August 21, 2013 (Denver, Colorado): Jeff Evans and David Fedler, in partnership with No Barriers USA, designed and facilitated the Travis Manion Foundation Survivors Retreat in the Never Summer Wilderness of Colorado this past August.
It was an incredible honor and no small challenge to design and deliver this experience for our 12 participants. You see, each of these ladies suffered the loss of their husband, fiancé, or boyfriend while serving in the military. Our goal was to provide an experience, using the mountains as the metaphor, that would help these women continue to realize their empowerment and purpose in their own journey. What we would find is that we were privileged to get to know these fine people and to discover the powerful impact they are having in their lives, community, and country.
There is a great web article on the Travis Manion site describing the retreat and it is definitely worth a read. What we can add is that despite some very challenging terrain and some crazy weather (hail, lightning, rain, etc.), we were impressed by the drive, spirit, and camaraderie of the group. There was no way weather (or us for that matter…) was going to stop them from their goals!
For those that know about our Call to Adventure expeditions, you know that we use a series of mountaineering challenges to help our participants understand the importance of a “rope team” — being a individual, being part of a team, sometimes leading, and sometimes being led. For this group, we were amazed by the level of leadership and skill shown in this challenge. No matter what we threw at them, they sorted it out and got it done. Quickly, efficiently, and impressively. It was pretty darn inspiring.
Throughout the expedition, the ladies learned more about and applied the “No Barriers Mindset” to their challenges. They used this knowledge to develop their own ethos to help them challenge themselves in areas of their own focus going forward.
Please click here to learn more about the Travis Manion Foundation and the important work they are dedicated to doing. We encourage your to support their organization!