{"id":72064,"date":"2019-07-29T20:40:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T03:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=72064"},"modified":"2019-08-16T15:13:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T22:13:37","slug":"dream-makers-the-partners-behind-3-of-the-most-epic-outdoor-feats-of-our-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/climb\/dream-makers-the-partners-behind-3-of-the-most-epic-outdoor-feats-of-our-time","title":{"rendered":"Dream Makers: The Partners Behind 3 of the Most Epic Outdoor Feats of Our Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shadows chased the last light up the ramparts of Yosemite Valley as Becca Caldwell rocked her 18-month-old son Fitz to sleep in the van she called home when she was away from her house in Estes Park, Colorado, in 2015. <\/span>Hanging in space from the sheer cliff above, Fitz\u2019s father, Tommy Caldwell, was living a stint on El Capitan\u2019s Dawn Wall, years deep into his mission<\/span> to make <\/span>first free ascent of the 3,000-foot face<\/span><\/a> with Kevin Jorgeson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Becca knew the ins and outs of the route; she\u2019d spent the early days of the quest on the wall, belaying Tommy and photographing the project. And when Jorgeson injured his ankle in 2011 <\/span>falling during one of the trickiest moves<\/span><\/a>, Tommy nearly abandoned the effort until Becca stepped in.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI said to him, \u2018You <\/span>can\u2019t<\/span><\/i> be done now, you\u2019re feeling strong.\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cI went up there to belay him and was on the wall for the first 11 days of that push.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But <\/span>The Dawn Wall<\/span><\/i><\/a>, the acclaimed 2018 film on Caldwell and Jorgeson\u2019s world-renowned feat,<\/span> doesn\u2019t show any of that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a gigantic part of my life and relationship,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen the film was finished, I was just the supportive wife. But I wasn\u2019t standing back and watching it happen. I was very invested, and I\u2019d spent so much time on the wall. I don\u2019t expect to be celebrated. But I did have a moment where I thought, <\/span>I got cut out of my own story<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Becca is<\/span> one of the \u201cdream makers,\u201d a term she coined to describe the partners who help catapult an adventurer to athletic glory, aiding them in accomplishing feats <\/span>like freeing the Dawn Wall; completing the first solo, unsupported crossing of Antarctica; or becoming the first person to ski off all seven summits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside of the spotlight, the dream makers keep daily life running\u2014paying bills, caring for young children, managing the family business, and in some cases, putting their own ambitions on hold\u2014for the duration of long expeditions. Some, like Becca, even put their own sweat and tears into the project, offering psychological and logistical support while acknowledging the adventurer may not return home from a dangerous goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These are the stories of three of the dream makers behind a few of the most celebrated adventurers of our time, and a look behind the curtain at what goes into achieving those heralded feats.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Becca Caldwell met Tommy Caldwell in 2010<\/span><\/a>, when she was fresh out of nursing school and just getting into climbing. After six months of friendship, Tommy asked her to join him in Yosemite. It was a seminal trip. While shooting with filmmaker Josh Lowell, Tommy hatched his plan of becoming the first climber to free The Dawn Wall; he also told Becca he had feelings for her for the first time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following fall, in 2011, Becca landed a position at a clinic in Estes Park while Tommy traveled frequently for climbing. \u201cIt was a pretty low-paying nursing job and one I wasn\u2019t feeling overly set on,\u201d Becca says. \u201cI thought, we could spend all this time apart, or we could just go on the road together and see what happens.\u201d She quit her job and began traveling with Tommy. Life became a mix of pursuing her own climbing goals in between stints in Yosemite as Tommy started devoting himself to the Dawn Wall in earnest. She also started taking photos, a talent she was eager to develop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Becca got pregnant with their first child, and everything changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

