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Thinking at Elevation

One of the best and worst things of climbing these mountains are rest days....

They are wonderful because you can let you body relax and not do anything for a whole day. You have plenty of time to cook, replenish your water, recharge our batteries with our Goal Zero solar panels and even catch up on route finding for future camps.

The bad part is that is too much time. You start to ponder about things and you lose focus even laying at 16k feet.

In this photo I had built a rock wall to my right to help block the winds exceeding 50mph mixed with the cold temps. My face is covered because the sun does a number on your skin at this altitude. Even though we are wearing our Sun Bum we wanted to protect our skin even more with our buffs.

I laid here thinking of whats next? What can MTJMe and myself do to help us get closer to cure for Cystic Fibrosis and happiness in general around the world. 

These thoughts are ones that come often to me as I see the struggles around the world. I couldn't help but shed a couple of tears for those that we have lost and those that we watch as they struggle for their breath.

You see this is something I can't fix alone. Mark, John, and I can't fix it alone. MTJMe can't fix it alone. WE MUST DO THIS TOGETHER!! An army of fighters that come to the war prepared and ready for the fight. 

There will be loss. There will be death. There will be memories, but unless we do this together we will lose the war and CF will win and  rule. 

We are close. Researchers are getting smarter, medicines are getting better, and we are changing the world. We must continue though. 

The hardest part is right before the summit. You can see it. It seems so close yet with every step you have to catch your breath. You feel like your heart can't possibly take this anymore, but it does as you take the next step. You lungs are expanding beyond places its ever touched. Each step is like running a sprint. You gasp and gasp again. If anything is close to restricting your airway your body begins to freak out. Yet you take another step. Inching closer to the summit. 

Eventually you take the last step and then you realize you are standing on the summit. 

We are in this phase with CF and the medicines for a cure/control. We must continue these steps because one day we are going to wake up and realize we are on the top and there is a cure........

Be Bigger Than Yourself

(Photo credit Red Tide Productions)

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THROW BACK THURSDAY

Mt. Toti 

Colombia (Near Venezuela's Border)

Back in May '14 a bunch of dudes got together to climb an epic peak in a super remote area in the beautiful country of Colombia.

Myself, Luis, Mark, Aaron, Matt, and Ben set out on an adventure to climb the glacier peak of Mt. Toti which is close to the Venezuelan border. 

Some of us arrived one day some the next and some a couple days later. I was the last to arrive as I had to speak in Texas for a CF event but when I did arrive my bags did not.....

I had to wait an extra day before I could hop on a bus for 12 hours and head out to the national park and then hike up to 14,500ft where the rest of the guys were awaiting my company. 

A couple of them had gotten a little altitude sickness so me being a day late helped them recover a little before we ventured into the unknown of this amazing land.

After getting a couple things together and bringing over 100lbs of food we headed to summit the mountain one early morning. Ben made it about half way and Aaron avoided the glacier but after some hours Luis, Matt, Mark, and I made it to the top in a glacier whiteout. Sitting around 16,500 it was a nice adventure and fun to jump on a rope and throw on the crampons with some cool dudes.

I can't explain the beauty of being on the top of something but lets say its definitely is a once in a lifetime feeling that I get to feel over and over.

During the trip I met some amazing people while exploring a land that a lot of people didn't get to see just years ago due to the drug lords and drug trafficking in the area. 

We still turned some heads as these gringos drove through some small towns but everywhere we went we were welcomed with open arms.

Here is a pic of us hiking up the glacier!

