A campaign about chasing legacies
Jack is an ambulatory incomplete quadriplegic and stroke survivor. He lost everything on November 29th, 2018 and he's been fighting for it all ever since. On September 17th, 2020 Jack will be the first incomplete quadraplegic to attempt to summit Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous United States.
In March of this year we launched a ‘5K Chasing Legacies’ competition looking to find individuals who inspired us by their dreams and undeniable drive to make a difference. Throughout the competition we received over 150 submissions. Jack was one of those submissions.
After narrowing the 100 submissions down to 10, we asked our community to vote for the story that most inspired them. Well, they spoke and Jack was the winner of the $5,000 Chase Your Legacy grant. The video below shows our call with Jack telling him the good news.
Adding up the elevation and miles gained daily will ensure he’s in the best shape for the challenge.
Besides hiking, Jack is also one of a handful of individuals with his condition climbing at a level of 5.9+ outdoors.
Every morning, Jack takes 30 minutes to shut out the outside world and focus on what really matters.
Jack wakes up at 1:30 am to get on the road. One of Colorado’s most famous 14’ers, Mt. Bierstadt, is his target today. He is accompanied by his friend (and Mt. Whitney partner) Justin, and both are prepared to hike the entire day if weather permits.
With a backpack full of gear they made great time up to 13,000 feet. It is here where the final summit push begins. Looking at the mileage left, Jack knew he was looking at another 5 hours on the mountain if he were to attempt the summit. With inclement weather forecasted, he made the hard decision to head back to the trailhead.
While he did not reach the summit, this hike was a huge success for Jack. At exactly three months on the dot until Mt. Whitney, his legs and body held up to 7 hours of vigorous hiking, high altitude, and an incredibly steep ascent. He’s excited for what is to come.
Click here for a short snippet of what their hike looked like.
Jack heads back to the trails, planning to hike 5 miles to Windy Peak in Golden Canyon State Park. This hike reaches 9,000 feet, which is the solid altitude training he needs now under four months away from Whitney. He hikes again with a full pack (tent, climbing gear, water, camera gear, wind breaker)
Jack’s hiking books are broken in and his cardio is in a great spot. He now looks for something a little more fun than hiking, but still physically demanding enough for his training. He turns from the trail to the rocks, and attempts to climb a 5.8.
Jack decides to push his limits in a 7.7 mile training hike from Highway 6 to Windy Saddle + Cheeseman Park. He is carrying his full pack, which includes his tent, climbing gear, water and camera gear. Hikes like these are what’s preparing him for the real deal in September.
Jack traveled to California to visit family, but that means he can’t do his daily training at altitude in Colorado. In hopes for a good workout, he attempts the dreaded stair climber. Two hours and 3,000 vertical feet later, Jack knows he’s in great shape - a little more than four months out from Mt. Whitney.
Voting finished up late last week. Jack is completely in the dark about who has won. We set up a call with him under the guise that we were connecting with every finalist before we announce the winner publically the next day. Here’s what happened.
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