Elizabeth Rose: Written In The Snow

Transcript

[0:00:28] CH: What’s up everybody, it’s Charlie Hoehn, the host of Author Hour where I interview authors about their new books. In today’s episode is with Elizabeth Rose. She’s the author of Written In The Snow. Now, Liz is the youngest Canadian to conquer the seven summits, these are the mountains that are the highest peaks on each continent. Everest, Kilimanjaro, I don’t know all seven but those are the two I know. In this episode, Liz is going to share the stories and the lessons she learned that beyond just climbing, the lessons that served her and changed her life in every way. She was a young woman, 26 years old who felt a bit lost and directionless and her journey changed her world. If you’re a young woman or just a person who feels a bit aimless right now, this is the episode for you. Now, here’s our conversation with Elizabeth Rose.

[0:01:41] Elizabeth Rose: I was fresh out of university and I was so excited to go into the workforce and get my dream job, I had an awesome resume, I had really great connections and I was just so excited for that next chapter of my life and I started looking for jobs and about two months in, I felt completely defeated, I had no job offers and only a couple of interviews and everything wasn’t going as planned. I really was down and I felt the need to go accomplish something. I started searching on the internet of like a quick fix of something that will make me feel satisfied and accomplished. I stumbled upon an adventure company and one of their trips was to climb Kilimanjaro and the instant I saw it, I knew that this was the perfect fix, it was a short trip so I could do the trip and then get straight back into the job search with a new motivation. That’s kind of how my book started and how well my adventure started.

[0:02:56] CH: Wow. Okay, you started off climbing mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, what was that like? What was the journey going over there like?

[0:03:09] Elizabeth Rose: My dad and I, I dragged him along, he decided he would come with me to share that experience and we had about three weeks’ notice to prep for the trip and neither of us owned hiking boots and we were definitely not seasoned hikers.

[0:03:27] CH: Had you climbed before?

[0:03:28] Elizabeth Rose: No, we’ve done a few local hikes but we’re just taking on something new and we’re about –

[0:03:35] CH: Were you thinking in your head like, “Who am I to do this? Maybe this is going to be really rough?”

[0:03:42] Elizabeth Rose: Not really, we’re both like huge optimists and went in with a positive attitude and we’re relatively fit and so we thought we would be totally fine and didn’t really have a worry in the world. Friends had warned us like, “You guys, you know, people train for a year to do that,” but we didn’t let that stop us and we’re excited.

[0:04:04] CH: Yeah. You get there, you start climbing I take it and what was the experience like?

[0:04:11] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, from the get go, the days were a lot longer than we had anticipated and it was a tough climb.

[0:04:18] CH: How long were the days?

[0:04:19] Elizabeth Rose: They ranged but about five to seven hours and summit day was over 12 hours.

[0:04:25] CH: Oh man.

[0:04:26] Elizabeth Rose: We were not used to that at all but we pushed.

[0:04:30] CH: You said you faced a lot of snow?

[0:04:32] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, on summit day, we were in like ankle high snow, trying to get up a super steep hill and it was a definite struggle but we pushed each other and motivated each other to get through it and were super excited once we reached the top together.

[0:04:52] CH: What are the moments that kind of stand out for you on that first climb? Did you learn anything about yourself?

[0:05:01] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, it was just such a surreal feeling at the top and the experience of sharing it together was amazing and the big take away was trying new things, we had both never done anything like that before and from there, it created my passion for climbing and adventures. It was a huge turning point in my life.

[0:05:26] CH: Did you have any mishaps?

[0:05:27] Elizabeth Rose: We forgot to wear sunscreen on summit day.

[0:05:34] CH: In Africa?

[0:05:35] Elizabeth Rose: yeah, well you’re not – you’re up at such a high altitude that we weren’t thinking too clearly and our guides forgot to mention it so I ended up with third degree burns on my face and yeah, it was a rough week after.

[0:05:51] CH: What is that like having a third degree sunburn from the equator at the highest point?

[0:05:59] Elizabeth Rose: My face hurt so much, it was like my skin was completely crusted over and ended up all falling off and oozing and it was terrible. I learned from that one.

