This will be the third year for the HOTWORX climbing team to scale a mountain and raise money to benefit the Sacred Mountain Retreat Center for wounded veterans, Gold Star families and first responders. This year the goal is to raise $3.00 per foot of elevation (to donate click here). With an elevation of just over 18,400 feet, the goal is to raise $55,473. The photo above is one view of the mountain that we will scale.
The team has elected to climb the tallest volcano in North America this time. The name of this giant hill is Pico De Orizaba, and it is the tallest mountain in Mexico as well. It will take the team two full days to make this technical climb with ropes, crampons and full mountain climbing gear.
To scale a mountain like this it requires a tremendous level of cardio conditioning. To prepare, the team members have been hitting it hard at HOTWORX. Without a doubt this will be another test of the 3D Training Method as an athletic preparatory regime.
The team members include myself, my training partner Jeremy Harwell, former marine John Carlton, former army sergeant Victoria Price, and pro women’s baseball player Amanda Gianelloni. Each team member is also a member of the HOTWORX organization with myself as CEO, Jeremy as the original GM of the first location in Oxford and current franchise performance coach, John as a franchisee of two locations, Victoria as Director of Retail and Project Management, and Amanda as the Marketing Director of Franchise Performance.
Each athlete prepped for the climb with some version of 3D Training that involved extensive Hot HIIT with oxygen restriction masks and various usage of hot isometrics as well as functional training in the FX Zone at HOTWORX.
As for myself and my training partner Jeremy, we always train 5 days per week at 7:30 in the morning. We begin with weights and/or resistance training in the FX Zone followed by Hot Cycle, and sometimes Hot Blast or Hot Thunder. In the evenings two or three times per week I will also do Hot Yoga, Hot Pilates, or Hot Warrior, and recently have been experimenting with the incredible new Hot Stretch workout that is about to roll out to all of the studios on this December 27th. Jeremy gains additional cardio conditioning from an evening basketball league where he participates as a player. All 5 of us feel conditioned and ready for the climb!
They say that the view of the Gulf of Mexico is spectacular from the peak of Orizaba. The summit leg of our climb will begin at midnight on the 28th of December. This summit push will be technical in full gear with ropes and crampons.
Climbing any mountain is a magical experience. When in route to the top of some great world mountain, there is an awe and a gratitude for nature that can’t be felt any other way. In the words of the Australian mountaineer and writer Greg Child:
“Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.”
Getting to the top is the driving force for the ascent, but the training prep and the climb itself is what matters the most. The journey is more important than the destination…and so goes life!
At the top there is 5 minutes of bliss and then the descent, but the struggle of the climb is where you find your grit and discover the determination that exist somewhere within your being.
A big shout out to this year’s sponsors including HOTWORX, Daniel & Henry, Business Finance Depot, Faux Pas Prints, and Diet Trax.
If you wish to support the cause for wounded veterans 🇺🇸please visit our gofundme at:
