Why close the group?
We know that our decision to close the group is not exactly popular with most group members.
Here’s why we’ve come to this decision, and why we’re sticking to it despite the objections.
“Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.”
This quote belongs to Ed Viesturs, one of the most famous mountain climbers in the world. Despite having summited Mt. Everest 7 times, his acclaim in the climbing community comes from his wisdom that failing to summit is forgivable, but failing to descend is not.
Climbing a mountain, any mountain, is a choice you make. Every step towards the top is borne of your own free will. That goes for real mountains and metaphorical mountains alike. You choose what to conquer in life, and you choose what not to.
Once you’re on the mountain, however, getting back down is mandatory. It’s not a choice. You have to safely descend to base camp and then make the trek home if you want to ever climb again.
We like to believe that here in ReOpen Bucks we all climbed some amazing peaks together. We did great things. We’re proud of the summits, and we’re also proud of the climbs when we came up short.
These things we accomplished were only possible because we decided, together, to climb. We put one foot in front of the other through some very difficult circumstances. We fought the mountain with each other. Win or lose, that was always a choice that we made.
Now we find ourselves with no climbing left to do. The summits we could achieve, we’ve achieved. The summits that were out of our reach–well we fought like hell for those, too.
But we can’t stay in thin air forever. We would be remiss as leaders to keep you on this mountain. The purpose of this expedition was never to live up here; it was to conquer what we could, and then return home.
Many of you think that we’re closing the group because we ourselves are weary, but that’s not what’s happening at all. We simply recognize that we’ve climbed what we could, and now it’s our obligation to return everyone safely to base camp.
We recognize that many of you have become accustomed to life here. We know that you’ve grown fond of this place. But it’s time to go home. Your next mountain awaits.
We want that for you–we want you to go forth and conquer what’s next. We don’t want to keep you up here fighting this mountain any longer. In fact we feel that it would be selfish to do so.
Our greatest hope in this story is that this climb has changed you for the better.
We hope that the summits have empowered you.
We hope that the treacherous conditions we braved have left you stronger, harder, and hungry for more adventure.
And maybe most importantly, we hope that the bonds you’ve formed here far, far outlive your time on this mountain.
We’re truly sorry to take from you that which now feels comfortable and safe. But we’ve done what we came here to do. It’s time to go down.
❤️ – the Admin Team
