Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019 - 61

of 30 Outdoor Retailer shows in the winter of 2004 on the merits of
having summited Everest at 23. There I met Gareth Martins, who was
the marketing manager of Osprey at the time, and Jonathan Lantz, the
marekting manager and now presdient of La Sportiva, who for some
reason believed in me. I was just a 24-year-old wannabe alpinist with
a Tennessee drawl. Other than those two, I don't think many thought I
would survive or stay in the game.
But I was hooked. I'd never been a part of anyone's tribe, and here
at least others as enthusiastic for the adventures mountains inspire
could be found in every booth. I walked around stunned at the people I
met, people who I only knew from books and magazines. It wasn't easy
pre-internet, and some of those heroes were much larger than life (and
Instagram): Mark Twight, Steve House, Ed Viesturs. I was intimidated
by shirtless "rock star" boulderers wearing
white suits and partying into the night during
the "comeuppance" of comps and the modest
celebrity of their exploits gracing the pages of
Rock and Ice, Climbing, and Outside.
I was told the "next big thing" was going to
be wing-suiting and paragliding from high
peaks, not any of the crap I was trying-like
new routes in western China or ski descents in
the Himalayas. Those frontiers were already
passé. But I loved what I was doing. And I was
on my way to proving them at least a bit wrong.
For the next 10 years, I explored, skied, and
documented the Himalayas my way.
Most of all, I realized who I wanted to be and
what I wanted my place to be in the outdoor
industry. I was an outsider dropout who didn't
grow up doing any of these sports, but thanks
to my dedication to my plans, I got to serve a lot of needs I didn't know
I could meet: I got to collaborate with mentors I am incredibly grateful to have known in their prime like Charlie Fowler and Chris Boskoff,
and I got to help a lot of marginalized people I never knew I would meet
or care so deeply for from Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan. Yes, I also went to
the Himalayas A lot. I travelled around the globe chasing first ascents
in rock, ice, alpine, bouldering, sport, trad, and first ski descents-ending with an ultra-marathon speed record across the world's hardest trek
in Bhutan. But I came back to one lesson: Making history and making
change go together, and that effort requires a community, a story, and a
constant will to serve people.

lished images and made films for Red Bull and National Geographic. I
spoke on CNN, and The New York Times and Men's Journal wrote about
me. I grew a social media following and a network of top editorial, commercial, and adventure-based relationships.
I began spending more time in New York than Telluride. And I asked
my long-time sponsor Osprey Packs to drop me because I was no longer
going to go to that frontier beyond the edge where I believe the best athletes live. And if I wasn't, someone younger and bolder deserved it. But I
would be here to tell the story and help them get it to people.
I wasn't done. I was just changing with the times. I had found my
frontier and my edge, and I created something out of it. That commitment meant less time outside for a little while, and what came next
would be the most notable achievement of my career since I was that
boy on Everest when I was 23 years old.

I BEGAN SPENDING
MORE TIME IN NEW YORK
THAN TELLURIDE. AND I
ASKED MY LONG-TIME
SPONSOR OSPREY PACKS
TO DROP ME, BECAUSE
I WAS NO LONGER GOING
TO GO TO THAT FRONTIER
BEYOND THE EDGE
WHERE I BELIEVE THE
BEST ATHLETES LIVE.

I BECAME A FATHER IN 2012 AT 32 YEARS OLD. SLOWLY, THE AWAREness that guided me through near death at extreme altitudes and several high-consequence rescues gave way to a critical eye and creativity.
I directed a few feature-length films and an award-winning original
series. I found I had talents observing market analysis, advertising, and
data. I parlayed my experiences as an athlete into developing product. I
worked events across the U.S., staying in hotels instead of tents. I pub-

ON MAY 17, 2018, ON HIS 71ST BIRTHDAY AND
almost 20 years after that double bypass, my
dad stood next to me on a red carpet as "The
Snowman Trek," a feature-length documentary I filmed and directed, celebrated its
global premiere in theaters across the country. It was a brilliant moment of survival for
both of us. We've looked death in the eye a
few times and yet we have remained sensitive and artistic. I have more cynical understanding of the romance of the mountains
and my dad and I both have had fears of losing each other for different reasons, yet we
have survived and persisted to share our love
for the ever-changing adventure of life.
I got here because people believed in me
and kept the door open, both when I helped them and when I scared
them. My friends and co-workers became like family. I cut my own
path and along the way they gave me the support and opportunities to
learn and contribute and-when I succeeded-share it.
I know now that staying here is up to me. I can't just peer longingly from the edge of the industry and covet another person's frontier.
I have to keep pushing. I must stay true to my heart and pursue that
frontier that keeps me alive so I can serve others. And in that space
between stamping the envelope and sending it, there are a whole
lot of people bringing joy, life, and community to our industry. This
is the sweet spot, where life and the mountains are one. What, did
you think here was somewhere else? O.R.

-Ben Clark is an athlete and commercial filmmaker. His original documentary "The Snowman Trek," which was released in over
400 theaters nationwide in 2018, follows his attempt, along with
ultra runners Anna Frost and Tim Olson, to set the fastest known
time (FTK) on Bhutan's 200-mile, 48,000-vertical-foot Snowman
Trek, considered the hardest hike on the planet.

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