Who the heck is Joe Lavelle?
Hanging on the Sawtooth Ridge connecting Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Evans (Colorado)
The backstory here is how my pursuit of a meaningful life led me to the high peaks of Colorado. Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was a 29 years old Florida Native living in Miami when I had an idea that changed the path of my life forever.
In the summer of 1992, I had just completed a grinding, three-year corporate project that was my greatest success in my career (and life) to that point. I had finally achieved the recognition and reward for my hard work and sacrifice. But still something felt absent, and an idea started to form to do something crazy for the first time in my life. I thought I would have an adventure.
A co-worker, who had enthralled me with his stories of mountain adventure, encouraged me to go to the high peaks to climb. I signed up with the Colorado Mountain School and flew to Colorado to spend five days learning to rock climb in Estes Park’s Lumpy Ridge. The training included a climb of Pear Buttress in Lumpy Ridge and culminated with a successful climb to the summit of The Sharkstooth in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a wonderfully terrible, desperate experience that compelled me to look into deep and scary places in myself. Finding the courage to persevere provided a reward of self-pride that I thought would last a lifetime. But it didn’t.
A month later, the experience of living through Hurricane Andrew permanently opened a need for more adventure in my life.
The Sharkstooth taken on approach in July 1992
The desire for an all-the-time more interesting and rewarding life eventually led me to move to Colorado in 1996, where I have lived ever since. When I moved to Colorado, I bought a blank journal to fill with the tales of my adventures. I have spent all the years since filling the pages of that first journal and others since in a long accumulation of practical learning necessary to play atop the high peaks while being afraid to do so.
When I started hiking and climbing in the mountains, I was initially frustrated by the missing and incomplete instructions available to me. As a member of the cult of speed, I was willing to suffer for my gratification as long as I could have it now. But slowly I matured as a
Illimani summit (Boliva) 21,122'
mountain adventurer and a person, and I learned to savor the entire cycle of research, planning, execution, and then learning from mistakes. I stopped focusing on finishing my mountain adventure quests and started seeing each as a step in a long journey atop the high peaks. The “yield and overcome” mindset was born of this process.
So far, I have spent over 600 days in the high peaks, including successful climbs of the Matterhorn (14,693′) & Mont Blanc (15,774′) in European Alps; Illimani (21,122′), Huayana Potosi (19,974′), Cotopoxi (19,347′) in the South American Andes; Mt. Whitney (14,505′), Grand Teton (13,770′) & Mt. Moran (12,605′) in USA outside of Colorado; and over 200 summits in Colorado (with many repeats).
Now, looking back, I can no longer remember or imagine why I did not seek out adventure earlier in my life. I suppose my adventures have changed me so much that I can no longer step into that old self. Good riddance. It is unthinkable that I could ever again become the kind of person who is ‘too busy’ to live life to its fullest.
To give credit where it is due, I must say that my adventuring atop the high peaks is made possible by my understanding and in all ways world class wife, Susan (founder of Moxie Moms), and our three future adventurers, Izzy, Maddy, and Murphy. And these other “gifts of life” provide the all important and unforgettable reason to make sure I make it home after each trip
Izzy's first rock climb
Maddy's first rock scramble
Maddy's first rock (gym) climb
Murphy's first rock (gym) climb
