Alpinists and entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs can learn a lot from alpinists.

My love for climbing got me into the outdoor industry almost 30 years ago. I was captivated by the characters that I read about in climbing magazines and books. Especially the modern alpinists who were pushing the limits by climbing remote peaks in small teams with a ‘light and fast’ approach.

Traditional alpine climbing involved larger support teams and longer time spent on the mountain. With the light and fast method of alpine climbing, new routes in remote areas could be explored and established routes could be tackled in far less time than before.

Though I never became an alpinist, I’ve admired their skills and mindset. I’ve been fortunate to get to know some alpine climbers who have turned into entrepreneurs and I find that they are uniquely qualified to become excellent entrepreneurs.

Here are a few things that entrepreneurs could learn from alpine climbers:

Choosing The Right Partners

Alpine climbing is typically not a solo endeavour. Your partners are critical to your safety and success. You don’t choose a partner based solely on their skill or interest levels. You choose a partner based on how they act in stressful situations, how they calculate risks and how much they can endure.

Systems Thinking

James Clear writes that “goals are good for planning your progress and systems are good for actually making progress.” 

In climbing, the goal is to get to the top. But the people who succeed and fail both have the same goal. The systems for planning, decision-making, route finding and actually climbing is what determine success.

Light & Fast 

Take too much - you’re weighed down and move too slowly. Don’t take enough - you freeze and go hungry.

It’s about knowing what is enough and what is critical to the success of the mission. It’s about saying no to the things that may make it more comfortable but will weigh you down too much. 

Being able to move quickly as a small team is critical to success in modern alpinism.

Pushing Beyond Perceived Limits

Alpine climbing can involve a lot of suffering. Pushing your physical limits in harsh mountain environments is extremely difficult. Add the mental stress of exposure to danger and lack of sleep and you have a cocktail for next-level suffering. 

Climbers have to be able to deal with all of these factors and still function at a high level physically and mentally. They know that the suffering is temporary and they have the means to either complete the objective or retreat safely.

There’s a shared mindset between alpinists and entrepreneurs that seems worthy of further exploration.