Denali Final Update: Failure is a Key Part of Success
The SEALKIDS Denali climb is over. We had a spectacular failure. On the day of our summit attempt, we were exhausted, cold, and feeling the altitude. At 19,500 ft, 800 ft from the summit of the tallest peak in North America, we decided to turn back. Going any further could have been even more dangerous for us, causing us frostbite or worse. The good side is we were close to the top of North America, the views were absolutely amazing, it was a gift that we were even standing there, and we knew it. We were living the best we could live, even if we came up short.
Sure we were all disappointed. We had worked hard to get to that point. We had seen other teams fail, and other teams succeed. As I was heading back down the mountain, I ran into a climber from Argentina, home of the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, Aconcagua, 2000 feet higher than Denali. He was a professional mountain guide. I asked him how he was doing. He said he and his partners were doing good, this was his fifth attempt on Denali, and he had succeeded two out of four previous attempts. Then he said something that is so true to my heart. He said, "you know it’s not the destination, but the journey". I said, "you sure got that right".
Mountain climbing is possibly the most direct example of having a goal, and then attempting to achieve that goal. Most serious climbers succeed on about half of their attempts to climb a mountain. There are many reasons why they fail, from fitness, to weather. But they always come back and try again.
It’s the same thing with life. We often don't achieve the goal we have on the first attempt, or early in our efforts. We can get cut from a sports team, fail a class, not get selected for a group, or a number of other examples. As someone who has experienced all of those examples, and even failed to summit Mt. Everest decades ago when I had the summit in my sights, here's what I have learned. Each time we set a goal, and set out to achieve that goal, we improve as a person. We learn the most when we fail. Failing is part of life, and if you really want to grow as a person and become someone you aspire to be, you better get used to failing. It does not mean you need to like failing. It can be a big disappointment. But when we fail, and then we look at WHY we failed, we can focus on those improvements we need to make, make improvements in how we do things, in who we are, and try again.
Challenge is THE core and MAIN SPRING for all human achievement. Anything thats ever been invented, or achieved, was failed at many times before it was achieved. It’s the way anyone achieves anything, by trying, and failing, until you finally succeed. You learn from your failures, most importantly, about yourself.
Embrace failure, keep trying, until you get where you want to be. Whether it’s a class, a sport, a hobby, a dream. Turn dreams into goals, then go for it. Failure will be your companion along the journey. You don't have to like it, but you need it to succeed.
I am now one for two attempts on Denali. I will be back, not for me, but for my daughter Sarah, and for others, who want to taste what "challenge" means, who so want to stand on the summit of Denali. We should all continue the journey of setting goals, and going for it, trying to achieve them, knowing the entire time, that failure is part of a life of achievement, and at the end of that is success.
Rear Admiral (Ret.) Scott Moore
