【Secret Confessions (2025) Spongkey Episode 44】

Standing at 28,Secret Confessions (2025) Spongkey Episode 44000 feet, a few scant yards from successfully summiting Mount Everest without an oxygen tank to breathe from, was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life. I had dreamt about it since I was fourteen years old.

But it was also one of the most terrifying.

I had been without oxygen for way too long, my speed was slowing down, my thoughts were becoming garbled. If I sat too long to rest, I fell asleep—and if my team wasn’t there to wake me I could have perished. It was literally taking me hours to walk just a few steps. And every minute up represented an additional minute to get down safely. Many don’t realize the most dangerous part of the journey is coming back down.

I'm happy to say I made it! But when I look back at the footage now (my partner Cory Richards and I Snapchatted the entire journey), I see myself and just how far I pushed the outside limits to accomplish this lifelong goal.

I also walked away with some very important life lessons that are relevant and valuable to any business.

As the owner of an outdoor adventure guide company, many of my business lessons have been learned this way: out on the face of a mountain. Errors made in such extreme environments are costly, and sometimes even fatal. But one thing is for sure, you never forget a lesson learned when the lives of you and your expedition are at risk.

I am recently back from my expedition to the top of Mt. Everest and, this year, I joined the ranks of an elite group of climbers who have summited the world’s highest peak without the aid of supplemental oxygen. Less than 200 have ever done so. It was the toughest goal I have ever set for myself but one I’ve been dreaming about since reading about it as a child.

Fortunately, just steps from summiting Everest, I had a team around me, including my climbing partner Cory Richards, to ground me and give me the final inspiration to complete the climb. Now safely back at sea-level altitudes, I reflect upon these experiences on the mountain and realize that these lessons can apply to most anyone that is striving to reach a business goal. Here’s what my no supplemental oxygen summit attempt of Mt. Everest has taught me.

Individual challenges are always won through teamwork

Surround yourself with a team you can trust your life with. In both business and climbing this is critical. Through my years of climbing, I’ve assembled a team of climbing partners and Sherpas who bring various skill sets to the expedition. Best of all, I can trust them all to stop me from doing anything foolish or getting me out of any jams.

On the descent from the summit, my Sherpa and guides were keeping me alert, and making sure I made it down the mountain safely. It was an extraordinary team effort built on trust and love for one another. We rarely have that deep of a connection in a traditional office situation – but maybe we should.

An unchecked ego is a plan’s worst executioner

I’ve seen this with both new climbers and young heads of small business start-ups. They get a few successes under their belts and they think no one can stop them. BUT let me tell you from experience; there is always someone or something that’s bigger and badder than you are out there waiting to knock you down a notch or two!

Last year, I actually had to make the decision to abort my climb. It was humbling to say the least. Had I not aborted my mission, the results could’ve been devastating – and I knew and know that now. It’s important to not let your ego be your downfall.

They’re called warning signs for a reason.

Goals can make us myopic to the clear and present danger around us. It’s so easy to ignore warning signs when we so want to fulfill a dream. But years on the mountain have taught me, no sign is too small to consider as a warning. On Everest, every move takes on “butterfly effect” ramifications. You have to keep your eyes peeled for any change in wind direction, the way snow crunches under your boots, and the signals your body is trying to send you.

At your desk or dangling from a cliffside, when something feels different or wrong, it shouldn’t be ignored.

Whether you’re gasping for air at 28,000 feet or two feet above the meeting room’s floor, it’s important to always return to the basic business knowledge that got you where you are in the moment. Don’t forget these fundamentals and you have a good shot at making it to the summit.

Adrian Ballinger is a world class mountaineer, skier, business leader, and professional speaker. As founder and head guide of the internationally acclaimed Alpenglow Expeditions, Adrian envisioned a more holistic climbing experience for his clients than the status quo.