Owen slaps his hands over my eyes once again, and bursts into another giggle fit. It’s impossible to be annoyed at my three year old nephew, perched on my shoulders for added ‘training weight’ as we climb an insanely steep trail.

Owen Riding To The Top

“Buddy,” I grunt, “if you keep doing that, we might just fall off this mountain!” This statement elicits even more giggles from my passenger.

Since relocating from the Kingdom of Rhode Island to my adopted home of California, the San Gabriel mountains have always been right outside my front door. Pretty to look at, but up until two weeks ago I never would have considered climbing them on foot. By motorcycle? Definitely. I’ve unraveled most of the world class roads hidden in these hills, but exploring purely by my own leg power?

Ridiculous.

So, how did I end up on foot, being blinded by my nephew, high up in the mountains of Southern California?

I should probably start at the beginning.

My real name is Marc, but, other than my Mom and wife, most people don’t know that. Everyone calls me Frenchy, a nickname earned about twenty years ago when I was a mere tadpole in the television industry. I’ve worked for WWE for the past fifteen years as an audio engineer. One recent night in New Orleans, a casual conversation set in motion a chain of events that ignited a passion I never knew I had. I was at the hotel bar the night before the Elimination Chamber Pay Per View talking with “The Voice of the WWE” Michael Cole. During our conversation, Cole briefly mentions that he and John Layfield have started recording a weekly podcast. Without a thought, the audio engineer in me immediately blurts out, “Can I help you make it better?”

From that day on I have been the official ‘Audio Guy’ for the John Layfield and Michael Cole Radio Show. (Shameless plug: The John Layfield and Michael Cole show can be heard here: Layfield Report)

Though I’ve worked with Cole and JBL for many years, from Wrestlemania to war zones, (Second shameless plug: One of my ‘Tribute to the Troops’ blogs can be found here: Tribute to the Troops) I feel like I’ve actually gotten to know them through working on the podcast.

With Cole in Iraq – Minutes After a Mortar Nearly Ruined Our Day

 

Live Podcast – LVPO Bar In London

John Layfield is in the middle of a two year mission to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. So far, John has climbed Mt. Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, and, most recently, Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina.

Besides planting the WWE flag on each summit, John’s climbs raise money for Beyond Rugby Bermuda, a worthy charity helping to keep kids in school Bermuda. More information on Beyond Rugby Bermuda can be found here: Seven Summits for Kids.

I’ll admit to being impressed at John’s drive, though mostly in a ‘better you than me’ kind of way.

A few weeks ago on the radio show, John announced that, in August, he and Cole would be climbing Mt. Whitney. I remember hearing that while editing the show and thinking, “Ha! Suckers!”

The following Sunday, on the way to…. some place… the travel for work all blurs together after a while… I’m in a cab with Cole and Dave, who is one of our pyro techs. I ask Michael if he is out of his mind for agreeing to climb the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States.

Before he can reply, Dave says, “Hey Frenchy! Why don’t you climb with them?”

Cole adds, “Yeah, you should do it.”

Great. Thanks, Dave.

I’ve always thought of ‘hiking’ as a fancy word for ‘walking’ and mountain climbing as a sport for the slightly deranged. However, before I can come up with a suitable excuse to get out of this dare, I hear myself say, “Why not?”

I really need to begin practicing the Zen art of Thinking Before Speaking.

That week on the radio show, Michael and John announced I would be joining the expedition, leaving me no way out. I guess I’m in. Over the years, I’ve learned that if I’m going to do anything, anything that’s really worth doing, I’m going to go all in. My long-suffering wife Fiona, who invariably ends up deeply involved in all my crazy notions says I have a garage full of ‘everything for everything’ that interests me at the moment, from photography to drums, microphones to motorcycles. I can already tell there will be some new additions to the garage in the coming weeks.

As soon as I agreed to the climb, the Twitter taunting begins. From the hotel gym, Cole starts tweeting pictures of empty treadmills, asking, “Where is JBL?”

Because I’ve yet to get a Twitter account, a never-ending private text message banter also commences.

Here are just a few typical, more ‘family friendly’ text exchanges:

Me: Are you bringing me along to help carry Cole’s carcass off the mountain?
John: Who says we are carrying it off the mountain?

Me: I’m going to go to Mt Whitney to train.
Cole: That’s CHEATING!
Me: There is no cheating in MOUNTAIN CLIMBING!

Cole: Just did 90 minutes on the treadmill at steepest incline.
Me: Will you be bringing your treadmill along on the climb?

When Michael complains I have an unfair training advantage living in California, I recommend he install a fourteen-thousand foot ladder in his sea-level backyard to even the odds. And on and on it goes.

Through this text teasing, I realize Cole is surprisingly determined with his training. More than I expected. While John’s current training regimen seems to consist mostly of golf and mozzarella sticks, base camp for Mt. Aconcauga is higher than the summit of Mt. Whitney, so maybe he knows something we don’t. I quickly realize that if I don’t want to be “the guy that didn’t make it to the top” I need to step up my game.

Researching different climbing options, I find Garcia Trail, a steep leg-burner a few miles from my house. Knowing there’s no better time than right now to get started, I drag my wife Fiona with me to the trail. Fiona in turn drags her sister Denise, who also drags Owen and her newborn baby Sean along in a little baby backpack. We set out on a nice family affair.

At the trailhead, I toss Owen on my shoulders, and, with no idea how far this newest obsession will take me, mountain climbing training officially begins.

THE NEXT INSTALLMENT CAN BE FOUND HERE