Paying Attention

Ali Savage is a second-year mountain guide who will graduate
 in the fall from Western Washington University.
She studies education & political science,
and is passionate about freedom, the mountains,
and Jesus. 

I see two types of people in this world: movie-talkers and everyone else. For better or worse, my mom is the former. I grew up with her elbow perpetually jabbed into my side, always accompanied with the question, “Who is that?” or, “What did she just say?” Utterly committed to understanding a plot line, she’s never been afraid to ask questions, even in a very crowded movie theater. She is, in one word, engaged. I’ve found that this same binary exists in every other arena of my life as well. The breakdown I see is as follows: there are those who pay attention, and everyone else. The Gospel demands that I pay attention; to others, to the movings of the Holy Spirit, and to myself.

Jesus paid attention to the ones most vulnerable to being ignored. Jesus paid attention to the voice of the Father compelling him to listen to and love the broken and the cast-off. Jesus was, and is, unyielding in his desire to pay attention. In order to emulate Jesus, I must pay attention.

As I prepare to finish my second summer of guiding, and thus my time commitment to Beyond Malibu, I believe that this is one of the greatest things God has taught me during my time here. I live in a world where my brain is addled by stimuli, everything vying for my attention. As a Christian, particularly a Christian who does ministry with high school kids, I often believe falsities. Sometimes to my peril, I believe that if I just yell the Gospel louder I will be heard. I believe that if I listen to more sermons, read more books, and have more or louder or better worship, then I will hear the voice of God. In reality, what I actually need is to be stripped of excess so that there are fewer things distracting me from paying attention to the voice of God. Beyond Malibu is a place thick with that presence. I am given the time and the space to be engaged with others, with the movings of the Holy Spirit, and with myself.

Because of this space given to me to pay attention, here are some things I’ve come to know:

I know the soft and powerful movement of air overhead, heron’s wings beating a divine rhythm.
I know more shades of green and blue and grey than language can put form to.
I know the slow breathing of the Inlet, tides rising and falling like the chest of some sleeping aquatic giant.
I know bare feet on green floors and 5:30 AM belly laughs.
I know the sight of hot, holy tears in the eyes of a participant as the clouds open up and they get their first view of the mountain that they’ve spent the last three days climbing.
I know what it means to love, because He first loved us.

Because of Jesus’ example, and because of this tiny corner of the map named Beyond Malibu that so many have called home, I know what it means to pay attention to the presence of God; not because I have more of what matters, but because I have less of what doesn’t.

With love,
Ali

“What does it mean to pay attention?

And by this, I mean, what does it mean to be alive?”

- Mary Oliver

Summertime at Last

The summer has finally arrived! The last month has been full of first aid trainings, base camp set up, and tons of travel. By June 13th all but a few stragglers had arrived in base camp and we were ready to kick off our last round of training. This year the sea kayaking guides were available to join the mountain guides on their training trip up Sun Peak. With everyone, including the sea kayakers, in base camp at once, we were stuffed like sardines in the back of the barn those first few rainy meals. That didn’t last long though. The guides only had three days of training in base camp before hitting the trail.

With the guides, the sea kayakers, and the trainers there were thirty-three people who headed up the mountain last Thursday. To make things a little more manageable, everyone split into three different groups, Safety Third lead by Abbie and Yonkers, the Bleating Fawns lead by Jeff and Becca, and Doyacopy lead by Joe and Alissa. These names may sound a little weird but they’re an indication that there was a lot of laughter ringing through the mountains this last week.

Day one up Chatterbox was obligingly sunny for the intense 4400 ft hike up to Sun City. Unfortunately that was the last we would see of the sun for several days. We woke up the morning of day two in a cloud that stayed with us until we climbed down off the summit four days later. But we weren’t too bothered by the mist, or the snow we hit at just 2800 ft. Days 2 and 3 were a pleasant mix of snow rotations, life stories, sneak leaps, Bible studies, epic snow ball battles, and a quick hike up to Contact Lakes.

We woke up early on day four, packed up camp, and headed to the top of the moraine (the west lateral moraine of the JJ glacier). Three of the trainers headed out early and trekked across the glacier to find a spot to practice crevasse rescue. Their recon was successful; they located a crevasse large enough to send four people in at once. It was a cold and rainy day but the weather is hardly noticeable when you get to spend the whole day jumping in and rescuing people from a sweet crevasse. By the time we got back in our rope teams and slogged back across the glacier to our campsite we were all totally exhausted, but it was a good day.

Day five was summit day and the tough ascent conditions had been on the minds of the trainers the whole week. The heavy snow threw our original plans of summiting Sun Peak into question. This week the usually steep and rocky ascent route was now steep and heavy with snow. Last year the snow was lower but there was still enough to keep us off Sun Peak and move us over to JJ. We didn’t give up that easily though. First thing that morning Jeff, Joe, and Yonkers headed up Sun Peak to see if they could find a route up and over. The snow was deep and steep but our fearless trainers managed, with the help of five hand-lines, to make the Sun Peak knife ridge passable. It took the thirty of us nine hours to clear the summit- a trip that takes less than two under different conditions. It was late, raining, and windy when we finally rolled into Miners Rock and Maurie’s Mound, but we’d made it and it was worth it!