For more pics from the trip check out my tumblr blog 

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Relincho Valley Some things just happen for a reason. Some call it Karma, some call it God, and some call it luck.   Through the first two days we had been hiking the same trek as another group. Most of them were Norwegians that spoke pretty good English. A lot of them had climbed Kilimanjaro and some even climbed Elbrus so they were in the same boat as us. Only one difference. They were a guided climb. We were the Solo Rapido Americanos. As we were packing up camp to start the trek so were the Norwegians. Lets just say it was a good thing they were literally two minutes faster than us this day. The three of us were certain the trail continued north around the mountain and into the far valley. I mean you could even see a start of a trail out of camp that way.  We knew we would have to cross the river soon after leaving camp. What we didn’t realize was that it was the wrong valley…. After the Norwegians started walking we said to each other “Where are they going?” quickly realizing they were going the right way and we had the wrong path. Soooo we followed them for a bit realizing the valley we needed to hike was right in front of our face. We came up to the river. John and I removed our boots and rolled our pants up to our knees to cross the frigid waters as Mark took the challenge of finding sketchy spots to hop the river so he wouldn’t have to remove his boots. Luckily Mark didn’t end up soaked and John and I made it across with numb toes. We played like we knew exactly where we were going when we caught up to our friends…..Nothing to see here…..Just some Americans climbing the highest mountain outside of Asia knowing exactly where the trail is going…….. As we dried our feet and continued our hike we entered the Relincho Valley that consisted of epic views and amazing "on the edge" hiking. In some spots one slip and lets just say “no bueno”. It was a lot of climbing at first gaining around 1,500ft in the first couple of hours and then turned into rolling hills. We eventually pulled away from the Norwegians after we noticed the trail was obvious heading to our next camp. We wondered what would of happened if we continued to go astray…….. (Photo credit to Red Tide Productions)

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Sonny The Protector Sonny is the mascot to one of our awesome sponsors Sun Bum and is a Gorilla that just wants you to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. Lets just say Sonny travels a lot. He goes everywhere with me. He has been to the top of Mt. Elbrus in Russia, Mt. Toti in Colombia, and Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. Along with many other places around the world. One of the traditions we have started with Sonny is him being the protector of our tent. He gets stationed just outside the entrance to our tent letting people know they must pass through him to enter for any reason.  Not only does he protect us in our tent but he protects our skin as well as we use Sun Bum's lip balm and proline series every single day. Also you will notice me wearing Sun Bum's hats as well. They make all kinds of rad stuff like beach towels, shirts, footballs, frisbees, and yes you can even have your very own Sonny for the right price. Just go to trustthebum.com to get your rad SB swag. This Sonny that you see in the pic will be auctioned off to raise money to help Red Tide Productions, Mark Nolan, and Myself get to the top of some of the Seven Summits. You see we are climbing the Seven Summits to raise $1,000,000 for those affected by Cystic Fibrosis, but these mountains are not cheap to climb. We have covered our cost through all of the mountains so far but the expensive ones are coming up and frankly we aren't rich dudes so we need your help. We also are throwing in rad gear for certain auctions so you can have a piece of our adventures. One of the great things about Sonny is that he is always a conversation starter. EVERYONE asks about him in so many different languages as well. Why do you bring him? What is he? Do you take him to the summit? Is he heavy? Can I have him? Does he really protect your lazy ass?  The answer is that Sonny is a rockin' dude protecting other rockin' dudes. If you're interested in the auction with Sonny just let us know. We will be organizing it soon! If you are looking to sponsor three dudes to climb these epic mountains and have a company yourself. Well its a write off and just contact me (tommy@mtjm.org). All we ask is that you be bigger than yourself and help us make the world a better place! Keep being awesome. Adventure on and Live.Your.Life.

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Moon So Bright We reached our first camp (Pampa de Lenãs) after taking off from the entrance of the Vacas Valley around 6pm on January 2nd. It was definitely a long day due to losing our way at one point confusing a large white rock for a possible tent thinking it was camp. Sadly this also took us the wrong way and we had to back track after realizing we took the lower trail and needed the higher trail. After setting up camp and getting some water as we reached extreme dehydration the night grew upon us. As the sun set darkness covered camp, but then as we looked over the mountain top we saw what looked like an industrial flashlight on top of the mountain. We then realized it was the moon rising!!! It was the brightest I had ever seen the moon during any night in any location. It was truly blinding in the middle of the night.  John whipped out his camera and set up an exposure shot. Where he would leave the lens open for a bit to capture more light. What we got was mind blowing. The moon was SO BRIGHT that it literally lit up the whole valley and even though you look at this picture and think its the sun shining, its actually the moon. Those aren't dust particles. Those are stars with the bright moon lit over the land. To our eyes it was still dark on the valley with a bright moon, but this photo shows how much light the moon was putting off. I just couldn't stop staring at it...It was so beautiful. (Photo by Red Tide Productions)

