In the midst of the hectic climate of classes, essays, exams, and meetings, I barely have time for sleep, let alone time to “Netflix,” “chill,” or do both simultaneously. Nevertheless, on Tuesday, February 7, I found some time to “Netflix and Chili” with Patagonia at its location on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown. Patagonia hosted a free event featuring the film premiere of I’ll Be Home by Eight (2017), directed by John Dickey and starring climber Josh Wharton, along with a bowl of Patagonia Provisions’ new Red Bean Chili. Free dinner and a movie in the spirit of environmental activism? Count me in any day. Patagonia offered me a chance to step outside of university life for a moment and experience the perspective of a man who takes risks far greater than putting an essay off until the night before it is due. Wharton is a man who puts his life on the line every time he embarks on an adventure.
When I arrived at Patagonia, I walked inside and, naturally, made a beeline for the food. Usually the quality of a product is directly proportional to the quantity of money paid for it– in other words, you get what you pay for– but Patagonia’s vegetarian slow-cooked Red Bean Chili did not adhere to that rule. I was handed a delicious serving of organic red and pinto beans, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and herbs in a bowl made from recycled materials. It was warm and just mildly spicy enough that I could feel the heat lingering on my tongue after each bite. I learned that making this great meal helps improve soil health through organic practices and only takes 10 minutes to cook. Each bite of the chili was both palatable and morally satisfying as I could rest assured that I had been served a meal that promotes sustainable practices.
Once I had my chili, I made my way up the stairs to the viewing area on the top floor. The merchandise had been pushed against the walls to make way for fold-up chairs and a projector. It was not much, but it was enough. With the casual arrangement and low lighting of the brick and wood interior, it felt like home. People were standing around– many wearing flannels or Patagonia gear– talking and laughing over a free cold beer without a care in the world. I felt like I had been transported from Georgetown all the way to a cozy log cabin in Colorado. I half expected to see the Rockies looming tall when I glanced outside the window, but I was only met with the glaring city lights.
I contemplated the setting for quite a while as it took about thirty minutes for everyone to get settled with their food and drinks and then another fifteen for the hosts to sort out some technical difficulties. Finally, Josh Wharton was introduced to premiere his film. An average looking guy walked into centerview and gave a modest nod and wave to the sixty or seventy people gathered in the room. He briefly spoke about his climbing career, mentioning that he became a full time climber after graduating college. At that point, he had me. Here I was, spending late nights in the library for a degree, when I could just shed all societal constraints and ditch college to live in the countryside and climb mountains. If this guy could make a living off of building fences and living adventurously, why couldn’t I? I was soon to find out.
Wharton’s film, I’ll Be Home by Eight, recounts his goal to climb the three hardest routes in the Longs Peak Cirque. After climbing mountains all around the world, Wharton decided to take on a challenge that would allow him to stay close to his wife and daughter. In fact, the site was about ten minutes from his house, allowing him to climb all day and still make it home for dinner. Heart-warming clips of Wharton and his family are juxtaposed with extreme, raw shots of his attempts to complete his climbs. Impressively, none of the scenes were posed. The filmers, close friends of Wharton, scaled right up the side of the mountain with him, making for true action and realistic exemplification of the human emotions that can come out during intense physical challenges.
At about thirty minutes long, the film was the perfect length to keep the audience engaged and thoroughly demonstrate Wharton’s experience climbing the three different routes. It took him twenty days, spread over three and a half months, to complete his goal, but it was not at all easy. The film shows him training multiple times a day, falling off the side of the mountain (many times), and even cutting his hand open on the rocks. During a Q&A session after the film, Wharton recounted, “If there was a spot to fall, I fell there.” His is the story of a man trying to conquer nature while simultaneously being in complete unity with it. He certainly got frustrated with the mountain and cursed at it when he could not defeat it, but he needed to be one with it in order to find a proper foothold in the cracks or secure a grip on the rocks with his hands.
Walking back onto the streets of Georgetown after the Patagonia event, I experienced the same curious aftertaste I had after reading about Chris McCandless in Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the feeling evoked in me on the days when I get a little too caught up in Henry David Thoreau’s writings. I had the intense urge to spend my days venturing in the mountains and then returning home to a warm fire and a home-cooked bowl of chili. Alas, if there is anything to learn from Wharton, it is that it takes a special kind of person to scale the side of mountains for a living. It takes grit, skill, a bold acceptance of risk, and the ability to free fall for seventy feet without defecating. Conflictingly, the only risk I take is pressing snooze on my alarm in the morning, and the only free falling occurring in my life is that of my grades. As I walk out of the illusive natural world and enter back into the Georgetown bubble, I reach into my pocket and feel the packet of Red Bean Chili I purchased at Patagonia. If I cannot escape to a log cabin in Colorado, I can at least make myself some warm chili in the VCW common room and make believe.
