Summits!

December 8, 2019
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My story has been an incredible journey which started 8 years ago.  My marriage was crumbling as I was living in Santa Monica, California after relocating from my home town of Seattle, Washington.  All my support group was based in Seattle and felt very alone and didn’t know which way to turn. We have all been there.  Feeling stuck right?  That was me.

Then one day as I was walking my chocolate lab around the block and finally quit asking the question, how did I get here?  It was getting me nowhere.  So I decided to change that question from “how did I get here” to “what am I going to do about it”.  Talk about feeling like a major weight coming off my back.  It sure did.  I started to visualize opportunities and the one thing I wanted to do was do something athletically great!  Obviously, I couldn’t go back and play in the NFL so I set my sights on becoming the 1st NFL Player to climb the Seven Summits.

Off to the races I went!  Planning, researching, asking questions and trying to figure out step 1!  I talked to a lead guide and owner Phil Urshler of IMG who advised me on the path around the globe.  It started w/ Kilimanjaro and now am on the verge of going after Mt Everest and Lhotse.  I am jacked & stoked for so many reasons about what has transpired in the last 8 years.

My life is so much richer which includes:  having met incredible people, moving my life to Sun Valley, Idaho, raising money for my daughter who has epilepsy (Emilia’s Everest) and public speaking.  Wow.  I could never have imagined this new life.  Many lessons learned but the key one is:  Step into the FEAR!  Go for it..

This cool video that was made by the NFL NETWORKS called Life After Football pretty much sums it up:  http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-360/0ap3000000863888/Life-After-Football-Mark-Pattison