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Mule Crossing Whether you are heading to Plaza Argentina via the Vacas Valley or to Plaza De Mulas via the Hormones Valley there is a good chance you will be using the Mule service. The three of us hired one mule for our expedition. Now these mules only go up to base camp so be careful of the gear you do bring. Try not to bring extra cords/accessories/jackets or stuff you just really don't need because you will be carrying it in a cache form after base camp. Also make sure you have extremely durable bags as these mules and muleteers know how to really put some wear and tear on your expensive bags and if you get a hole then your stuff vanishes along the trail. Luckily we used our The North Face base camp duffles to help secure our food and gear. Also beware as you hike. These guys are on the move as you trek to your next camp. Some how they are kind of quiet so they can sneak up on you especially if you are hiking with headphones in listening to an awesome podcast like Stuff You Should Know. Being completely honest I know the system and how these guys are used and being an extreme animal lover it kind of breaks my heart that they are constantly on the move through the extreme heats of the Argentinian Mountain Range. They are truly beautiful animals and have truly helped us in our adventure. We are no better nor less than any race or species. We are equal whether you think the human race is superior or not. Try carrying 200lbs on your back for 20 miles and tell me if you are more superior than these beautiful mules. This photo was taken as the mules raced by us either taking gear to camp or bringing it back to another camp. Its amazing to see how they can maneuver on the edge of cliffs that seemed sketchy for us to even attempt. 100% respect for the mule. (Photo was taken by John Burkett of Red Tide Productions) #mtjme #mtjmountains #bebiggerthanyourself #liveyourlife #curecf#cysticfibrosis #fucf #7summits4cf #7summits #sevensummits #climbing#mountaineering #argentina #aconcagua #summonedbygiants #tommydanger#marknolan #johnburkett #redtideproductions #mules #thenorthface#stuffyoushouldknow #sysk #photography #canon #canon5d#canonphotography #rapidoamericanos

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Mt. Aconcagua (22,841ft) On day three we hiked from Casa de Piedra to Base Camp rising 3,000 feet over 10 miles of terrain. The day started off climbing 1,500 feet quickly and then turned into rolling hills as we continued to climb closer to the mountain. The wind blew as we wore our I/O Merino necktubes to keep the dust out of our lungs. Elevation started around 10,500ft and ended at base camp just below 14,000ft. The views alone were so magical that you truly felt you were on a different planet. Even though we were gaining elevation it seems as if the mountain was growing with us. The colors of the sky, the mountain, the rocks, and the vegetation almost gives the feeling that you are walking through an epic painting. Looking upward you could see the thermals rising off of the summit as they were creating snow tornados that eventually turned into clouds. This picture shows the great peak (to the left) as base camp is hidden in the rolling hills closer to the mountain on the right. Our route would take us up and around the backside before we could approach the summit.  You are looking at the South Face which very few attempt to climb as it is very technical and dangerous.  Continue to follow More Than Just Me as we will be posting more photos by Red Tide Productions and John Burkett.

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Full Moon As we sat at base camp just under 14,000ft we made friends with some Argentinians whom became brothers to us. They even fed us one night offering some of their limited food to feed our bellies. As the night grew and the sun set the moon rose to be a beautiful sight. This photo shows so much but it will never give the true affect of the moon rising in the middle of the mountains when you are surrounded by your old and new friends. This day will be hard to be forgotten as it is a template engraved into our memory banks for life. Imagine a world of peace. A world of love.  Help us make these imaginations reality. Be the moon to someones night and light it up. (Photo by Red Tide Productions) #solarlife #getoutstayout #mtjme #mtjmountains #fullmoon #love#bebiggerthanyourself #liveyourlife #redtideproductions #tommydanger#johnburkett #marknolan #zealoptics #throughourlenses #exploremore#goalzero

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Rapido Americanos After being on the mountain for nearly two weeks hiking over 60 miles and gaining elevations from 7,628ft to 22,841ft back to 9,350ft we finally arrived at the Horcones Valley Visitor Center to check out from the climb of a lifetime. Battered, Blistered, Bruised, Dehydrated, Sunburnt and burning an average of 8,000 calories a day while replacing it with 1,500 calories if we were lucky; we stood there hungry and tired. We took these photos right after check out as we awaited for our ride back to our hostel in Puente Del Inca where we would get to shower for the first time since we left the morning of January 2nd. We became known as the Rapido Americanos (Fast Americans) from multiple groups on the mountains as at times we moved faster than the porters. We carried our own weight (literally) and we don't sit here bragging yet recognizing our ability to mentally take control of our bodies and our minds to allow us to succeed and succeed rapidly. Thank you to everyone whom followed each day as we progressed closer to our 3rd of the Seven Summits and another check mark in the More Than Just Mountains project. Next up: Mt. McKinley standing at the top of Alaska smothered by unpredictable weather at 20,320ft above sea level. Temperatures here have been known to hit -141 degrees. You can follow our adventures at 

www.mtjm.org facebook.com/mtjme twitter.com/mtjme instagram.com/mtjme

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We're Here!