On December 26, 2018, after 54 grueling days on the ice, Colin O\u2019Brady completed the first solo unsupported crossing of Antarctica. <\/span>He celebrated the moment victoriously<\/span><\/a> on his Instagram account via satellite, tagging his wife, Jenna Besaw: \u201cYou walked every step of the way with me and guided me with your courage and strength \u2026 We turned our dream into reality.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked whether it was her own dream that O\u2019Brady undertake and complete this expedition, Besaw replies with a definitive <\/span>absolutely<\/span><\/i>. She sees his expeditions as a family business, a joint undertaking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll dream up a goal and plan it together, and then I run the branding and PR. My full heart goes into it,\u201d Besaw says. \u201cIt\u2019s a level beyond what most people would characterize as my job; it\u2019s a huge piece of my identity and what I love to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The duo met on a tiny island in Fiji in 2007, eventually settling in Portland, Oregon, where Besaw put a newly acquired degree in international relations and politics to work on a mayoral campaign. O\u2019Brady applied himself toward a growing career as a professional triathlete.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Jenna Besaw and Colin O’Brady embrace during O’Brady’s 2018 50HP project, during which O’Brady set the speed record for reaching all 50 high points in the U.S. (Photo Credit: Berty Mandagie<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe lost that campaign, and the whole thing was an insight into that kind of life\u2014and I wasn\u2019t that interested,\u201d Besaw recalls. \u201cColin had been traveling, and we realized it made for a lot of life apart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the summer of 2012, she joined him on the road, zigzagging from race to race. The marketing side of professional athleticism quickly appealed to her: \u201cThat was the inception: this question of how do you market and brand someone as an athlete; create a story around their life and what they\u2019ve been through, and make it beautiful.\u201d She developed and managed the marketing for O\u2019Brady\u2019s triathlete career for six years before the two leveled up to multiday expeditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, O\u2019Brady launched an attempt to set the speed record on reaching the highest peak on each of the seven continents as well as the North Pole and South Pole\u2014a challenge known as the <\/span>Explorers Grand Slam<\/span><\/a>. Alongside the expeditions, Besaw and O\u2019Brady founded Beyond 7\/2, a nonprofit designed to help kids live healthy lives; the pair provides motivational speaking and curriculum to participating schools<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though O\u2019Brady shattered the existing Explorers Grand Slam record in 2016, it was his next mission<\/span> that won him fame. Besaw and O\u2019Brady dubbed it \u201c<\/span>The Impossible First<\/span><\/a>,\u201d a solo unsupported crossing of Antarctica. Besaw leaned into the challenge, helping to shoulder <\/span>much of the mammoth logistical planning and implementation that goes into the front end of such a mission<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She led the support team, checking in with him every night on the ice via satellite phone to rule out signs of frostbite and other maladies that had doomed other expeditions. And she devised the branding and social media strategy, receiving O\u2019Brady\u2019s Instagram images via an excruciatingly slow satellite transmission to update his feed in real-time. She conceived of and ran the hugely successful PR campaign that landed O\u2019Brady\u2019s attempt in major media all over the world. All the while, she directed Beyond 7\/2\u2019s new Antarctica-based school curriculum on history, culture and science.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Jenna Besaw and Colin O’Brady rest together during O’Brady’s 2018 50HP project. (Photo Credit: Berty Mandagie<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

But for all her contributions, Besaw is content to leave the attention to O\u2019Brady. \u201cI\u2019m not a huge lover of being in the spotlight,\u201d she says. \u201cColin does an incredible job of shining light on the work we both do. That\u2019s all I need and that\u2019s enough. It\u2019s about our shared love and encouragement behind closed doors that\u2019s most meaningful to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

When the Caldwells had their first child, Becca\u2019s capacity morphed into a support role for the family. It\u2019s the moment she can pinpoint putting her own ambitions on hold for the sake of the Dawn Wall. She took on the primary caregiver role while Tommy continued his pursuit of the route\u2014something that Becca, in recognizing Tommy\u2019s potential, gave him a green light to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It had become clear that seasonal pushes on the wall weren\u2019t enough for Jorgeson and Tommy to make headway and something needed to change; more concentrated time on the route seemed the obvious answer. \u201cWe had this huge shift together. I said, \u2018Okay: you have this free pass from family obligations, social gatherings, whatever, to put this at the forefront of everything,\u2019\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Becca adopted a decidedly adventurous parenting style. Beginning in 2013, she drove to Yosemite with newborn Fitz, living in the van and taking the baby for hikes, or bouldering while he napped by the crash pad, so they could spend time with Tommy when he wasn\u2019t on the wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She stationed herself in Yosemite with Fitz when Tommy and Jorgeson sent their <\/span>historic 19-day push<\/span> on the Dawn Wall<\/span>. And she dodged the press and spectators who accumulated in El Cap Meadow, ushering Fitz to the nearby Merced River so he could throw rocks in the water. When Tommy and Jorgeson sent the final pitch, she hiked to the top of El Cap to meet them while Tommy\u2019s family looked after Fitz.<\/span><\/p>\n

Becca spoke to Tommy daily from the valley, offering encouragement and psychological support. \u201cTommy was able to be vulnerable and let out his true concerns and questions with me,\u201d Becca says. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t do that with Kevin because it could change the whole atmosphere; you don\u2019t want to take away from the moment or create cracks in the direction forward. Being able to be that person with Tommy was a good and healthy thing. For me, that gave us closeness throughout the process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t only women who fill these roles of dream makers. It might be more common, simply because adventure sports have historically been dominated by men, but it\u2019s not a given.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mountaineering hero <\/span>Junko Taibei<\/span><\/a>, who in 1975 became the first woman to summit Everest, left her three-year-old daughter at home with her husband Masononu Tabei on that expedition, and he continued to support her while she climbed all seven summits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And it isn\u2019t only straight, cisgender athletes who benefit from dream-making partnerships, either. Consider <\/span>Matt Wilkas\u2019 support of Gus Kenworthy\u2019s freestyle skiing career<\/span><\/a>; <\/span>Zhen Heinemann\u2019s backing of triathlete Chris Mosier<\/span><\/a>, who is also the first transgender member on Team USA; and <\/span>Nikki DiSanto, who helped Keala Kennelly rise to world-surfing champion fame<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rob DesLauriers<\/span><\/a>, who is married to ski mountaineer Kit DesLauriers, understands what it\u2019s like better than most to support a partner in an expedition-based career. Now a realtor in Jackson, Wyoming, Rob was a professional skier and cinematographer for nearly 20 years before he met Kit on an expedition in Siberia while filming for The North Face. Early in their relationship, the pair completed a number of joint trips, including climbing and skiing Mount Aspiring in New Zealand in 2003 and Denali in Alaska in 2004.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Kit and Rob DesLauriers took their daughters to Everest Base Camp in 2017 to share their love of mountain expeditions. (Photo Courtesy: Rob DesLauriers)<\/p><\/div>\n

