No One Gets Out Alive

No One Gets Out Alive #000 – Colorado Heavy #020

I sit here typing this and it hurts to laugh.  I’m sure my heart was trying to violently escape my chest cavity from the exertions of the weekend, and it feels like my chest is bruised from the inside.

I arrived the day prior to the event, which is about as fun as it sounds: acclimating to 8,500-9,000 feet of elevation at the start point, just 10 hours prior to the event.  I wish I had had more time, but it’s hard to get time off of work and all that. I had come in from the sunny 85 degrees and humidity of Saint Louis, which sits at 465 feet of elevation. In Colorado it was about 30 degrees, and that came with a chilling wind blowing all around when I arrived to where I would get my last bit of rest. I slept at around 9,000 feet of elevation at my new buddy Joe’s house.  In reality, I don’t think I slept much from not being used to it.  Probably a few hours at best.

The next morning, I stood at the window of the start point cabin (starting point 8,900 feet) and witnessed the epic beauty of the Rocky Mountains through his windows. I never realized how amazing Colorado was until that moment. I wanted to move there from that moment. Snow was everywhere; I had hoped I packed enough cold weather gear.

As people were gathering, we got nervous about what we were to undertake and whether or not we would survive and finish the event.  It seemed like a monumental undertaking. The Cadre each taught us various lessons: what not to pack for the trip, land navigation, map reading, patrolling, and ambush tactics.  We were very excited, and before we knew it, we were told to roll out.

My Team was the ambush squad and the training for it was awesome.  Cadre Joel and Grant were in charge of us. I won’t reveal too much about that, as it takes away from the event, but it was great. The other two teams of the group were out patrolling, knowing they were going to get ambushed.  Little did they know it wouldn’t happen right away, and I’m sure they were nervous for the next few hours as we waited.  We would eventually have to link back up with the main group as the cold weather would prevent us from keeping prisoners on the mountain without cold weather injuries (if you light a fire up there for the prisoners, people will see and all that).

The goal of the event was to evade capture and hit 16 rally points. Mother Nature had other plans for us though, and we didn’t get to accomplish all the points (we ended up reaching only 4). We covered lots of ground however, and were constantly climbing inclines at grades of up to 30 degrees.  The terrain was very rocky, and snow was everywhere. Total elevation gain was 12,553 feet.  How nobody rolled an ankle or got hypothermia is beyond me. As we pushed through the terrain, my legs were straining under the weight of the lack of oxygen, the altitude and cold.  At one point I’m sure my heart was going to beat itself right out of my chest cavity – it was that bad. We also learned how to use water filtration and where to look for water too. Awesome stuff.

Maintain 360 security, keep your eyes open, and press on.  The Platoon Leaders/Platoon Sergeants were keeping us on track with navigation and kept us pressing.  It was evident people were struggling with the long movements and cold weather.  If we had brought bricks (were told to pack for survival, and each person had about 25 pounds of food/clothing/water anyway) we would not have gone as far or may have suffered some serious injuries.  As it was, we covered a total of 25 miles during the event.  Asking another person about their Heavy in Washington DC (not the Masters class), I learned they had covered 15 miles, but endured tons of PT.  It doesn’t matter what you carry or how far you go: the Cadre know how to break you down.

The ending was great – pushing a huge log up an incline towards the finish at a fast pace, chopping it up into pieces, and then getting to set fire to it.  How many classes get to burn their log?

I learned a lot from this event.  I was also the coldest I had ever been in my life.

On the subject of being cold: don’t skimp on good gear, especially when it comes to keeping you warm.  A $50 jacket won’t cut it.  I hear from a few people Arc’teryx Beta LT jacket’s are great.  However pricey they might be – pain now, wont regret later (also buy from REI and get a 1 year warranty).

Don’t buy cheap gloves either.  I hear latex gloves will help trap heat as a liner.  North Face ice gloves are the best, unless you need to carry logs, in which case I suggest you swap back to the Mechanix.

Kuhl convertibles pants worked out great for me with a smart wool base layer.  For shoes I had Salomon Synapse Mids.

This wasn’t a traditional GoRuck Heavy, which has a welcome party, lots of PT, bricks, etc.  We still had log carries, buddy carries, and steep inclines, combined with crazy weather and altitude to wreck our bodies.  Ultimately Cadre decide if you meet the standard or not, so I’ll put that to rest.  If we didn’t meet the standard, we wouldn’t have gotten our patches.

“Don’t just earn your patch tonight, earn it every fucking day of your life!” – Cadre Bert

It’s not about what you did or how you did it, it’s about who you do it with.  I met phenomenal people at this event.  Some I had met before, some were new, but one person there kept me going no matter how cold and dark it got with the pain and suffering. A smile and great attitude were all I needed to see.  She knows who she is.

Thank you to the hospitality of Jon Candee, and to The Rocky Mountain GRT group, as well as the World Class event put on by the GORUCK Cadre.  Always impressive – under promise, over deliver and all that.

I not only learned about how to do “Cool Guy Shit”, but I learned about life in general.  It’s about relationships: about creating, maintaining, and fostering them.  The people to your left and right are what matter.  Don’t lose sight of that.  Ever.