I landed in Santiago, Chile in the morning and met our amazing filmmaker John Burkett who rocks its out at vimeo.com/redtideproductions 

He made a personalized sign to pick me up.....Fitting..... John and I then headed to the Terminal de Santiago to hop on our bus to Mendoza. We would be riding a double decker through El Rapido. The bus itself will was pretty nice as it had some old school televisions that played movies in English with Spanish subtitles. So we enjoyed bits and pieces of Delivery Man, Captain Phillips, and some other movie I cant seem to recall. 

The bus ride took a little over seven hours as we drove over the Andes reaching heights of over 10,000ft on the pass. The ride was nice because the views were constantly spectacular with sharp edge mountains and beautiful rivers dropping thousands of feet down the mountains.

As John and I reached the Argentina border we had to exit the bus to go through the paperwork of exiting Chile and entering Argentina. If you are a US resident there is a $160 fee to enter Argentina and this is definitely something you want to take care of before you get to the border or airport if you are flying in. Luckily we had paid it online and brought the paper. 

After getting our passports stamped we heading over to the area where they wanted to check our bags to make sure these gringos weren't bringing any drugs, babies, plants, foods, or really anything they don't like into their country.

The girl getting checked before us had a nice little camera and the guy took it from here and kept looking at it saying stuff in Spanish that we didn't understand. This worried John as he had a way better camera/s in his bag that was being checked next. Luckily this guy just looked through the top of the bag and didn't see any of the goodies!!

After reloading the bus we headed towards Mendoza and passed through the town that we head to tomorrow to start our climb up the highest peak in South America. 

Aconcagua isn't a very technique mountain but many come here to climb this giant and do not realize what altitude sickness can do to you. Its something to take very serious as it can easily kill you. You must understand the affects of HAPE and HACE and realize that if you need to descend to not push it or it will push back. Standing at 22,841ft Aconcagua can definitely push back.

On top of the altitude the weather is something you must understand and prepare for as well. When we began our hike it will be near 95 degrees on the mountain but with every step higher the temperature changes as well. The last couple of days temperatures have hovered around -25 on the summit with high winds. Luckily we brought on Meteorologist Chris Tomer who gives us daily updates of what the mountain is spitting out.

With all of these things to worry about you have to understand that with each step the oxygen gets thinner and each breath gets heavier. This is the not so fun part. The three of us have only gone to heights of 19,341ft when we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. We will be adding 3,500ft to that peak so it should be fun learning how our bodies react to the altitude.

We are ready though and happy times are ahead of us as we finally reach Mendoza, grab our bags, and then grab a taxi where we have to jam our 7 bags in to the point that John can barely fit in the back seat to head to our hostel that Mark had set up as we prepped to head to the mountain. 

After arriving to the hostel we unloaded some gear grabbed some pesos and headed out to check out some spots we needed to hit today finalizing our permits which cost around $700 US dollars and picking up last minute food for the mountain. Three dudes on a mountain for two weeks burning 5k-10k calories a day can consume a lot of comida (food in Spanish). 

We stopped at a small place on the strip to grab a steak and papas fritas before we headed back to the hostel to get some much needed sleep. 

We are on Argentina Standard Time which puts us two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. This is always fun getting used to as John lives in EST, Mark lives in MST, and I live in Alaskan Standard Time. So this means Alaska is six hours behind my time. Sorry Alyx Morey for waking you up with my early texts ;) We are spreading awareness for Cystic Fibrosis and More Than Just Me as we hang out down here. Passing out cards and telling people to follow our adventures online via social media and website. 

We are doing everything we can to get us closer to the cure for CF. 

Please Share this if you think others will enjoy following us as we climb the 3rd of our 7 Summits. We will be very limited once we hit the mountain and will try to update as much as we can. 

We love you all!! Thank you for the support.

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THE EVOLUTION OF MTJMe

The More Than Just Me Foundation (www.mtjm.org) was created to use adventure to bring awareness to so many causes around the world including #cysticfibrosis, #helpingorphans, #keepingthehomelesswarm, and it's awesome to be able to sit back and read the time line through shoes......(Did he just type shoes???)

