Staying On Guard Book

“I just watched my friend Dan sail by and disappear over the cliff into the icy waters below.” So begins Staying on Guard, a powerful memoir by Dan Wenker about his mountain climbing adventures. That sentence is written by Jim Zingerman in the book’s foreword. Jim is the friend and fellow mountaineer who saved Dan’s life after he fell into an ice moat, a situation from which many have not returned to tell the tale.

The book’s subtitle, A Spiritual Encounter of Miracles and Gratitude to Discover Life’s Purpose, is in response to people telling him “You were lucky” after he was rescued. Several specific serendipities had to coincide for his rescue to be successful. He believes it was some sort of divine orchestration or intervention by God or the Universe that made it possible, and he lays out all the details, including the accident report filed by the park rangers at the Grand Teton National Park where his accident occurred, so the reader can understand his rescue was far more than just luck.

But Staying on Guard is far more than the story of one mountain-climbing rescue. Dan details how he got involved in mountain climbing around the time of his fiftieth birthday. He was concerned about staying physically active as he got older and wanted an activity he would enjoy. His story is an inspiration for all of us moving into our later years who don’t want to succumb to life in a rocking chair, but keep enjoying life and having adventures. Dan began his goal to stay physically active by hiking and climbing mountains in Washington State where he lived, but he has since gone on to climb mountains throughout North America and even in Africa.

Each chapter in Staying on Guard shares one of Dan’s adventures along with introducing us to his friends and family members, all interesting and inspiring people, whom he has climbed with. Each story is meant to inspire us, and at the end of each chapter, Dan pauses to tell us what he learned from the experience and encourages us to reflect on how his experiences might apply to our own lives.

One thing I loved about this book is that Dan isn’t afraid to reveal he has not always made the best decisions. He is vulnerable in these pages, admitting the accident was largely his fault, yet he shows gratitude for the park rangers who, rather than be judgmental, were just happy they could rescue him. He also reveals times when he was closed-minded, such as when he lacked interest in hiking the Grand Canyon, yet agreed to go with a friend and ended up being amazed by the beauty he experienced.

Dan also tends to be a bit accident prone. Besides the rescue from the ice moat, he had a skiing mishap in the French Alps that sent him on an odyssey across France. The result was an opportunity to appreciate how even when things seem to go most wrong, blessings can be found in the experience when we look for them.

Anyone wanting to climb mountains will enjoy all the details Dan provides of what to bring on the trip, how to prepare, and what to expect. Anyone who wants to overcome their fears will appreciate Dan’s discussion of fear as a benefit because it helps to minimize risk so we can better succeed. In truth, most of his experiences were not that dangerous when done with care. Statistics, as he quotes, show that mountain climbing isn’t that dangerous—you have a better chance of dying in a car accident.

Dan states he wrote this book for two reasons: “to demonstrate you can remain active in your mid to later years so that you continue to enjoy great outdoor activities,” and “for those who enjoy the outdoors and love spending time in the wilderness doing exciting things.” The title simply reminds us to stay on guard because, as Dan states, “Mother Nature is impersonal. She plays no favorites and does not discriminate over who gets punished and who gets rewarded. Bad things can happen in an instant. As you’re out in the world or in the wilderness, it’s up to you to stay on guard so you minimize the risk….
The accident occurred not because of the dangers inherent in the wilderness, but because I didn’t stay on guard and use the basic measures taught in every beginner mountaineering class.”

Other benefits of staying active that Dan discusses include making lifelong friendships, applying what you learn about taking chances to other areas of your life, learning to work together as a team, and even experiencing different cultures, such as when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. His head guide there really helped put things in perspective by reminding him what a wonderful country the United States is because we don’t have to worry about malaria, typhoid, or sleeping sickness. Dan states that those comments were “a reality check that will stick with me forever.”

After you read Staying on Guard, you may well believe like Dan that miracles happen every day; they may not be large ones like a mountain rescue, but they exist if we look for them. You’ll also be encouraged to go out and have your own adventures or at least stay physically active. As Dan states, “Staying on guard does not just apply to people climbing mountains so they make the proper decisions before things go wrong. It can also be applied to people who are starting to become sedentary. They should be on guard that they are headed down a road where their life choices may quickly become limited because of inactivity.” It’s time to take up Dan’s challenge to challenge yourself with the “what ifs” versus “not anymores.” Trust me; the “what ifs” are far more fun to contemplate and turn into reality.

I hope you will stay on guard and take the first step toward being active by reading and benefiting from this book.”