Is the risk worth the reward? Now this question is always on a sliding scale and is hard to quantify. I feel that I have a pretty medium risk tolerance in the mountains. Meaning I like to push it, but safety is always a concern for me and I would rather turn around and take a “defeat” or a “no” from the mountains if there are signs telling me to do so. With that being said, of course, there is always inherent risk. However, I truly believe that this risk is far outweighed by the reward of feeling alive, and living and pursuing a passion.

The film uses our entire adventure to help one ponder these questions in your own way, by bringing the viewer into our 'sufferfests’, successful moments, and tense moments along the way. Many of my favorite moments from this trip are highlighted in the film. Waking up in my tent buried in snow, the climb up Mt. Bertha, and the first turns off the summit. But a few of my favorite moments from a month committed to this project weren’t captured for the film, for example:

On our walk into basecamp, we were on a long hall push. We were touring in what I can easily say is the hardest snow I have ever walked in. It had been snowing for days and was this warm gluey, muddy-feeling snow. Knee to thigh deep, it was like trudging through thick mud, for hours and hours and hours… The push was so tough that we started keeping time, it was everyone’s goal to be able to break trail for 15 minutes. If you could make it to 15 minutes in front you were crushing it. Then you would stop, plop down on our bag, and take a break while you watched the entire crew pass you by and pick up the rear in our little group treadmill. The best part of this scenario is that when you would catch up and pass the trail breaker, everyone was playing different types of music on their phone in their pockets…. Hearing the crew's “crush it” music was a highlight for me. Gangster rap, death metal, Rock and Roll, anything to get through those 15 minutes!!