Part of Something Larger

Rain: loud enough to force our voices to shout in order to be heard above the noise.

Wind: strong enough I fear my body will become airborne and swept away with the clouds.

I, a human, am out of my element in the midst of these elements.

Life stories. Questions asked. “In a hypothetical cage fight who are you fighting and who do you want to impress?”

I think this mountain overheard our private McKinley Fly conversation and said, “challenge accepted.”

To the mountain nothing is private. To the mountain nothing is left as personal. My feet are no longer my own. My toes are so cold that I almost feel the mountain might’ve taken them, and will keep them for good.

Then why am I here? Is it to feel small? Perhaps, but not quite.

Not to feel small, but to realize that I am not my own. I am not personal or private, but a part of something much larger. Something that I’m not at the center of. Something more powerful than myself.

And in that realization, once I embrace it, there is peace and rest. An end to striving and the beginning of watching (in awe) as the power moves, and joining with the power in its movement. Allowing myself to be moved. Realizing that I’m not the primary mover. That there is a primary mover greater than the mountains themselves, who even controls their movement. 

-Skye Cornell, Mountain Guide 

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

Freedom from Struggle

Peyton (middle) works in the kitchen at base camp. In her free time, she enjoys swimming in the inlet and playing monopoly deal. She is currently attending SDSU in California for biology. Peyton is passionate about Jesus, In-N-Out Burger, and the ocean. 

Sometimes it is important to be in a place not shaped by the hands of humans, somewhere where it doesn’t matter if you’re barefoot because your shoes hurt too much, and a place that doesn’t respond to the command of a light switch. It is important to be humbled and to realize how human we are. I am grateful for Beyond because it makes me celebrate simple things like hot coffee in the morning, loud singing during dish duty, community, worship, and pure silliness. Base camp has become home, but my week in the mountains climbing JJ taught me a whole new meaning of trusting God and truly relying on His strength. 

During the majority of our time ascending, we were in a whiteout. We were cold, wet, and anxious. As difficult as the weather was, I felt that it was very fitting for our group. Although we could not see the beauty beyond the clouds, we all knew that it was there. The same concept works in regards to our walks with Jesus; we may not be able to see him, but we know he is always there. All we have to do is invite Him in.

On our summit day, the clouds opened up and the sun came out for the first time. I have never witnessed anything so beautiful. That moment of sun on the summit made me realize that God had a plan for our group. His plan was for us to realize that it is okay to struggle, it is okay for things not to be perfect, and it is okay not to have any idea where you are at or where you are going.

The whole JJ group before leaving for the trail

Before going on this trip, I had a lot of fear. I am a “lupie”, meaning I have lupus along with my autoimmune disease; mixed connective tissue disorder, and arthritis. I am told I can’t do things pretty often, and I let a lot of those negative comments pull me down. Even in the midst of these physical struggles, I felt God tugging at my heart telling me this was something I needed to do.

The strength God gave me throughout this trip made me reevaluate how I place my identity in Him. The feeling of conquering that mountain with the Lord was far more empowering than nursing my wounds and clinging to my pain all the time. There is something about the outdoors that fuels my soul, my spirit, and my overall well-being. I was forced to lean on the Lord when I was uncomfortable in the whiteout, and the way He met me was with this beautiful mountain experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

-Peyton Cook 

The 10-Day Experience

Being on Beyond staff can seem daunting to anyone whether as a base-camper or as a guide. And it’s so easy to individually focus on yourself: your own worries, your own stresses, and your own insecurities. It’s easy to become oblivious to the struggles of the other staff around camp. I know for myself that was my initial reaction after arriving at Beyond Malibu until I began asking staff if they wanted to contribute to the Beyond Blog. I got to hear reflections of experiences they’d had since arriving for the summer. Kate Kinsman made me realize I was not alone in feeling weighed down by my own baggage. I learned it wasn’t only Kate and myself who felt this way but that 27 other guides and 14 basecamp staff were experiencing these feelings with us. So I asked Kate, a first year mountain guide, to share her reflections from her first 10-Day trip.

The 10-day experience is often an intimidating one to first year guides like me. It’s the culmination of all that you’ve been anticipating and working for thus far: your first trip into these mountains that you’ll call home for two summers. The experience is simultaneously physically and mentally exhausting as well as joyous. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in your own neuroses and the way that your story is playing out in the moment. It’s so easy to forget that there are twenty-seven other people up there on that mountain with their own stories playing out. Each one has a story that God has specifically crafted and engineered in such a way that they’ve ended up here, battling their own insecurities through 10-day.

I came into 10-day with my own baggage. I had just endured one of the busiest seasons of my life and said a permanent goodbye to a lot of things that had been constants in my life for the past few years. I hadn’t had time to mentally or physically prepare for what I was about to undertake. In short, I came in not knowing if I was good enough for this task God have given me.

