It was the end of a racing year that I had committed to too many races hence I was a bit burned out. Plus the influence that social media had on the trail running community had jaded me a bit in this world I had been apart of for about 10 years.

I needed to connect with the mountains (my reason for racing) in a different way.

And as fate had it Salomon had presented us athletes with the opportunity to do a project outside the scope of racing.  To me, this meant a volunteer project.  I ran through a couple of ideas very quickly and soon confirmed the chance to join a program that my home town friend, on of the #1 most caring chicks ever, Danika Gilbert, had been apart of as mountain guide for many years.

I had heard bits and pieces of her years of travels with ascendathletics.org, a non-profit based in Afghanistan with the mission of “empowering young women through mountaineering based leadership training”. I knew that this year a group of 5 gals were preparing to make a summit attempt as the first women ever on the highest peak in their country, Mt.Noshaq.  I was hoping I could aid in their cardiovascular training for this.

Marina Legree, founder of ascendathletics.org, did not flinch at the opportunity and before I knew it I was booked and planning the 3 week Afghanistan training.

Meanwhile, public radio kept broadcasting the news of numerous unusual winter bombings in Kabul.  I was not naive to the reality of where I was going but to me, the timing of this all seemed to be in alignment and so in living I trust.  I was willing to hop into a reality for 3 weeks which these Afghan girls had been living their whole life.  I was humbled by this invitation to experience a bigger part of the world that we are all connected to whether we think about it or not.

I could write so much about this trip but in many ways I just can’t.  There just are not enough words to describe the vast differences between what one part of the world knows as reality compared to another part of the world. But in what I would consider one of the harshest realities on Earth the immensity of love that this group of gals shared was just unbelievable.  I know that I was able to feel this and these young ladies were able to feel this because of the foundation that the ascendathletics.org had provided for them.

The sisterhood that these girls brought to the mountains refilled my soul, and I can only hope that my nagging on them to keep moving did something for them too.  If nothing else, i am sure I am apart of their laughter which they let out nonstop when they are free to be themselves in the mountains.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were giant carved out sculptures of the Buddha dating back to the 6th Century right in the town of Bamiyan where the girls and I had spent the heart of our time adventuring.  The Buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 and left in their place are giant holes where the Buddhas used to stand, taller than any others in the world.

I was very intrigued by these Buddhas before going to Afghanistan, I really wanted to see them. We did get to visit the sight, and we drove past them everyday for 7 of the 17days.  But as I write this I realize that I got to spend 17 days with these Buddhas of Bamiyan in the form of these 5 amazing young ladies.