Wasatch Mountain Arts Presents Wasatch Mountain Film Festival Line up

If you’ve climbed for 10 years or 10 minutes, you’re familiar with Yosemite’s towering, granite walls. It is literally the mecca for climbing. By that, I mean that people make pilgrimages there. They train for it. They dream about it. And like any proper holy place, it feels like heaven the first time you drop into the valley and see El Capitan thousands of feet above you.

It makes you feel small and insignificant, but somehow, it is also rejuvenating and empowering. You start to look up those slabs of granite and think, “Maybe I actually could sleep on the edge of a cliff for a week.”

There’s something about the place that just draws you to it. You have to touch it and feel it. You have to run your hands over the bumpy surface. You have to imagine yourself getting above the valley and seeing a view that so few people will ever experience.

If you’ve read ‘My First Summer in the Sierras’ by John Muir, you’ll probably remember the paragraph where he describes climbing down over the cliff’s edge to get a better view. A different view.

“The slope beside [Yosemite Falls] looked dangerously smooth and steep, and the swift roaring flood beneath, overhead, and beside me was very nerve-trying. I therefore concluded not to venture farther, but did nevertheless…While perched on that narrow niche I was not distinctly conscious of danger. The tremendous grandeur of the fall in form and sound and motion, acting at close range, smothered the sense of fear.”

He was compelled to explore these massive walls in the nineteenth century and that same magnetism is still working its magic 200 years later.

People are still searching for a different view of these iconic places.

Before I passed through the gates to the park and before I drove down into ‘the valley,’ I was skeptical. I knew that it would be beautiful, but I was doubtful that it would live up to the hype and the climbing lore. But it was all true.

There are places in this world that will take your breath away. Places that stop you in your tracks. Places that make your heart race. These are the types of places that awaken a desire…no, not desire. A necessity to explore more.

The colossal granite domes, meandering Merced River and deafening waterfalls of Yosemite evoke that necessity to seek more adventure.

I’ve always said, “I would never sleep on a portaledge.” I never saw the need for it and never felt any desire to put myself through the fear and anxiety. Maybe the real problem was that I was never really inspired.

“An adventure is every emotion wrapped into a moment in life…I seek it because it’s an escape that lets me be myself” – Marcus Johannes 

Photo by: Dirk Badenhorst

I’m fortunate enough to know this guy and to me he’s the definition of an adventurer. Some of the most inspiring people out there aren’t the ones getting paid or sponsored to lead a life that is sustained by epic pursuits. The sponsored athletes are still inspiring, don’t get me wrong, but the most inspiring people to me are the people we consider “weekend warriors” – people who live normal lives, but use every spare minute of their free time and every last dollar in their pocket to get after what they love to do. They are the true enthusiasts.

Photo by: Dirk Badenhorst

Weekend Warriors are an interesting crowd. They’re die hard. They’re dedicated. But most of all they’re the folks who live, eat, and breathe outdoor adventure. How do you find them? Well, they’re usually the people who walk into work jacked up on coffee having just pulled an all-nighter drive to make it to work on time. They probably still smell a little musky and spend their Monday mornings ducking out of the way of responsibility, raiding websites and forums for next week’s adventure. They drive the ratty all wheel drive car in the parking lot that’s decked out with roof racks, covered in mud, and are usually packed to the brim with gear – so that if anything came up, they can leave at a moments notice. They’re loyal to the things that make them happy, and they are on an endless pursuit to do the things that make them happy, instead of collecting stuff that makes them happy.

Marcus is easily described as this type of person. He works full time (for himself) and still finds the time to pursue the things he loves to do. He spent every waking minute in college traveling as much as he could and what he studied in college only empowered him to do what he loved more often (film and photography).  He has toured 4,000 miles across the country on a bicycle, hitch hiked to Alaska, spent months filming in Europe, trekked in Nepal, and spent months living on a farm in South Africa (and that’s just to name a few)! His adventures are beautifully showcased on his Instagram feed (@marcjvisuals) or on his website www.marcjvisuals.com and I promise that it will have you craving an adventure of your own.

Photo by: Dirk Badenhorst

“An adventure is every emotion wrapped into a moment in life…I seek it because its an escape that lets me be myself” – Marcus Johannes

I’m sure you.. YES you, have done this.

There comes a time when you don’t listen to other people when they tell you not to do something.* Though, the best adventures and experiences seem to occur only when taking risks and challenging yourself to do something you never thought attainable. Of course things will be scary, but that’s the risk you have to be willing to take. Whether the end outcome is positive or negative, that depends… but either way you’re learning a lot more about yourself along the journey. This is where my story begins.

I grew up following freeskiing. Attending the first ever Winter Dew Tour in Killington, VT sparked my hunger for photography and skiing. By the time college came around, even after getting into school in SLC, UT I was told that “it’s too far away”.  Well yes, this is a true fact, but I can’t imagine all of the experiences during that time I would have never been able to do had I listened to that one person. I was told I shouldn’t go to Japan last season, but to me that was my biggest accomplishment and progression of skiing images so far. Today, I am still being told to not pursue my goals of becoming a published action sports photographer/videographer.

Do you think I’ll listen to that?

Skier: David Wise Photo: Dani DeSalvio

Here’s to the mistakes to be made, lessons to be learned, and the hustle to be had.  Cheers & stay stoked – dani

*Though it is probably a good idea to listen to your friends in the backcountry.

If you haven’t heard of Joe Pleban by now, prepare to be inspired. Not many people are like Joe: Adventurous, incredibly friendly, and open to accepting adversity and physical health issues with humor, no matter how scary. Even if that means literally having to cut off a left foot! I first heard of Joe’s story through Facebook, where his “The Last Adventures of Joe’s Left Foot” was becoming a viral hit. The page highlights a bucket list of what Joe was planning to do with his left foot prior to a scheduled amputation, which would allow Joe to continue his active lifestyle and love of sports without the incredible nagging pain from a prior injury.

As soon as I learned about Joe’s incredible outlook on life, using humor & humility to overcome an injury that would certainly be life-altering, I reached out asking if he would be willing to do an interview for Spread Stoke. Needless to say, Joe was pretty stoked on the site and was happy to share his story …

SS: When I came across your story, I was truly inspired and we would love to share it with our Spread Stoke community. First off, tell us a little about yourself? Where did you grow up and how did you fall in love with action sports?

Joe: I was born in San Francisco and lived there for a couple years before moving to Maryland.  I lived on a cul-de-sac growing up with a couple other kids.  I got my love for action sports because of the show Rocket Power.  I would watch it with other kids, then we would go on the street and try to jump off any ramps we could make/find.  I went through so many of those plastic ramps as a kid.  As I grew up, I would try any action sport that was put in front of me at least once.

SS: Can you tell us how it all started with your foot? What was it like dealing with a foot that didn’t cooperate with your life?

Joe: This whole process started when I had a bad wake boarding fall in 2008.  It was actually the day after my high school graduation! I hit a double up waaayyy too hard, and I ended up snapping my ankle!  The ankle never healed right, and they went into surgery to try to clean out scar tissue.  That is when they found the disease PVNS (pigmented villanodular synovitis), which causes benign tumors that eat away at the cartilage.  I had 3 surgeries in 3 years, along with a round of radiation treatment. This past March, we found that the tumors had returned, and that information helped me to make the decision to amputate.  Growing up with a crappy ankle was not fun.  The past 6 years were the worst.  I would watch the sports I loved being taken away one by one because of ankle pain.  However, I cannot WAIT to get back into all the sports that I love.

SS: When you made the decision to amputate your left foot, what kind of emotions did you face?

Joe: When I made the decision to amputate, there were a bunch of emotions going on.  At first, I was a bit freaked out because of the weight and life-altering nature of the surgery.  After that, I got to the point where I was just excited for the future.  I wanted to get past the surgery so I could get back to playing sports.  I would watch videos of amputees doing all the sports I used to play, and that would make me feel awesome about what was coming.  Right before the surgery, I was very nervous.  However, I felt fine after I woke up. Since then I have been doing great emotionally.

SS: Alright, we want to hear about your bucket list and what was checked off! How long before your amputation did you take time off to go adventure? Any specific experiences you would like to share?

Joe: Ah yes, the bucket list.  Well I had a month before the surgery.  I made the decision to amputate in May, but the surgery was not until June.  So my girlfriend (Johnna Hetrick) and I made a Google doc with all the things we wanted to do before the surgery.  We went kayaking, go-karting, sky diving, a music festival, a trip to the Domincan Republic where we went scuba diving and parasailing, paintballing, shooting AK-47s… it was a very packed month!  Every weekend had an activity planned.  I only took off of work for the Dominican trip and the music festival.  The rest of the activities were on weekends.  Sky diving was the most fun by far.  It was actually a birthday git to my girlfriend.  I surprised her by saying we were going to a vineyard for wine tasting, then ended up at an airport to jump out of a plane.

SS: Can you tell us who Tony Meehan is and how has he helped you with coping?

Joe: Tony Meehan is my mentor for the amputation.  He is a below the knee amputee who had his surgery done last June.  He is young and active, and has been instrumental to showing me that everything will be better with a prosthetic. I met with him before I made the decision, and he was even there right before I went into surgery.  Tony and I have already made plans to go snowboarding together next March!

SS: Post surgery? What was it like waking up with no leg?

Joe: Waking up with no leg was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  I woke up, looked down, and thought “OK. I have no leg. This is OK.”

SS: What are you looking forward to in having a new prosthetic foot? Any new sports you want to give a try?

Joe: The thing I look forward to with a prosthetic? Running, running, running, running, aaannndd…. running.  I cannot wait to break out in a wide open sprint whenever I want to.  It may sound weird, but I love to sprint.  As far as new sports, I would like to get into wake surfing.  I  tried it a couple times on friend’s boats and loved it.  I am saving up for a wakesurfer now!

SS: After reading your story, I felt a strong sense of your humility. What does humility mean to you and why do you think it is so important to have in life?

Joe: The best thing I have ever heard about humility is “Humility is not about putting yourself down, it is about raising others up.”  I know that I have been strong through this entire process, but it is because I have so much support from my girlfriend, family, and friends.  It is easy to seem strong when you have so many to help lift the burden.

SS: We couldn’t agree more! Speaking of those who have helped support your mission, are there any shout outs you’d like to give? Who has helped you through this process and inspired you to keep such a positive attitude.

Joe: Shout outs: My girlfriend, Johnna Hetrick, for sticking with me through this whole process. She even slept in a weird, uncomfy recliner in my hospital room every night!  My parents, Bob and Lisa Pleban, for being so helpful and supportive.  They are the best parents. Sorry every other mom and dad, it is the truth.

So now that Joe is taking a step forward towards a pain-free future, we wish him nothing but an awesome and easy road to recovery! Sometimes, the hardest things to do often lead us towards the best and most rewarding experiences in life. Joe has shown us that closing one door only opens up better ones and that when dealing with a bad situation,  a positive outlook and lots humor goes a long way! We’re positive that Joe’s upcoming adventures will be even more amazing without the nagging pain of his left foot. A huge shout-out to Joe for taking time out of his week to speak with me and for sharing his story. Thanks Joe!  Hope to see you & your mentor Tony on the hills in Utah shredding through some pow this winter!

*All photo’s courtesy of Joe Pleban.