The hike up Chatterbox to Sun City was brutal. I had plenty of time to doubt why in the world I was doing this. When the rain started, I had the audacity to feel slightly miserable, despite the fact that I was cozied up in a fly while other groups were still making their way to Sun City. As they streamed into camp, God gave me my first reminder that I am not His only child. These poor children of His were wet, freezing, tired, and had had a much rougher go than I.

Kate on a rope team during a
recon on Mt. Albert

After that day, I made it a point to be attentive to the well being of my fellow guides. I was asked roughly six times a day how I was doing, and asked that question myself many more times. The challenge of 10-day left us all a bit raw, and I got very honest answers. I got a peek into the minds of many of the guides and how they were experiencing 10-day; I got a look into how many uniquely crafted stories were coming together to create this trip.

I remember very vividly the moment we got to Maury’s Mound. We’d just made it all the way from Contact Lakes and over Sun Peak, and my group came in after all the others. The evening sun was bathing the rocks and people were spread out all over the slabs, laughing and sore, and laying all their gear out to dry. I looked out over the rocks and saw so many stories that I had come to know. I had been focused on how my one little thread of life looked and felt, and where it was going, and I got a glimpse of the fact that God has specially made so many other threads that he is weaving alongside mine.

Somehow, through that, it all got easier. Looking at the summer before me, it doesn't matter if I am good enough or not; God is the weaver, not me. He keeps track of every thread and how each comes together in a specific and perfect way to create the most beautiful patterns, and I am already a part of this pattern.

                  Kate Kinsman

God placed each one of us at Beyond this summer. Our lives are intertwining each day we spend serving together. But if we keep our heads down looking at only our own lives, we miss out on what God has laid out in front of us. Kate’s experience with 10-Day gave me a wake up call to stop being consumed in my individual struggles and to instead look, listen, and experience life with the beautiful people living around me.

                                                                                                Brooke Silcox

Mid Summer Update and Poll

Wow, the Beyond summer is flying by.  Our third week of mountain trips is already hiking into the heights and our first sea-kayaking trip is completing its final paddles.  It’s only Week 3 and our summer has already been chock-full of adventure and growth. We've already had WAFA for 1^st Year Guide Staff; Sea Kayaking, Mountain, and Base Camp 10-day training; and two weeks of crazy mountain epic-ness, and we're just getting started.

Surprises abound this summer.  First off, so much snow!  For those that are familiar with Chatterbox, the guides on 10 Day began kicking steps before Log Cabin Pass.  Base Camp wildlife expanded from the usual otters, rats, squirrels, and birds to include two fawns, Phil and Bill, that have made Base Camp their home.  Our fearless leadership staff—GTL’s, base camp and food service coordinators, and Rob-- are working hard to keep up with the changes and surprises of life in the Princess Louisa; they're doing a great job.  

We have trips out this week on Frankenstein, Pearkes, Long Pearkes, One Eye, Zion, Albert, JJ, and Sun Peak. You counted correctly, that's EIGHT trips, and we have seven coming up next week.  We are so excited about everyone that's coming up.  Our guide staff is not as big as it could be so if you are an ex-guide with current first aid certification, and a week to spend in the inlet, you should give Mike and Alissa a call.  If not, we'd love it if you would lift up and celebrate all of these folks in prayer-- guides, participants, base camp, and leadership.

That's all from Beyond for now.  Hopefully we'll have our first round of Base Camp blogs within the next few days.  Until then, please keep us in your prayers.

We want to share everything that's going on in and around Base Camp, but so much is happening we hardly know where to begin.  So...

What do you want to know about Beyond this summer?

• What did the cooks whip up this weekend for Celebration Breakfast?
• What was Rob’s favorite thing about Week 2?
• How do the sea kayakers make pizza on a trip?
• A tour from the current White House residents, the Sawayas (yes the White House is still standing)?
• How many scruffy men we can fit inside the new Long House?
• What we will be naming the new boat?
• Why is there so much snow this year?

View Results
Create a Blog Poll

I'm sure you have things you're dying to know.  Choose your favorite question and look forward to a detailed, juicy explanation next week.  We certainly appreciate the help.

Snow Weekend

Lauren (left) and Alaina (right)

We are just flying through our training season here at Beyond. We finished our weekend trainings with an overnight excursion on the snow near the Mt. Baker ski area. We spent the days practicing building anchors, setting up belays, perfecting our self-arrest technique, and working through our crevasse rescue system. We have less than two weeks before we all head up to the inlet for our last week of training, and then trips arrive! Here are the thoughts of Alaina Sawaya, a second year mountain guide, as she reflects on snow weekend and the summer to come.

