IN CONTROL
Adventure photographer Cory Richards talks about making bad decisions and taking chances.
ON 4 FEBRUARY 2011, the day Cory Richards almost got killed in an avalanche, he was just another young climber who had made it to the ultimate proving ground. Having recently progressed from the peaks of North America and Europe, being invited by two veteran climbers to scale Gasherbrum II – the world’s 13th highest mountain – was, for him, akin to ordination into the priesthood. Perhaps he was tempting fate, but for Richards, climbing was a way of life and a form of salvation that brought him out of a troubled adolescence. The higher he climbed, the further he felt he could get away from his problems on the ground. Then the avalanche struck and he was back to square one, or worse. He suffered from PTSD. He went back to drinking, cheated on his wife, lost his main sponsor and ended up feeling buried in shame and self-loathing. Thankfully, in all of that chaos, he found clarity and began to right his wrongs and dig himself out. He started climbing again and is now a leading National Geographic adventure photographer (a passion he picked up at the age of 18) as well as a motivational speaker. He was also recently featured in Rolls-Royce’s film series, Inspiring Greatness, which explores his thoughts on risk-taking, perfectionism and, of course, adventure. Here, he tells us more about fear, uncertainty and taking the leap of faith.
“My dad always used to say that adventure is merely an inconvenience rightly understood.
Greatness and great motion come from making big scary decisions. Now is the time to embrace that. Now is the time to leap.
My inner voice always tells me, ‘don’t do this’. But there’s another voice, a more authentic voice, that tells me to explore it. It’s not about leaping without thinking. It’s about accepting and exploring your fear.
There shouldn’t be a limit to taking risks, as long as you can calculate them.
I’m never a person who’ll just do whatever. I think more about the taking. While it appears brazen, the idea of climbing Mt Everest, for example, comes with a huge backstory of decision-making and experiences that have led me to a place where I’m like, is this risk calculable and will the calculus work out in my favour?
There is excitement about being on the highest mountain in the world or taking a luxury automobile into the wildest places. But what’s valuable is what you learn through these experiences and how you translate them into action.
You’re talking to a guy who has struggled with alcohol and done all sorts of stuff. I talk about these things openly, but I want to be clear that they don’t necessarily define me. We move beyond those things.
Oftentimes, your best decision is your worst decision because from it you will grow something that you never anticipated. One of the worst decisions I’ve made was dropping out of school, but in time, that decision launched my life on a trajectory that has been magnificent and beautiful.
The fine line between bravery and stupidity is whether or not it works out in your favour. Bravery comes from a place of confidence in calculation, while stupidity comes from a place of overcompensation and arrogance.”