DENVER – The Tuesday, June 19, keynote during GFX 2012 featured mountaineer and explorer John Amatt, whose speech focused on the themes of persevering in challenging situations and environments and the importance of teamwork. The Tuesday morning keynote was sponsored by AssetWorks, whose Joe Keefe introduced Amatt.

Amatt is known in the international mountaineering community for making the first ever climb of the "Vertical Mile" Troll Wall in Norway, a mile-high vertical rock formation, and early in his keynote he talked about this experience. One of his memories of the experience was the night before, when he could hear the rocks falling from the formation and the anxiety he felt before the climb. After the climb, though, he realized that if the team he was a part of hadn’t attempted it, they never would have known if they could have succeeded. He also said that one danger of getting used to dealing with a difficult situation is the complacency that can set in once you begin to master the situation.

From there, he went on to describe the mission to be the first Canadian team to put an individual on the summit of the 29,035-ft. Mount Everest. It took five years of planning to get ready to attempt the climb.

During the climb, Amatt described how his team, even in the face of four tragic deaths along the difficult route, the team persevered. In one case, an avalanche ended up burying seven people alive, and the team was only able to save four.

Later, while traversing a natural bridge of unstable ice blocks, one of the climbers was crushed when the bridge collapsed, though two other climbers on the bridge were rescued. One of the climbers who nearly died in the bridge collapse almost turned back, but decided to continue with the expedition after reflecting on the situation. Amatt said these experiences show that when responding to work-related situations, sometimes you need to step outside a situation before you can see it clearly and make a decision.

Next, he went on to explain how that although the team had planned the climb for five years, they developed that plan before they were actually in the situation and experiencing the conditions on the mountain. They knew they had to revise their strategy, which involved continuing the climb with a smaller, experienced team, thereby putting fewer people at risk. He emphasized the need to be flexible and adjust your plans in challenging situations.

Amatt said that eventually, the team was able to put six people on the summit of Mount Everest, and that although he himself didn’t personally reach the summit, he felt a great accomplishment at leading the team that reached the summit successfully. He said trust was critical to the expedition’s success, and that trust in a team is built during difficult times when people struggle to overcome adversity together.

Throughout the climb, he said that the key to their success was their attitude, their willingness to persevere. He said we should view the changes that occur in life as a great adventure. If we try new things, and new ways of doing things, we will succeed.

One other point Amatt made was to focus on continual improvement. Pat Morrow was one of the team members on the expedition and he took pictures while on Everest’s summit. When asked how he took such exceptional photographs at the summit, he said ““F.8… and be there!” referring to how he went through each of the F stops on his camera until he got the perfect shots and, of course, being there personally to take those photos.

Near the end of his keynote speech, he cited key characteristics that lead to great accomplishments, using the word “Adventure” as a mnemonic device.

A - Adaptability
D - Desire and Determination
V - Vision and Values
E - Experience
N - Natural Curiosity
T - Teamwork and Trust
U - Unlimited Optimism
R - Risk-Ability
E - Exceptional Performance

One of the individuals Amatt quoted, British author Aldous Huxley, summarized the overall message in Amatt’s presentation.

“Experience is not what happens to you.  Experience is what you do with what happens to you.”

By Greg Basich