Journal Entry *Snow Weekend 2011*
God is good. He has given me the most extraordinary group of individuals to be in community with and working along side. I am so stoked for our summer!!
I often feel as though I don't deserve this experience, along with so many other such moments in my life to which I feel unworthy. I am floored by his grace. My life is good because of him and all that he gives to me, and I am so thankful!

It is because of, and not in spite of, the snow and the rain and the cold and the exhaustion, we grow closer. The skills begin to solidify in our minds and the friendships take a deeper place within us as we dangle ourselves off of snow walls in harnesses and hurl them down steep slopes with ice axes flailing to "gain control before we roll"! Between rotations we challenge each other to deep snow frog-jump races and push-up challenges on foamies and ice-axe sculptures. It's all part of the madness we call Beyond. And we love it. We crave it. We anticipate it and tell stories about it. And now we are about to experience it all summer! This crazy bunch of imperfect but wonderfully made people become a working body of Christ! It's a miracle and we are part of it! We have been chosen to come together for his purpose, and as we approach this summer with enthusiasm, we should take an attitude of humility and responsibility for the work we have been given. He has great plans for us as we are woven into the lives of one another and the participants we encounter at Beyond. My hope is for us all to be fully present, fully engaged, fully aware of and fully thankful for each moment of those plans. Here we go!!

"For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13

"Yes a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth, but not have a rich relationship with God." Luke 12:21

Lord, let there be less of me, and more of you! Amen.

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.

First Training Weekend

Oh-So-Ko-No, Jeff's favorite.

It’s spring here in Seattle and training has officially started for the 2011 Beyond guide staff. We kicked off the season with our first training weekend March 24-27. As usual the returning guide class showed up early Thursday evening for a fun reunion and a few extra sessions on leadership training. They locked themselves in a room, caught up on their adventures from across the country, and went about setting their goals for this upcoming summer. After a day and a half of work, our newly fearless leaders had developed a their own mission statement, “Cultivating encounters with God through worshiping together,” and were ready to greet their partners, Beyond’s newest class of sea kayaking and mountain guides.

By Friday evening the new guide staff had arrived at Concordia Lutheran Elementary school to a warm welcome from the returning staff. We have fourteen new guides this year who traveled from all over North America including New Jersey, Southern California, and even Canada. The excitement from the welcome, with the help of plenty of coffee and animal crackers, carried on throughout the night. After plenty of get-to-know-you games, the great Beyond historian Jim Caldwell graced our presence and filled the guide staff with a sense of eagerness and anticipation for the joys of weather and surprises of the wilderness that the mountains and inlet holds for them this summer.

Jim Caldwell back in the day. Not much has changed.

Saturday, too, was filled with some amazing guest lecturers. Sarah Field, a Young Life leader from Tacoma, shared about the Beyond experience from the leader’s perspective. She spoke about her trip last summer with 14 high school girls and shared some valuable insight on the goals, expectations, and experiences of a trip leader. Dudley and Kathleen Miller returned again this year, too. These wise counselors have given our guide staff instruction the past few years on interpersonal communication. The skills they teach our staff consistently prove to be invaluable tools on almost every trip. We so appreciate their willingness to serve us, plus that egg toss was totally epic.

Of course the weekend was littered throughout with instruction on hard skills and opportunities for physical and spiritual development. We want to send out a huge thank you to all of our trainers. I won’t list them all by name because I’m sure to forget someone but we are so grateful for your continued support of our program. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you too to the guide staff for your sacrifices and commitment to serving God and serving kids. We’re excited for the ways in which God will work and eagerly anticipate the new Beyond season.

Training Complete - Let the summer begin!

In June, I participated in my 4th Beyond Malibu 10 Day, this time as a trainer. My first go-around with 10 Day was frightening. The hike up Chatterbox was endless. My VW Bug-sized backpack toppled me like a house of cards as we swung under logs, crawled through Caldwell's Corridor, and kicked steps up the... snow!?!? (I'm from Arizona). One reason I think God placed me at Beyond Malibu as a camper, then as a guide, and now as a trainer is that being in His creation allows change, growth, and hope in the face of discomfort and fatigue and fear. Making myself available to RISK makes room for God to do his thing. Climbing up Chatterbox will ALWAYS be a challenge, but the difference this time around is I understand what we're aiming for-- geographically and spiritually.

A few days of mountain life shared with fellow guides is SO fun. This year on 10 Day we shared life stories, led one another in Bible studies, talked about mountain metaphors, practiced self-arresting with ice axes, followed the leads of maps and compasses in white outs, roped up on a glacier, and as the song proclaims: hiked it like your mama's stairmaster.

