Back home in Lawrence, Kansas, where there are some gentle hills but no mountains, Rhett Evans can still go to the top of the world when he wants.
The CEO of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Evans recently completed the journey of a lifetime: successfully climbing Mount Everest.
At 3:13 a.m. in Nepal on May 23, Evans found himself at 29,032 feet above sea level, having endured a 50-day ordeal to reach the top of the world’s highest mountain.
“You really feel small,” Evans said, describing the 15 minutes he spent atop Everest that included having his photo snapped holding a GCSAA flag. “You are able to look out and see the curvature of the earth, the vastness of it. You can see a few other mountains poking through the clouds. It’s like you can see forever. You’re standing on this little spot on planet earth that happens to be the highest point, and it’s a humbling feeling to know that the earth is immense. It’s just a great moment to feel you’ve accomplished something that was so difficult.”
What pushes a man who leads an organization of more than 20,000 members responsible for cultivating and maintaining golf courses across the country to chase Everest?
To endure the training, the hardships, the time commitment and the danger to tackle the toughest climb in the world?
And, is there a correlation between scaling Everest and leading the GCSAA?
“I truly believe each of us, whether we’re a golf course superintendent or a recreational golfer, when we push past our comfort zone and try something different, extend what we thought was possible, we are better on the other side,” Evans, 55, said.
“Adversities are temporary. What’s permanent is how we react to them.”
Evans already had scaled four of the world’s seven summits – the highest point on each continent – including Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania before setting off for Everest.
Climbing Everest may be the ultimate test.
Evans already had scaled four of the world’s seven summits – the highest point on each continent – including Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania before setting off for Everest.
For six months, he did Everest-specific training to enhance his endurance and, as best as he could, prepare himself for the grueling and life-threatening climb. Evans arrived in Katmandu in early April, and it didn’t take him long to realize that Everest would be unlike any climb he had previously made.
“When you finally see Everest, you’re going, Holy cow. This thing is big. Seriously? We’re going to do this?
“I told myself to stop looking up and to look back sometimes to see how far we’ve come.”
That included the 40 miles of hiking through the Himalayas to properly start the Everest climb.
“I’ve climbed a lot of mountains, and they all have their own experiences and challenges, but Everest is so massive, and you spend so much time on it,” Evans said. “It changes the dynamics of everything: your body, eating the foods you need to eat, the altitude changes, your mindset changes. You go to different places with your thoughts. It had me at my breaking point. I wanted to find that and push through it and, fortunately, I was able to do that.”
Three times, Evans questioned whether he could continue.
Early on, he picked up a parasite from eating bad meat, and he was extremely sick for three days. After that, he had a fall at Lobuche on his trek to base camp that injured a shoulder and other parts of his body, making it difficult to continue.
Finally, Evans felt his own doubts about whether he could reach the top when the physical grind began to overwhelm him.
“It was that combination of time and grinding it out,” Evans said. “I was completely uncomfortable, dehydrated and not feeling good. I was thinking that might be it toward the end. I had to take it almost one hour at a time, and eventually those hours turned into 24 hours that then turned into another day.”
When the time came to reach the summit, Evans and his group left at 8 p.m. to climb the final 3,000 feet. Ideally, climbers leave in the evening to arrive around sunrise, hopefully avoiding the wind and storms that tend to pick up in the afternoon.
The final stage went so well, Evans found himself at the top of the world about two hours ahead of schedule. There was a full moon, with clouds and the world below.
“It was absolutely spectacular,” Evans said.
It’s a short stay at the top because climbers are burning oxygen, and the most dangerous part of the climb remains: going back down the mountain.
Beyond his work goals, Evans wants to scale the highest peak in Antarctica (Vinson Massif) and Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, which would complete climbing the highest peaks on seven continents.
Evans reminded himself that reaching the top was the halfway point of his journey. Nine people died on the mountain while Evans was on his trip, including seven of them on the way down.
Six days after reaching the top, Evans was home in Lawrence, 26 pounds lighter than when he left.
As CEO of the GCSAA since 2011, Evans said he hasn’t been able to coax any of his colleagues to join him on big climbs, but he has shared the lessons he has accumulated.
“We have more than 20,000 members, and every day there is adversity,” Evans said. “It’s raining; it’s snowing; the bunkers are washed out; there’s a disease. It’s a constant barrage of challenges.
“We look at how they adapt and push through. I feed off those challenges. I happened to put that into my recreation, but there are so many similarities to business.”
In Evans’ business, the Everest-sized challenge is managing sustainability, particularly as water issues become more serious, while finding ways to improve course conditions without damaging the environment.
Beyond his work goals, Evans wants to scale the highest peak in Antarctica (Vinson Massif) and Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, which would complete climbing the highest peaks on seven continents.
For the moment, however, Evans is content to let the Everest experience linger.
“It’s nice to be sitting in a chair at home watching a movie, but I’ll start thinking about Everest and, Wow, I did it,” Evans said.
“I’m glad I did it, and I’m glad it’s in the rearview mirror.”