The next morning, day six, we were rewarded for all of our hard work with a view that would take your breath away. We woke up to partly sunny skies, which after the weather we’d had felt like a blue bird day. We yard-saled all of our gear hoping the sporadic sun might dry things out, then we sprawled out on the rock ourselves and settled in for a morning of hot bevies and life stories. A quick rock climb, rappel, and first aid scenario broke up the afternoon, and we were all full from dinner when we finally packed up and headed back down into the forest for our last night on the trail.

Throughout the week, with rotating Leader of the Day teams facilitating spiritual content and the delegation of daily responsibilities, we focused on Romans 15:1-7. Within our groups we processed how Jesus gives us the kind of hope, endurance and encouragement that allows us to live in harmony as a community. Authentic conversations ensued about how we feel most connected with the people around us and how to truly accept ourselves, and those we are in community with, as God has accepted us . We tried to define what glory actually is, how to give that glory to God, and how to become “little Christs”. Sitting on the side of a mountain, in the freezing rain under the McFly, we realized how much this experience, with these people, feels like home. Our common struggle, our shared moments of weakness, and our ability to be strong only as one united body, brought the scriptural content alive for all of us as we paralleled the mountain with our lives.

Now, we’ve made it back to base camp and have even headed back to the wilderness again. Our first trips are out in the mountains experiencing that same sense of common struggle and drawing the parallel between this mountain experience and their lives at home. We’re thankful for our training, for the ways our lives are changed through struggle, through community, but mostly through Christ. We pray for continued transformation, for ourselves and for our participants, throughout this summer. Thanks for your prayers and support for this adventure.

Map and Compass

I just got home to Bend Oregon from map and compass weekend in Seattle with the rest of this year’s Beyond guide staff. I’ll try to describe it in a nutshell… We were privileged to have Dave Taylor instruct us in the ways of the map and compass, with patience and humor . He has been faithfully training Beyond guide staff for many years. We felt particularly honored to receive his instruction this year because he informed us that this would be his last Beyond training. That's right, Dave Taylor is moving on to serve God in other ways and other places. We just want to thank Dave for serving so many generations of Beyond guides. He is one of the highlights of every training season.

We began the weekend with an intro to map reading and a group activity of designing clay landscapes and drawing our own topographic maps of those landscapes to better understand topographic lines on a map. The next day, after spending some time learning and reviewing declination and compass techniques, we headed to Woodland park in Seattle to practice taking compass bearings. We broke up into teams and worked on triangulating known features on the map to determine our exact location.

On Sunday, after working on some Bible study skills, we we headed back outside, this time to Hamlin Park, for a “non-competitive” (yeah right!) orienteering race. Teams of two scoured the park with a map and compass and raced to be the first to find 11 points marked on our maps and return to the starting point. This was a super fun activity that really tested our skills under pressure. I love orienteering!

All in all this was another great weekend of fellowship and learning. Next up is All Staff/Rock Weekend, I can't wait!

Gracie King is a second year mountain guide who never gets lost.

Breaking Walls

By Tyler Thralls, Guide 2008-2009

It was my third trip of the summer and I was excited to go with a leader, Ernie Fraser, who has brought trips to Beyond for the last ten years. Right away he told my guide partners and me that life stories took high priority on his trips and would be told and listened to even if we had to forfeit “making it to the summit.” I liked the sound of this from the start.

This trip consisted of three families who were ready to jump into an adventure together. Most folks had never told their life story before, and by the end of the week, I was struck by the incredible depth of love dwelling in each person, much like God’s love for us. God’s love was felt tangibly and everyone walked away from the trip closer to each other and closer to God.

In the wilderness and Beyond context, the walls we have created in previous relationships are quickly broken down, which leaves room for hearts to be touched and impacted by the Holy Spirit and by others on the trip. It is a phenomenal and extremely unique experience for anyone willing to embrace the adventure and live life to the fullest.

From our guide manual:

“On Walls”

-By Mike Wolford

Everybody has them.

It is said that people are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.

I have walls. What do they look like?

They are high, but thin; strong, yet brittle;

And they are transparent. Why are they there?

To keep from being hurt.

But my walls are vulnerable;

Not to a bulldozer or a bazooka or a hand grenade or a hammer.

My walls want to crumble; they will crumble.

At the touch of someone who cares enough to gently knock.

Once the walls have been penetrated, treat the stuff inside with tenderness and care;

For not many have ever been where you are and not many may ever follow.

For your time inside my walls will determine if

And how my walls will be built again.