"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. "   Theodore Roosevelt

Long before I started AOG, I read this quote hanging on the wall in a small office, in a non-descript building on Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, GA.  It was in a simple frame and stamped with a unit crest that signified that it had been presented by those who truly understood what it meant to be in the arena. It stopped me in my tracks the first time I read it.  The context at the time was that I was in my first arena, learning the great enthusiasms, about victory and how to dare greatly.  I wasn't alone. I was surrounded by others also in the arena, like minded volunteers for the extreme.  Brothers who helped define it and share it.  They were, as we were reminded daily, "Modern Day Spartans". 

We knew that we were doing the unspoken deeds that most would never know or care about, and that quiet knowledge was the glue that bonded us.  The coolest thing was the recognition that we were all dedicated to the cause, the mission and pushing the limits.  There was no chance of finding a cold or timid soul in that company.  We were, united, of our own accord.

Years later, I find myself in another, different arena. Full of stress, chaos and disunity of thought and action.  When I look around, I sometimes barely recognize my environment or the people in it.  There are those who know neither victory nor defeat, nor ever will.  Those who work in ways that are unfamiliar, ways that are learned from years of modest enthusiasm, selfish devotions or just simply untrue causes.  Those who seek to divide, maintain the status quo and advance themselves by a willingness to endure a soul crushing existence of middle of the road word and deed.  They promulgate a negative bandwidth of communication and endeavors aimed at anything but actual success, victory or the team life.

It is in these times when I must retreat from this arena.  To seek the solace in the familiar feel of the wilderness, of a ruck, wet feet and a time hack.  To move fast, light and far.  To rage against the normal limits that exist somewhere between victory and defeat.  To feel pain, discomfort and to remember the truth that it makes me stronger.  To seek the undiscovered parts of my soul in this world as I find new ways to test myself, lead others and exceed the standard.  To find familiar bonds of brotherhood, new missions and to keep faith with the accord of warriors that are entering their first arena.

These are the times that you must focus on keeping the fire of your soul stoked. Question the status quo.  Liberate yourself from the oppression of predefined boundaries.  Go beyond normal limits.

Are you in the arena?

B-rad
ADVENTURE OPERATIONS GROUP

AOG Q&A with Travis Rolph of Mayflower Research & Consulting

At AOG our mission is to train for “beyond normal limits” mindset and performance.  Drawing inspiration and influence from the Special Operations community, as well as other elite performers and outdoor athletes, we lead individuals and teams to accomplish more than they imagine possible by applying “SOF Focus”.  The principles of SOF focus are grounded in the truths of Special Operations Warriors and in the mindset of constant preparation and improving capabilities that all elite performers possess. 

AOG recently caught up with Travis Rolph, retired 5th SFG Green Beret, owner of Mayflower Research & Consulting and modern day adventurer, to hear about his most recent mission, competing in the Grand to Grand Ultra race.  The Grand to Grand ultra is a 7 day stage race that covers approximately 169 miles over an epic course. 

 



What was your motivation for this mission?  "To see if I could do it" and “ I needed a 7 day break with no cell phones”.  

Travis also said that the preparation process itself was a huge factor in his decision to run this race.  The discipline and focus required to get ready for such a big race was something he looked forward to.  Each day he forced himself to stop working at a set time and to put in the training miles necessary to prepare his body for running long distances day after day.  

Prior to training for the Grand to Grand Ultra, one of the most epic stage races in the United States, Travis had never run a sanctioned race longer than a 10K. 

What was the most critical component of your training plan?  

“The most important physical component was focusing on back to back high mileage days”. 
Travis, like many of us follows a balanced training plan of cardio/strength/agility.  For the G2G however, he backed off of everything except long distance conditioning and cardio. 

“The most important mental component was food planning”.  
Participants in the race had to carry all of their food for the entire 7 days.  There was a 2000 calorie per day minimum established by the race rules.  Travis made his own food for the race, and ate more than 2000 calories/day.

What was the biggest challenge of the race? 

“Dryness of the weather”- Living and training in the Southeastern US, Travis was accustomed to running in high heat, but also high humidity.  The dryness of the weather in Arizona fundamentally changed the way his clothes and gear interacted with his body, causing unanticipated challenges due to blisters and chafing. 

“Choice of shoes”- As a Green Beret Travis was no stranger to moving through sand in desert environments, but his choice of shoes for this race, (semi porous running shoes) proved to be less than optimal for the deep, fine sand. The shoes collected sand worse than he anticipated causing complications from severe blisters.  On the longest leg of the course, he stopped nine times in one day to dumb sand out. 

Mayflower gear is some of the best in the business.  As someone who knows the importance of good gear for our Special Operations Forces, do you think that gear plays a role in an individual’s mindset?  In other words, do you think that individual’s perform at a higher level knowing they have the best gear? 

 “Combat is a stressor, running 30 miles a day is a stressor and in each case there are numerous sub stressors.  When you can remove stressors, you perform better.  Good kit allows you to focus on the mission”.  

