AOG Teton Mission- Part 2

Who:  Brad, Sean, Mark, Brenton and Coach Rob

What: Adventure Operations Group- Teton Operator Course (Summer)

Where: Jackson, WY; Teton National Park and "off grid" spots

When:  August 7-12, 2013

Why:  Fast and light mountain ops and a big final mission

This course will advance the performance and push the limits of motivated individuals and teams.  You are trained by AOG and Exum Guides in leadership, mountain survival, tactical shooting and alpine climbing.  The training is preparation for a big final mission, an epic test of mountaineering skill and endurance requiring total focus and team commitment. 

Background 

Jackson, WY and the surrounding Teton's are the perfect environment for extreme outdoor challenges, advanced multi-sport adventure travel, tactical and survival awareness and human performance training.     

 

The Mission 

In August 2013 Adventure Operations Group and Brenton Reagan (Exum Mountain Guides) teamed up for 4 days in Jackson, WY.  The Teton Operator course is an exclusive offering from AOG and is designed as a multi-day mountain adventure course with a big final team mission.  The goal was to push the limits of fast and light alpine movement, mountain survival, leadership, tactical shooting, downhill mountain biking and climbing.  We tap into the elite training environment of the Tetons and the warrior mindset to master individual challenges, learn advanced team skills and go "Beyond Normal Limits."

Now scheduling for summer 2014 courses.  Contact brad@adventureoperationsgroup.com for more info.

Day 3

 

 

Day 3

 

After a great breakfast in Teton Village, the team departs for our first evolution.  Today we would be joining Coach Rob Shaul, owner of Mountain Athlete for a special event.  We linked up with Rob at an undisclosed mountain training site for a custom session of his elite "range fitness" training.  A large and growing number of Rob's clients are drawn to the military and tactical focused products of Mountain Athlete, known as Military Athlete.  Rob has created a custom curriculum designed to replicate the body's physiological reactions to the stresses of combat.  Through a series of tailored and timed events, Rob slowly and progressively builds students heart rates, reduces fine motor skills and then leads them through advanced pistol and rifle drills for time.  The effects of even minor physical exertion are dramatic and immediately visible as missed shots, missed times and overall inconsistent performance is typically experienced by all.  The need for maximum functional fitness is constantly reinforced to all who sign up for Military Athlete courses. 

 



Shot timer, burpees and shooting

Focus



No mistakes when your up against Coach

Shot timer pressure

Fun competition, great training, "Beyond Normal Limits"

 

Fitness for action



The range fitness evolution was great fun, but more importantly great training.  After a few hours on the range with Coach Rob, it was clear that we all needed more work on our tactical fitness.  You can never stop training and improving.  The basics should always be your focus, but demonstrating fine motor skills under stress is an important facet of training that was reinforced by our Military Athlete session.   

 

Today the training was over after our range fitness session and we drove back to Teton Village laughing about who was top shot, who cheated on burpees and who broke rule #1 on the range.

 

Our afternoon was spent planning, prepping gear, shopping for food, relaxing and most importantly, thinking about what was in store for us the next day.



The final op



Jackson, WY (Info)
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort 6311 Ft Elevation.  Base Camp for the 2013 AOG Teton Mission.  Located 12 miles NW of Jackson, WY.  In the winter the resort boasts some of the most advanced in bounds and back country skiing in the world.  In the summer, the resort serves as a perfect launching point for multi-sport adventures including: hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, alpine mountaineering, paragliding, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, wilderness and backcountry travel and family adventures.

Grand Teton National Park Home to the spectacular and awe inspiring Teton Range.  The Grand Teton, the highest peak in the range, rises to 13,770 feet.  The Tetons are home to some of the most challenging and technical alpine climbing in North America and attract thousands of climbers and back country adventurers each year.

Exum Mountain Guides  North America's oldest and most prestigious school of mountaineering.  Exum has been guiding clients on the Grand Teton for over 80 years.  Exum's elite guides offer unmatched instruction, inspire initiative and responsibility and lead their clients through one of a kind mountaineering and climbing adventures as active participants.

Adventure Operations Group A veteran owned company dedicated to the pursuits of modern adventurers and the human performance lifestyle. AOG offers guided adventures, team missions, coaching, leadership training and instructional programs.  Through preparation, elite training and "SOF Focus", AOG leads individuals through trans formative missions designed to push the outer limits of personal performance, mindset, teamwork, gear and adventure travel.  AOG shares epic experiences along with our clients as we continue to go BEYOND NORMAL LIMITS.  Get more out of your self, your team and your next adventure with AOG.

