The 29029 Podcast 29029 Everesting

If I can climb 29,029 feet in 36 hours, with very little sleep and live to tell the tale…..What else can I do? 

If you are signed up for 29029 get ready to ask yourself this question when you get home from the mountain.  It’s inevitable.  Doing hard things is a key that unlocks future potential.  We gain a great perspective of what might be possible when we take on the seemingly impossible and find success. 

The tale we have to tell you today didn’t actually start on the mountain, but the mountain was pivotal in setting the course for this adventure.  

Ben Towill and Charlie Layton have a close relationship.  They are friends and business partners, but this test had nothing to do with business and everything to do with rowing a two-man boat thousands of miles from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic to the tiny Western Caribbean Island of Antigua.  

It’s probably important to note that Ben isn’t a rower, neither is Charlie.  They jumped feet first into a challenge that most people would say they had no business even attempting.  

Not to spoil the ending, but they make it and pull out of port wearing a 29029 RED hat!  

So let’s go back to that red hat, the first one Ben earned in Snowbasin 2021, when Ben and Charlie were still testing their relationship.  



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Most 80 year old men you find sitting comfortably in a recliner surrounded by their grandchildren telling stories of adventures long past.   Jim Fisher is not one of those 80 year old men.  Jim is still seeking adventures, still climbing mountains and still living his life to the fullest.  

In 2021, 29029 Alumni Chuck Fisher invited his parents to climb with him in Snowbasin that year.  Jim and Mary Fisher were 78 almost 79 years old when they pressed that red registration button.  

Jim was an instant celebrity on the mountain.  He was the source of a new kind of inspiration in our community.  Jim was almost 80 years old but Jim was climbing. 

He didn’t complain. 

He didn’t stop. 

We all watched in awe as he chatted and smiled his way step after step up and down those slopes. 

2021 Snowbasin was a challenge for many reasons for Jim and when he left without a red hat a new fire burned inside of him.  He had to come back.  He needed to find his Everest.  

And oh did he come back……..

In June 2022 at the start of our 29029 event season, we invited Jim to speak to our community on a special zoom call.  Jim’s message and motivation is just too good not to share with the world. 

We hope you are as inspired as we are by Jim Fisher.  We hope his message resonates to help you keep climbing your own mountains and seeking out new summits whenever you can….regardless of the birthday you are celebrating this year!  

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Have you ever watched a great athlete perform?  They can look flawless.  Light on their feet.  Perfect form.  They make everything look effortless. 

Whether it's at 29029 or another endurance event it’s easy to see the “front of the pack” and think “how can this be so easy for them”.....”and why isn’t it that easy for me”

I’m not sure what it is that makes us think that those who are winning the races and climbing in front of us are somehow having an easier time.  No matter your ability, everyone is covering the same distance and even the best of us have underlying struggles, not visible to the outside world, that threaten to derail our performance. 

Amber Conlin was the first woman to find her Everest at Snowbasin #2 in 2022.  She was fast and fit, completing 29,029 feet of climbing and 30 miles of distance just after midnight 19 hours after beginning the challenge. 

If you were standing at the summit in those dark, early morning hours, you would have seen a mom being greeted by her 4 children, her husband Tyler and her in-laws.  All of them beaming and overflowing with pride. 

But this 29029 finish was not the only Everest Amber climbed on her way to this point.

We may not always know the battles and challenges that rage on the other side of a smiling face and a brilliant performance, but as we dig below the surface what we uncover can teach us things for our own journey. 

Amber can teach us what true happiness is and how she finally found it……not on the mountain…….but within herself!  

American Entrepreneur and Author Jim Rohn is often credited with the saying “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” 

So look around. 

Who’s in your circle?

Are the people you are spending the most time with people who you look up to; people who you want to be like?

Alvaro Nunez is one of those people you want in your circle. 

Beyond his incredible success in business, he is always seeking to live his life to the fullest.  He’s waded through the challenges of growing up an emigrant to this country.  He worked his way through undergraduate school as a janitor.  He had to reset his mind every time life threatened to derail his plans. 

Through it all Alvaro developed a mindset that turns his challenges into his super power. 

It will come as no surprise that Alvaro seeks to have relationships with people he wants to be like.  That’s pretty much how he ended up at 29029 because Alvaro followed the many expeditions and adventures of Colin O’Brady and he got curious. 

Then Alvaro found out that Colin was going to be in Miami…….Of course, he invited him to go skydiving.

Want to hear more stories from Alvaro and learn to Level Up your own life? Read his book LEVEL UP

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We don’t know about you, but we just can’t get enough of Joannie Rich!

If you haven’t, go back and listen to episode 41 so you can meet Joannie and get a glimpse of why she owns 13 red hats and plans to keep climbing. 

Joannie is a wealth of knowledge not only on the mountain but at home too.  She is generous with her time taking calls and answering messages from participants in our community.  It’s part of what makes her such a legend. 

While we had Joannie in the podcast hot seat, we figured it was a great time to get some answers to those questions everyone is always asking her. Enjoy a little bonus episode with Joannie Rich.  

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When most people sign up for 29029 they get used to being asked “but Why?”

Why in the world would you want to climb the same mountain for 36 hours?

Why would you want to put yourself through that?

Why would you climb in the rain, the sun, the dark, the snow?

Why would you dedicate so much of your time to earn a red hat? 

Joannie Rich has been asked “why” more times than she can remember.  That’s probably because she was the first 29029 participant in 2021 to wear a black bib, signifying that she had completed 3 previous events.  She didn’t stop there, not even close. 

Joannie went on to become the first participant to earn the designation of “10-time finisher” in 2023.  Remember, when the co-founders started 29029, they didn’t even know if people would come back more than once. 

To date, Joannie has come back 13 times, climbed every single mountain we’ve offered and has never gone home without a red hat. 

Whether she likes it or not Joannie has become a legend on the mountain. She’s fun-sized and fierce and always has the perfect outfit for her final lap of the weekend.  29029 wouldn’t be the same without her and with this little peek behind the curtain you’ll realize why Joannie’s answer to why is usually “why not!” 



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