 

How would you describe the mental advantage that SOF Operators have over others when dealing with everyday challenges and obstacles? 

 

“We’re all A type’s who accept challenges and jump in with both feet.  We’re all highly confident, analytical problem solvers”.  SOF types know how to work smarter not harder and think their way through problems.  Multi-Tasking with the ability to prioritize the important from the not important is critical.  “What does the outcome need to be”?  “What are the steps to get there”?  The type of training we do, and the way we do it, contributes to the SOF Analytical mindset, (or what we at AOG call SOF Focus).   Once you know the required outcome, and identify the steps to get there, you rely on your training and mindset to push through to the end.        

 

 

Congratulations to Travis for completing one of the most epic and challenging ultra foot races in the world!  Great job on your first ultra! Travis embodies the true spirit of AOG and is an inspiration to all of us to keep pushing "Beyond Normal Limits".  De Oppresso Liber.

 

Travis's next adventure may be another ultra marathon to validate some gear changes.  He's also working on a special project.  We're unable to reveal any details at this time, but look for updates from Travis and Soldier Systems in the near future and stay tuned for a possible future joint Op between Travis and AOG.

 

B-Rad

Adventure Operations Group

Saturday After Action

For me, Saturday is often a great time to conduct a personal after action review from the previous week.  Like many in the US, my weeks most often resemble combat operations, and I am routinely engaged in pushing aggressively forward on multiple fronts and responsible for managing disparate priorities from competing groups of stakeholders on large scale projects. 

It is near impossible to move forward in any organization, effectively and aggressively without sustaining setbacks and failures on a regular basis.  Most often our failures are not large single events, but rather a collection of smaller cumulative micro failures that can chip away at our motivation and effectiveness with such a low signature that it's almost hard to recognize.

Saturday mornings are usually a good time to grab a cup of coffee and reflect on the collection of victories and failures I racked up during M-F combat.  I always think back to the many AAR's and post op debriefs I've sat thru.  Most people would be surprised to sit thru an actual AAR conducted by an elite unit or team.  Even on major operations involving complex planning and coordination, most de-brief points highlighting failures usually fall into one of the following categories:

• perception
• discipline
• communication
• technical difficulty

Perception- It's hard to remember a mission that either myself or anyone I know has ever been on where the actual conditions on the ground did not differ in some way from what was expected during planning.  Great teams and individuals train hard and are expected to adapt.  If you are in a Corporate Combat Unit, keep in mind that perception is one of the most difficult things to manage or understand among people who are normally not cohesive and trained to a common standard.

Discipline-  This one is easy.  At some point on every mission, one of us could have done something better.  Sometimes we get lucky and no one saw our minor mistake, and we dodged Mr. Murphy, but this is one I see often among many civilian organizations.  High degrees of discipline do occur, but are often by chance or due to a few rock stars who hold the line.  Corporations can and should train staff to be disciplined and aligned around solid core principles and time tested processes.

Communication- Think about all of the communication engagements that you will be a part of M-F in any organization.  The total number is staggering.  When they don't go well, they take a toll on both parties.  Often times two people on a team or in a corporate setting will quietly harbor small doses of anger and resentment for hours or days after an unpleasant communication engagement with a co worker or boss.  Failures of communication are the main reason for many of the real set backs and near misses in modern combat operations and among Special Operations.  Communication skills have to be constantly trained on and refined, de-briefed to the smallest detail.  You have to communicate well, period.

Technical difficulties-  "Comms went down", is probably one of the most recycled phrases in military de-briefs.  It's just a fact of life, and probably won't change until SOCOM, or TRADOC buys APPLE or Samsung and puts them in charge.  Fortunately most of us in Corporate Combat units get thru our work days without experiencing technical difficulties that completely derail our operations.  But when they do occur, realize that you must fall back on solid, basic and simple techniques to communicate and keep your team moving forward. 

These are just a few easy points to consider for your Saturday morning de-brief.  To learn more check out:  ADVENTURE OPERATIONS GROUP

Also, to hear David Rutherford talk about how to turn failure into success, check out this weekends Froglogic Radio Show at:  Froglogic Failure to Success

Have a great Saturday!
B-Rad and the AOG team.
Out.

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.

Outside Magazine puts Kelly Slater on Cover

Outside Magazine was right to put Kelly Slater on the cover of February's edition.  The editor makes the argument that Slater's 10th World Title win is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, single achievement by an individual in all of sports history and since neither of the two mainstream sports magazines would cover it, Outside Magazine once again chose to highlight a great accomplishment by one of surfing's most iconic individuals. Slater won his first World Title in 1992.  To remain highly competitive for nearly 20 years in competitive surfing, where each season brings a new crop of super talented and hungry young radical competitors is amazing.  Slater has handled each paradigm shift in surfing's continuous evolution with ease. To continue to win world titles year after year, remain uber relevant to the sport and show no signs of slacking off is  truely one of the great stories in sports and a true of demonstration of high achievement.  Congrats to Kelly Slater and good on Outside Magazine for highlighting the accomplishments of one of surfing's living legends.