Contact brad@adventureoperationsgroup.com for information about scheduling a 2014 AOG Teton Mission.

www.adventureoperationsgroup.com
www.adventureoperationsgroup.blogspot.com

 

2-day Cathedral Traverse, Grand Teton National Park- Part 1 "Don't Stop, Don't Fall"

"At least once a year, do something bold, that requires real effort, real risks and where the outcome is uncertain"- B-Rad

Mission: Try to hang with Brenton Reagan of Exum Mountain Guides for 2 days in the Grand Tetons.

He had thrown down the challenge to me 2 years ago at the Outdoor Retail Show in Salt Lake City. "Come out to Jackson Hole, let me show you what we do for a few days".  He had repeated the challenge this year.  I knew that Exum was one of the most respected Guide services in North America.  I knew that the Tetons contained difficult routes.  This was exactly the kind of thing I love dropping into.  I had to go.  So this year, I took him up on the offer. We would attempt a 2-day, alpine style assault on the Grand Traverse, a route that contained some of North Americas most challenging and technical alpine terrain.

I had carved out some time in early August for the trip.  It would be difficult for sure as I had a compressed schedule, with 1 day to acclimatize and 2 days to complete the route.  There would be no warm up or practice climbs, we would jump straight into it.

I arrived in Jackson Hole on Saturday August 4, 2012 in the late afternoon.  The drive from Jackson Hole Airport to Teton Village, revealed a bustling heavy summer crowd that ranged from climbers, hikers, mountain bikers and kayakers, to large groups of Harley riders, cowboys, families in RVs and everyone in between.  Jackson Hole,WY is a mecca for just about any type of outdoor recreation you can think of.

I checked into my room at Teton Village late Saturday afternoon.  Teton Village is approximately 11 miles from Jackson Hole, and sits at about 6600 feet altitude.  In the winter, Teton Village is the spot for some of the best skiing the West has to offer.  In the summer, Teton Village is transformed into a world class downhill mountain biking resort but also boasts miles of accessible hiking trails, nearby whitewater rafting, horseback riding, wildlife tours, paragliding, and sits on the border of Grand Teton National Park. 

Grand Teton National Park is home to some of the most beautiful mountains found anywhere in the world, and some of the best alpine mountaineering in North America.  Exum Mountain Guides is among the oldest and most respected Mountain Guide Services in North America.  Exum's AMGA certified guides are in a league of their own when it comes to leading clients on truly inspiring and challenging adventures. Exum has been guiding clients on the "Grand" longer and with more summit success than any other company.

Check them out here- http://www.exumguides.com/

With only a day to adjust to the altitude since arriving from VA at sea level, I decided to spend Sunday drinking water and going for a short hike on a nearby trail just to get loosened up.   

I met up with Brenton at 1:45 AM Monday morning, for the drive into the park.  After a quick stop at Exum's office, we arrived at the Lupine Meadows parking lot at about 2:30 am, and began the job of finalizing our gear.  We divided up the tent and climbing gear, cinched down our packs, turned on our headlamps, and were on the move by 3:00 AM. 

The summit of Teewinot was our first goal, but to get there required gaining approximately a mile's worth of altitude.  We hiked through the darkness initially on a small well marked trail, later encountering steep switchbacks that slowly gave way to rock fields and class IV scrambling.  I was already feeling the effects of the altitude, but kept pushing and reciting my mantra for this trip, "Don't stop, don't fall".  We set a robust pace and I was glad that I had chosen the type of training I had been practicing for the past few months.  Even so, I had to ask him to slow down just a bit a few times.  Exum's guides can move fast and light in the mountains.  Eventually, as we neared the summit and the first signs of daybreak began to appear, we dropped our packs and Brenton tied me in to a short rope, and we set out for the summit.  We tagged the summit of Teewinot at about 6:30 AM, and from there the view in all directions was spectacular.  1 down, how many to go?

Dark clouds approached from the Southeast (seen behind me in the above picture), and revealed evidence of what local forecasters had predicted as a 40% chance of showers for Monday August 6, 2012.  Soon, we were taking cover next to a rock wall, wearing all of our Gore-Tex as we waited out a 30 minute rain storm.  We contemplated turning back, but saw no lightning and soon the rain ended. We decided to push on.

The rain made the climbing slow, and a little treacherous for the next few hours as the overcast skies slowed the drying out of the extremely exposed and challenging terrain between the summit of Teewinot and Mount Owen.  "Don't stop, don't fall".  We continued our slow push to Owen.  Down climbing, rappels, exposed ridges, ice ax and snow to the Koven col.  A fall here, would not be good.  "The Summit of Mount Owen is one of the most difficult summits in the park, by it's easiest route", Brenton said as we tagged it and started our down climb.  I was feeling the effects of little sleep and a rush to 12,928 feet, "Don't stop, don't fall". 