More Than Just Miles was our first project as I ran from Seattle, WA to Daytona Beach, FL to raise hope and awareness for those affected by Cystic Fibrosis. 

After the completion we started More Than Just Mountains where we are climbing the #SevenSummits around the world to raise $1 million for those affected by CF. I was packing today and was just going through gear and realized that overtime I grabbed a shoe or boot it took me back....... 

First I grabbed my Pearl Izumi Run shoes and it took me back to the six months I spent with Timothy Ettridge as I ran 3,191 miles. Then the boots that I still have to look at twice because they made it to the summit with me as Myself, John Burkett, Mark Nolan, and John Renken went over to Africa to conquer Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,341ft).

Then the red Mammut boots that I snatched up before I climbed Mt. Rainier as a trainer with Mark Nolan, Lance Turner, Luis Robledo, and Aaron Colvard before Mark and I went over to Russia to climb Mt. Elbrus (18,510ft) to reach the tallest point in Europe.

Now we just got the raddest boot sponsor alive on board and I get to rock my yellow La Sportiva up our next mountain that I head to in just two days. 

Its emotional to see what you have accomplished knowing there is still so much more to be done. We won't stop. Not even after Everest. There is always more to be done. More Smiles to create. More people to show that there is hope. I could never do anything of it without all of you though and the amazing support of my family and friends.

I reckon i'll be doing this the rest of my life. I hope that is ok with all of you.

Remember to LIVE.YOUR.LIFE. 

You only get one. While you do it try to help someone out who is either less fortune or maybe lost. You never know, your smile could be the sign they need to get to their destination.

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December 27th, 2014 RAISED-$2131 GOAL-$3000

As we head to South America to climb the tallest peak on the continent "Aconcagua" to raise more awareness and money for Cystic Fibrosis we are raising money to help the local orphans. Whether its us buying food, toys, or clothes we want to create More Than Just Smiles and bring LOVE into their life. 

You can be a part of that. Please donate even if its just $1. Thank you so much!

Donate by clicking here:  paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4HFVM3PBME48U

You Rock

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December 26th TOTAL RAISED $2012.13

PLEASE READ---PLEASE SHARE---PLEASE BE AWESOME

A lot of you know that I started the More Than Just Me Foundation to bring happiness to our world. Currently we are working with the genetic disease known as Cystic Fibrosis. We also are trying to build our base to help the homeless around the world as well as orphans in all countries.

Ive been lucky to travel to many remote places but with the beauty comes the beast and the beast comes in so many forms. Starvation, Dirty Water, Disease, and Lack of Education are just a couple of those. Mark Nolan, John Burkett, and myself will be going to Argentina to climb a mountain that is the tallest peak on the whole continent to raise awareness and funds for Cystic Fibrosis, but one of our favorite things is being able to visit orphanages in different countries. Even if we couldn't give food, clean water, health, or education we give our LOVE and sometimes thats exactly what they want. Just someone to play with them, make them laugh, and hold them. Most of us will have a Happy Holiday so I'm asking if you have an extra dollar, maybe two to donate it to this link. It will go into the More Than Just Me funds and any penny donated to this link will be used to buy these orphans food, toys, clothes, and school supplies. If we raise enough maybe we can even pay for some of these kids to go to school.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4HFVM3PBME48U

Im not the person on your screen showing you video of a child drinking from a dirty puddle with a depressing song playing. Im the dude that goes and makes sure every penny goes to helping these amazing souls.

Our goal was to raise $1,000 in one week. Yup. Just one week. We have over 11k followers on our MTJMe Facebook page. We can reach this goal if each one of you donated 9 cents. Crazy huh. So if you donated $1 you would cover 11 donations. $10 you would cover 110 donations.

Well we surpassed that so we are trying to raise $3,000 before we leave for South America. I have added a picture of the timer to see how much time we have left!!! 

My amazing Grandma always sends my brother and I money for Christmas. I don't think she has ever missed a year. EVER! Im a grown man but still I get money from Grandma that I don't deserve. This year that $100 is going towards something bigger than myself. Im personally donating it to the children we will be able to help in these countries.

If you match my donation I will send you a MTJMe LIVE.YOUR.LIFE tee. Look at your children, your family, your friends and think if they were in a situation these kids are would you help them? Now realize this world is a giant family. WE MUST LEARN TO HELP EACH OTHER. I ask you this holiday season to Be Bigger Than Yourself and help us create More Than Just Smiles.

Thanks! I love you