Here's the rundown of our week on Sun Peak & JJ:

Day 1, teams “Risk-Eh?”, “Boot Axe”, and “[Whistle]” (pronounced, “brackets whistle”) said "packs on!" and began hiking on the boardwalk at Chatterbox Falls; which soon turned to something more closely resembling a staircase. As the day turned to evening we reached Panorama Point, and as the sky began to sprinkle our muddy knees clean we finished the long trek to Sun City for the night. The rest of 10-Day -can you believe this! - it didn't rain or snow!!! Some people were bummed about this "less-extreme-weatherless-experience", but I was elated to sleep in a dry sleeping bag.

On Day 2, we found Rock-'N-Roll rock covered with snow and proceeded down to Contact Lakes where we got to camp on ROCK! The guides then practiced their rope skills of fixed handlines, anchors, and belays.

Day 3, piled with sunscreen and polypro tee's, we focused on map and compass, rappelling, and self-arrest. That night, the guides and mice alike breathed in the delicious aroma of Mexi-Meal.

On Day 4, a nimble rope team tracked down the perfect crevasse for "Hurk" and "Z-Pulley" rescue system practice. Gallons of "Ricky" were guzzled, numerous up-the-nose sunburns were acquired that day and spirits were high as we withdrew from the glacier and headed back to the Moraine to camp.

Day 5, we compass marched across the JJ Glacier amidst huge, rolling clouds with intermittent glorious views of surrounding mountains and valleys. All 3 groups summitted that day... Happy Snickers to all!

Day 6 commenced our commute home. By this time life stories had been traded, mountain treats devoured, and skills polished. Talk began of upcoming trips - kids and adults were on their way to Beyond for week #1 already! Excitement stirred as we all contemplated what was waiting for us in the Valley below.

Day 7: Each team awoke early to retrace their steps back down towards the inlet. Upon our return to base camp, we thankfully pulled off our boots and sock liners, dried out the tents and flies, shared stinky hugs with gracious base camp staff members, and sighed with relief as we donned cotton shirts and bare feet.

10 Day 2010 was a journey of redemption, humility, stillness, and huge leaps outside ourselves. God tugged all 24 of us up and down the mountain to be affected and maybe even changed by what He had made. I am SO thankful to have gotten to join this summer's guide staff at the beginning of their summer pilgrimage with kids and adults into the mountains of Beyond. Let the summer begin!

- Lauren Hamman

  Mountain Guide 2006-2008

Guides out on 10-Day Training

The 2010 season is fully underway. When I boated into Base Camp on Tuesday morning I found a fully functional camp and the final pieces of staff training already on the go. As I write, our sea kayaking guides are on the water and our mountain guides will be headed up the mountain early tomorrow morning for one last week of skills practice. We are less than 10 days away from having participants here at camp and we can’t wait.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the summer.

All Staff Training

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1) We had our all staff training weekend last weekend. All the summer staff who will be at Beyond Malibu this summer came together for a time of fellowship and preparation for the summer. And how good and pleasant it was to get a small taste of the unity we will experience this summer as we live together.

(Guide staff practicing rock skills)

(Guides getting their rope systems down)

(Map and compass skills practice)

(Not a bad place to be)

Thanks to Brandon Sawaya for the awesome pics!

Training Begins

Beyond Malibu’s returning guide class has had seven months since they left the inlet last August.  They parted ways; some went back to a place they call “home,” others back to school, others embarked on a new journey by moving to Seattle to pursue an adventure, moving to Oregon to serve at a church, or heading to Germany to study.  Some of the guides reflected on their year and how it prepared them for the summer:

• “Spiritually I have grown a lot in scripture and prayer and by seeing God move in mighty ways each day.  I have felt so blessed to be a part of the lives of students here in TN.  I have seen so much growth in so many places and seen God show up.  I feel more ready spiritually to lead with confidence." 
  - Annika Lider

• “Planning the Bible studies, and using some of them with the Campaigners group I've helped lead has been very useful. I think also having extra time (due to being involved in less) and time to pray about and process the summer, but also learn more about who I am and want to be has been very beneficial.
  - Marshall Potter

• “This year has prepared me in ways I cannot quite understand just yet.  I have grown spiritually and feel more confident in leading content.  I feel that with my jobs this past year, I can really step into leadership for this summer.  God's timing seems to make perfect sense here.  I am looking forward to what this year has done for me, and what an impact it will make on my summer.
  - Justine Post

• “I have prepared for the summer by studying scripture (Romans) and reading lots of CS Lewis; leading a Bible study and staying connected with some high-schoolers from last summer's beyond trips; being pushed harder physically than I ever have; doing ankle rehab; and living in a house with seven girls.”
  - Rachel Longton

This weekend they will come back together to reunite and begin to dream together about their vision for the summer.  Join us in prayer for the returning guides and all the new guides as we come together to begin the 2010 training season!