The rain and resulting slow climbing meant that a 2 day Grand Traverse probably wasn't going to happen, combined with my short time at altitude, our progress wasn't fast enough to go for the traverse.  I was physically and mentally crushed after 13 hours of hard climbing on day 1, still moving and climbing, but probably not fast enough to make it over the Grand before dark. We decided to bivy on the West Ledges, between Mount Owen and the North Ridge of the Grand.  It was a good call, I needed to recharge.  This mission was now a 2-day Cathedral Traverse, and we still had one full day of very challenging climbing ahead of us on the Grand.

At the bivy site on the West ledges, unreal view.  We arrived with about 8 OZ of water each, and no snow melt to refill.  Brenton rapped into the Gunsight notch, chopped snow with an ice ax, and climbed back out so we would have snow to melt for water.  Much appreciated!

A night's sleep at near 12,000 feet was exactly what I needed.  I woke up feeling stronger.  Day 2 would be heading toward the summit of the Grand, via the North Ridge and Italian Cracks.  Some GU, a little cheese and salami, and snow melt water for breakfast and we were moving again.

                                          The first of 11 pitches on the way to the summit.

AOG Individual Capabilities Enhancement (I.C.E) training with Exum!

                                                                                

    "Don't stop, don't fall"  Climbing through this section required total focus and control.  Little margin for error and no place to fall.  2-man team, over 13,000 ft high on an alpine mountaineering route means relying on your training, physical condition, equipment and each other. 

Summit shot on the Grand, 2 day Cathedral Traverse.

Climbing with Exum is unlike any other experience, because they are unlike any other guide service.  They will put you in the middle of real adventure, and you will come away with new or renewed skills, and a sense of achievement that will leave you wanting more.  Brenton, one of Exum's most experienced guides, is also involved with XMS3, Exum's Military and Special Operations Mountaineering Programs.  You will not find a more advanced or relevant training program anywhere that will prepare your unit or team for the dynamic challenges of conducting tactical operations in an alpine setting.  Check out XMS3:  XMS 3- Mountain Systems Safety Survival

This was a tough 2 days.  I arrived in Jackson Hole with one day to get ready, and found myself being truly tested from the very beginning.  Capabilities stretched, skills enhanced and new friends made!

This trip is accessible and achievable by anyone willing to put in the preparation and training.  The summit of the Grand is within your reach.  Exum specializes in 1 or 2 day summit climbs.  Contact AOG to find out how I planned for this trip, or contact Exum if you are ready for the challenge!



Great teams

Check out this link for a good look at one of the Army's best units. 

http://www.army.mil/ranger

Get yourself "in the zone", read "Click. The magic of instant connections"

This is a book about those mysterious moments when we click in life. Those moments when we are fully engaged and feel a certain natural chemistry or connection with a person, place or activity. Written by brothers Ori and Rom Brafman. Ori is an organizational business consultant and Rom is a psychologist. Click is a psychological investigation of the forces behind what makes us click. What are the hidden forces working to make these magical connections occur? Click accelerators: vulnerability, proximity, resonance and similarity are explored and the authors explain how they work together to create "peak experiences". If you have ever been "in the zone" even once, at work, at play or in a relationshiop, and want to know if it's possible to increase your chances of finding your way back to the zone, check out this book. If you regularly live "in the zone", Click will help you to understand what's going on behind the scenes when it all just feels right and you are in tune and connected to the immediate world around you.

Exerpts from Click

..."similarity, no matter what form it takes, leads to greater likability."

"Nonetheless, the relationship between industrialization and depression is so strong that scientists know there is some correlation between the two. What is it about the process of a country becoming industrialized that leads to depression?"

"The experience of men facing life-or-death situations together created unbreakable bonds. In other words, it didn't matter what type of person went into combat-simply the fact that they faced combat together made the soldiers' bond stronger. It is one of the most emotionally charged experiences imaginable."

A quick and easy read, check it out.

A good team Part 1

What makes a good team?  It's a topic I've been fascinated with for a long time.  I've been on good teams, bad teams and great teams.  There's nothing better, in your professional life, than when you are a part of a great team.  But how does it happen?  What factors contribute and what characteristics are present with all great teams?  It's a topic we'll be discussing in the upcoming AOG course.  Some of the best memories I have are great teams I've been on.  Teams can be large, a whole group of company employees with a shared vision.  Teams can be small, a detachment of guys slogging through a tough mission, or you can be a team by yourself.  You can be teamed up with a good job, a good project or a good activity and you just feel that things are great.  The flip side is also true, when your teamed up with the wrong situation, it's miserable, and we've all been there.  So we'll be looking at what makes a good or great team over the next month.  A definition I love, from a previous student in one of our courses, it's simple, elegant and spot on:

A cohesive group of people, working towards a goal.  Each member knows and trusts what the others do.