Jenna Dixon

Gm 🤍 Some meanderings from the last 8 days on expedition to Mount Alpamayo 🗻 I've always been told I'm resilient. Maybe too stubborn for my own good. But for better or worse, when I start something, I finish it. If I'm honest though, sometimes I wonder if I just dream too big. After all, the bigger the goal, the smaller the odds. That's just reality. Somehow I've chosen a pursuit where you can do everything right for an entire year. Train. Sacrifice. Invest time, energy, money. Recover from injuries. Prepare, prepare, prepare... and still walk away empty-handed because the mountain says no. Coming back to Peru, I had one goal in mind. But this trip was harder than I expected. Battling altitude and illness, it’s been humbling and so many things are constantly and completely outside your control. Then came the waiting. Watching avalanche reports. Wondering what the mountain would allow. Last year I stood here hoping for a weather window that never came. It was hard not to feel a little déjà vu. I also realized something about myself. I rarely talk about these goals while I'm in the middle of them. I usually wait until they're over. Maybe that's my way of protecting myself. If I never say it out loud, maybe failure won't feel quite as real. But uncertainty is part of chasing something that matters. There are no guarantees. That's what makes these dreams meaningful and sometimes terrifying. Alpamayo became the most technical and committing mountain I've ever climbed. I’ve never felt so proud, yet so exhausted and I know I’m still processing it all! Sometimes resilience isn't believing you'll succeed. It's being willing to return when there's every chance you won't 🤍