[0:06:13] CH: Yeah. Did other people have the same problem or did other people kind of experience similar –

[0:06:19] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, everyone.

[0:06:19] CH: Similar mishap?

[0:06:20] Elizabeth Rose: Was in the same situation like basically, as you were going down, you could tell who had already submitted by the look of their face.

[0:06:30] CH: That pain you got through and you continued to climb after that, right? Did you go straight from Africa back home or did you say, "let’s do another one?”

[0:06:45] Elizabeth Rose: I had like the motivation to do more but I had to, I was, I just landed a brand new job. I was excited for that part of my life as well. Then the job worked out where I had six months on and then two months off. I was already planning my next adventure for my two months off.

[0:07:04] CH: Wow. All right. What was your next adventure?

[0:07:10] Elizabeth Rose: next, I went to Everest base camp, I took my mom on that trip and that is really the point or the time when I fell in love with the idea of climbing Everest and that’s where I learned what the seven summits were, there was a girl in my group who her aunt had done the seven summit. Anyways, I had – I looked them up and decided at that point that someday, I was going to climb them all too.

[0:07:40] CH: Why did it matter to you to climb the seven summits? I mean, you had done one really big summit, why did you want to do all seven?

[0:07:48] Elizabeth Rose: I figured, I’ve already knocked one of them off the list and I had such a passion for exploring the world and climbing and hiking that I thought it would be an amazing life goal to have.

[0:08:03] CH: Did you have any fears? I mean, the first mountain had taught you some harsh lessons, getting your face burned completely.

[0:08:14] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, I didn’t really look back, I learned from that mistake and definitely wouldn’t repeat it and now, I wasn’t really scared at all.

[0:08:25] CH: Tell me some more stories about the seven summits? I mean, your book has some incredible photos of you going through these climbs and what you experienced but tell me some of your favorite stories in climbing mount Everest?

[0:08:42] Elizabeth Rose: Well, it’s a good story, it wasn’t like a favorite enjoyable one but going down Everest was like one of the scariest moments of my life. I got to the top and it had been engrained in my head that all the accidents and everything bad happens on the way down. When I got to the top, I was super confident going up and then I actually have a video of me at the top being like, I have no idea how I’m going to get down but hopefully in one piece. I was terrified. Fear kicked in and the first section near the top, we had to rappel down and basically your hand is your break on the rope. If I were to let go, I would literally be falling off of the highest mountain on earth and anyways, at one point, I slipped and then that just like confirmed all my fear and I was in tears and I needed a second to catch my breath, we’re at 29,000 feet and I just needed to regroup but everyone was going up and down on the same rope. My Sherpa was like, “There’s no time for you to catch your breath, we need to keep moving now.” I just had to pull it together and my tears were making my oxygen mask slide off my face and yeah, just such vivid memories but I had to stay mentally tough and keep going.

[0:10:11] CH: Was that your most vivid memory from Everest?

[0:10:15] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, definitely, that’s the one that really stuck to me. I mean, the view from the top of the world was absolute incredible as well, it was a bright blue sky, sunny day and the top was covered in colorful prayer flags and you could just see all the Himalayas in the distance and fun fact is, the top of Everest is actually very small. It’s about the size of an average dining room table, which most people don’t realize, yeah. There’s lots of areas where you can’t actually stand on there, it’s like one section where you can take a quick photo that’s safe to stand on.

[0:10:55] CH: Wow. Tell me, what was your training like before you did Everest, specifically? I mean, from what I understand, you literally can’t go on that if you think, “I’m in good shape, I can do this." That’s not allowed, right?

[0:11:12] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, no. I had climbed Mount Aconcagua before Everest and I actually, because of weather had to do that one twice. That was definitely great training. One of the best things for training that you can do is altitude train and so, Aconcagua was 22,000 feet. That was kind of the perfect training I could have done for Everest. It was quite a short window that I knew that I was going to Everest, I had basically had three weeks after my Aconcagua clients. I got a climbing coach and a sports psychologist, got a personal trainer and basically did everything that I could to get Everest ready.

