Part of my job as the host and emcee at 29029 events is getting to know the participants who take on the challenge to find their Everest.  Over the 4 days that I get to spend with them, I typically get a good read on who they are and some of the roads and backroads they have traveled before climbing our mountains.  Each one of them has a story and I see it as my job to unlock a bit of that narrative to help create powerful moments on the mountain.  

But sometimes I don’t see the whole story.  This was one of those times. 

I first met Chris Bystriansky in 2021 at Snowbasin.  He was a guy with a great smile and fun personality climbing with his buddies.  He struggled and eventually called it a day 3 ascents short of his Everest.  \

In 2022, he was back on the mountain in Snowbasin.  I knew he had recently moved his family to Orlando with his wife and two young daughters.  He and Alison split up their 29029 events between the two Snowbasin weekends that year so one of them would be home with the kids.  Alison earned her red hat at Snowbasin #1 and Chris was back for redemption at Snowbasin #2.  Again, he was charming and happy.  He dug deep and this time conquered his Everest on that mountain.  

It wasn’t until months later that Chris sent me a book he had written.  When I opened the package and looked at the front cover I saw that familiar grin from the mountain……but then I saw something I didn’t expect.  Something I hadn’t realized even after watching Chris climb a total of 23 ascents up Snowbasin in the past two years.  On the front cover Chris was holding two artificial hip joints…..Just like his artificial hip joints.  Chris not one but two artificial hips!  

How does a 39 year old man handle 2 hip replacement surgeries in 18 months with a wife and a small child?  How does someone come back from a major surgery and rehabilitation like that to complete multiple Ironman triathlons and climb two 29029 events….when before that being athletic but not an endurance athlete!   

It’s a mindset and one that we would all benefit from.