A Walk Together: 9-Year-Old Twins Complete the Tour de Mont Blanc

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I hadn’t done any air travel since the Pandemic. If you’ve followed this channel, you know that I have a slow moving blood cancer that is particularly prone to poor mortality rates (that’s an antiseptic, medical-jargon way of saying “lots of people died”) when people with my disease contract COVID. I did a video about that, but it’s not something I return to very often. I tend to want to keep the channel focused on educational content that is helpful to you.

So, when my wife and I decided that the Tour de Mont Blanc (TMB) was something that was probably just inside our (then) nine-year-old boys capabilities, I got excited in a way that I haven’t done since, well, my last big expedition which (obviously) predated the Pandemic. It felt good: the low, background rumble of anticipation, the planning cycle, the preparation. The joy that came from the all that pre-work led to a short series of videos that use our TMB trip as a case study to take some lessons and apply them to any expedition you might be planning. The first of those three videos is here.

But there was also trepidation, and, to be honest, I also welcomed that trepidation. In it’s own way, that felt good, too. I like working for something that is a bit of a reach, something that is within the realm of possibility but far from a sure thing. Yes, I was very confident that I could complete the TMB, but I knew my real job was to get our boys ready. Afterall, the TMB is over 100 miles (about 165 kilometers), and gains and loses more than 35,000 vertical feet (about 10.6 kilometers). That’s taller than the elevation of Mount Everest (29,0032' feet).

So, we got to work. I won’t repeat all of that, here, as it’s in the first video I’ve already mentioned. But I will say that the biggest hurdle for the boys wasn’t getting them physically fit and ready to do that much trekking. The big issue was making sure they believed that they could be uncomfortable and tired and still keep going.

Clearly we got to that point. The boys crushed the trip. They had no problem completing the trek.

Upon reflection, and coming through to the other side of going through all of the clips and making this short movie, I loved this trip. It was a outrageously gorgeous terrain. It was incredible weather (luckily). It was the best company. It was fun to just move my body in that way and for that long, again.

Hopefully the joy comes through this short movie. Maybe it will inspire you to get that next adventure going. It has done so for me. I can’t wait for the next big trip!