Climbing Mountains in Search of Role Models
By Lance Garland
Did you ever have a role model that had an impact on what you thought was possible? The poet Maya Angelou once said, “How important it is for us to recognize our heroes and she-roes!” But what would you do if you couldn’t find role models that resembled you? That’s where the adventure begins for our project.
In the spring of 2023, I read about a man from the early 1900’s named Richard Halliburton who was posthumously described as “the gay Indiana Jones.” His life thrilled me. Nearing the end of my 30’s, I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to find a story like his. As a Navy veteran, a Seattle firefighter, and a mountain climber in my free time, it felt like I’d finally found someone like me in history. The only caveat: he couldn’t live openly.
I started putting together a proposal to tell his story. A magazine I had written for, Hidden Compass, had created an exploration grant to tell stories just like his, so I came up with a plan to climb in the European Alps while investigating his life. I heard a rumor that George Mallory, who famously died trying to be the first person to climb Mt Everest, was gay. He’s legendary in climbing history, so I started to research his life and put him into the proposal. Strangely, Mallory was connected to another climber that I’d begun to read about, Geoffrey Winthrop Young, and the connections between them that I learned about were transformative for me. All three men climbed on or near the Matterhorn. Suddenly, I had a physical location to tie together these climbers from different times. Now, there was an objective: the Matterhorn.
The project was focused on queer role models from the past, but I wanted to contextualize that with examples from present day. I reached out to pro-climber Jordan Cannon to ask him what it’s like being an openly gay athlete, and if he knew about the queer history of alpinism. He was personally interested in both the research and the project. As fate would have it, he is going to be in the Alps at the same time as our climb this summer, so I asked him if he wanted to come with us. With a magnetic ease, we had an additional member to our climbing crew. One fine day last autumn we were notified that our project won the Pathfinder Prize.
Because our project is about finding community, we wanted to partner with a non-profit that focuses on building connection for the queer community in the outdoors. The Venture Out Project’s mission resonates with our team, and we wanted to do something to benefit the work that they do, so we came up with a collaboration to raise money and awareness for our causes.
We plan to climb on the Matterhorn July 21-27, which gives us a buffer to find an ideal weather window. From basecamp on the mountain, the Matterhorn is typically summited in one long day, so this gives us time for multiple attempts.
Not only do we hope to climb the world’s most dangerous peak, but we hope to do justice to the stories of these queer climbers as we reveal facets of their lives that they never publicly expressed themselves. How we do so will be like ascending the fines lines of routes on the Matterhorn. So far, the queer climbers that we’ve found are all Caucasian. If you know of any queer climbers in history who are more diverse, please reach out to us at crew@beyondthefalsesummit.com and help us tell a more inclusive history of the sport. We know that history has often erased our stories, but we hope to find even more examples of the variation within our community in the past.
You can follow along with our journey on Instagram @beyondthefalsesummit where we’ll be sharing updates from the backcountry. In December, we’re taking over an issue of Hidden Compass, where we’ll share essays and photography from the climb. We’re also raising money to fund a short film of the climb, so be sure to snag one our limited-edition water bottle collaborations with The Venture Out Project! There’s lots to look forward to and we hope your come of this adventure with us!
As we get ready to climb, we wanted to celebrate a few contemporary queer outdoorspeople who are role models and examples of lives that people like us can lead. Here’s just a few:
Queer Van Life: Natalie and Abigail, married, full-time travelers. https://www.instagram.com/letsplayrideandseek/
Queer Family Travel: Travel Dads with two young children
https://www.instagram.com/2traveldads/
Queer Adventure Couple: Wanderful Wives
https://www.instagram.com/wanderfulwives/?hl=en
Queer Outdoor Drag Queen: Pattie Gonia
https://www.instagram.com/pattiegonia/?hl=en
Queer Outdoor Photographer: Tommy Corey, 100 Humans of the Outdoors
https://www.instagram.com/tommycoreyphoto/
Queer Naturalist: Robert Moor
https://www.robertmoor.com/
Queer Mountaineer: Sylvia Vasquez Lavado
https://www.instagram.com/silviavasla/?hl=en
About the Author
Lance spends his days fighting fire in Seattle, climbing the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, and sailing the Salish Sea. In the moments between the action, he’s written for Outside, Travel and Leisure, Backpacker, Orion, and Climbing. His debut memoir, OUT THERE, is forthcoming from Terra Firma, an imprint of Trinity University Press, in autumn 2025.