Screenshot: Patagonia
“Warning: Contains Expletives.” As would any story of success, fear, joy, and growth — particularly with a FORCE as great as Mikey Schaefer behind it.
But you know what else the video contains? Stoke, passion, inspiration, and all those nearly synonymous terms that speak to these larger-than-life pursuits taking us well beyond whatever we thought previously possible.
[vidroll id=”theinertia_lg_yt”]//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJrG4gCcxis[/vidroll]
The most compelling parts of this video might very well be the selfies or solo shots where Mikey turns the camera on himself and offers candid insights with childlike enthusiasm and an even more pervasive awareness. Then there is the anecdote about Pakistan about a climb in which he grew increasingly sick as they went on, sick to the point that a Pakistani military helicopter was tasked with flying in to do an emergency evacuation.
Screenshot: Patagonia
However, in spite of the confusion and pain, it proved to be a triumphant moment of discovery. Even as he lay on the ground in a state of delirium, he felt inclined to reach for his camera…
Screenshot: Patagonia
…and capture the view from where he lay.
And with that shot, he fell in love with documenting the world around him, the world he encountered on adventures both near and far, though Patagonia held a special place in his heart.
“The more you know it,” Mikey offers, “the more you’re going to care about it, the more you’re going to want to protect it.”
“People often ask why I keep going back,” he says, referring to Patagonia. “I do not have a good answer to that.”
What Mikey does know is that in the end — even when he’s very far from home and it feels like the mountains are trying to kill him (as the winds in Patagonia will often make it feel like) — life is what you make of it. And his life runs down a long, winding road that often passes through Patagonia. That sense of adventure is a sensibility he hopes to instill in others.
“I want to inspire people to go out and have and adventure: get cold, get lost… and learn how to love a place,” Mikey concludes. “That’s what happens when you have all those experiences — you start to love that place.”
The underlying takeaways? To always look up. Up is where adventure is. And beer stashed along the way — whatever way that might be — makes everything a lot better. That is also very important: beer.
Screenshot: Patagonia