[0:11:57] CH: Liz, I’m wondering how did all of this change you? I mean, you are the youngest Canadian, right? To have done the Seven Summits, you were 26 at the time when you completed them. How did this change you?

[0:12:15] Elizabeth Rose: It taught me a lot about myself like to believe in myself and stay mentally tough and now, going into life situations, I’m like, if something seems stressful or whatever, I’m like, “I’ve done the seven summits, I can get through this.” I use like that reference a lot to help me apply to my everyday life of being able to get through difficult moments.

[0:12:43] CH: Yeah. I can imagine that thought coming up and being very useful and challenging times. Do you remember the last time you thought that as you were going through something hard?

[0:12:54] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, even little things on a daily basis and like a really tough workout, I’m like, “Okay Liz, it’s only an hour workout, your summit day on Everest was 24 hours. Suck it up, you can do it."

[0:13:06] CH: What do you think is possible for you now? That the Seven Summits are done?

[0:13:10] Elizabeth Rose: Anything really. It’s tough to – after the Seven Summits, I always wanted to write a book. This was my next big summit in itself and it definitely had its challenges just like a mountain dead. Now after the book, I’m not sure where my life will take me but I’m excited and ready for anything.

[0:13:32] CH: Are you kind of the extreme one of your friends? I’d imagine you – I don’t know, maybe you do, maybe you have many friends who have written books and climbed the seven summits but are you kind of the anomaly in your group?

[0:13:45] Elizabeth Rose: yeah, I definitely am, they all think I’m quite crazy.

[0:13:51] CH: Crazy Liz, there she goes. Off again to do something wild. What is your hope with this book, a lot of authors don’t have expectations so that they’re surprised and delighted by the opportunities and the impact that it makes and that sort of thing, did you have a hope for your book?

[0:14:13] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, I mean, I hope to inspire other people, young girls, lost in life like I was and I mean, any age really and I want people to really take away from it to be able to set big goals. I wasn’t some super star athlete climber before going into this. I found a new passion and set a goal and went for it. Yeah, I think a lot of people are scared to start something new but it has changed my life completely and so I hope other people do the same.

[0:14:53] CH: I imagine just by meeting people and then hearing your story that they themselves have changed as well, do you have any instances of people who have been inspired by your journey?

[0:15:07] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, I definitely have some friends that have gone to Everest base camp or climbed Kilimanjaro after seeing all my pictures and hearing all my stories from those trips. Even non climbing, I want to inspire people to find their own summit, if your goal is to run a marathon or learn a new instrument to do something like that, just take on a challenge.

[0:15:33] CH: Awesome. Well, Liz, I like to wrap up these episodes with a couple of final questions, the first question I have is, what is the best way for our listeners to follow you and what you do next and potentially get in touch with you.

[0:15:49] Elizabeth Rose: I’m quite active on Instagram. My Instagram is @lizrose5 and I also have a website with lots of pictures and updates about my trips and that is Lizrosesummit.com.

[0:16:03] CH: Excellent. All right, final question I have is, for you to give our listeners a challenge. What is the one thing they can apply to their life from your book this week that have a positive impact?

[0:16:22] Elizabeth Rose: I would say, do something outside your comfort zone. You never know where passion might come from and so I challenge you this week to do one thing that you wouldn’t normally do.

[0:16:34] CH: The book is Written In The Snow. Elizabeth Rose, thank you so much for being on the show.

[0:16:40] Elizabeth Rose: Yeah, thanks so much for having me.

[0:16:43] CH: Thanks again to Elizabeth Rose for being on the show. You can buy her book, Written In The Snow, on Amazon.com. Be sure to check out authorhour.co for show notes and a full transcript of this episode and be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It goes a long way and it makes my mom really proud. We’ll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in on today’s show. If you liked what you heard, here is what I want you to do next. Open up the podcast app on your phone or iTunes on your computer and search for “Author Hour with Charlie Hoehn” and then click “ratings and reviews”. Take 10 seconds to rate this show or leave a review. It is a small favor but it’s really the best way to show your support and give me feedback and if you know someone else who’d love Author Hour, take another three seconds to text them a link to this episode. We’ll see you next time.