Then Kit dreamed up the idea of climbing and skiing the seven summits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that was her project,\u201d he says. He accompanied her and documented the journey; Kit ticked off that goal in 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kit was signed to <\/span>The North Face<\/span><\/a> in 2007, the year after she skied off Everest as the seventh summit\u2014the same year the pair had their first daughter.<\/span> Rob had already transitioned to real estate work, providing a stable support system as Kit began to combine her love of mountaineering with advocacy for the preservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska\u2019s Brooks Range.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn expedition is a great metaphor for anything in life,\u201d Rob says. \u201cYou start in the city and walk slowly into the mountains \u2026 By then you\u2019re acclimatized to the overall aspects of the situation. By the time Kit started leaving on longer expeditions again, taking care of the kids and running the house was more natural. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re dropped on Camp 2 in Everest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rob is well aware of the risks on the big mountain expeditions Kit favors.<\/span> When she leaves to pursue technical peaks and first descents, Rob doesn\u2019t let himself worry. \u201cYou can\u2019t really go there. That\u2019s living out of fear,\u201d he says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Becca, too, must confront risk when Tommy takes on daunting expeditions. In 2018, when Tommy and Alex Honnold set the <\/span>speed record<\/span><\/a> on the The Nose on El Capitan, she says: \u201cMy nervousness was directly related to the accidents that have happened with speed climbing and previous attempts. … I questioned pretty hard whether it was what he really wanted and worth the risk involved. We know that if something happens, I\u2019ll be okay. I\u2019ll be heartbroken, and it would be the hardest thing, but I went into my relationship with Tommy knowing that. But being a parent with two kids\u2026 your life isn\u2019t your own anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her support comes down to placing faith in Tommy\u2019s judgment\u2014a conviction echoed by Besaw and DesLauriers. \u201cI trust Tommy. I have to. I choose to. Sometimes things are going to happen out of our control, but you can\u2019t hold on to thinking you can prevent things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

The entire Caldwell family in their preferred environment. The family travels together often for Tommy’s climbing goals.\u00a0 (Photo Credit: Becca Caldwell)<\/p><\/div>\n

When she has the rare moment to take the time to reflect, Becca notices that overall, she\u2019s content with the life she and Tommy have together. She\u2019s always been happy to help Tommy\u2019s dreams come to life and be part of them, and she cherishes this time with her children while they\u2019re young.<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s also resolved to focus more on her own ambitions and goals, though she’s not positive what those are yet, since she\u2019s given so much of herself to her family. Right now it\u2019s as simple as finding consistent solo time to go out on her own adventures. \u201cAt some point I\u2019ll make space to think about it. Life has been so crazy, and I\u2019ve just been reacting to everyone\u2019s schedules. I\u2019m trying to be intentional with my time and the things that I\u2019m doing, to get out and feed myself,\u201d she says. \u201cI think everyone\u2019s better when we\u2019re all getting fed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shadows chased the last light up the ramparts of Yosemite Valley as Becca Caldwell rocked her 18-month-old son Fitz to sleep in the van she called home when she was away from her house in Estes Park, Colorado, in 2015. Hanging in space from the sheer cliff above, Fitz\u2019s father, Tommy Caldwell, was living a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":72070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[734,156,727,364],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-72064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climb","category-snowsports","tag-climbing","tag-family","tag-latest-posts","tag-snowsports"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/climb\/dream-makers-the-partners-behind-3-of-the-most-epic-outdoor-feats-of-our-time","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Dream Makers: The Partners Behind 3 of the Most Epic Outdoor Feats of Our Time","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/climb\/dream-makers-the-partners-behind-3-of-the-most-epic-outdoor-feats-of-our-time","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/climb\/dream-makers-the-partners-behind-3-of-the-most-epic-outdoor-feats-of-our-time"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/07\/Dream-Makers_2018.08.CaldwellR.1155.gif?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/07\/Dream-Makers_2018.08.CaldwellR.1155.gif?fit=2000%2C1325"},"articleSection":"Climb","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessica Bernhard"}],"creator":["Jessica Bernhard"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["climbing","family","latest posts","snowsports"],"dateCreated":"2019-07-30T03:40:22Z","datePublished":"2019-07-30T03:40:22Z","dateModified":"2019-08-16T22:13:37Z"},"rendered":"