Zak Klein's video: Climbing the Idaho 12ers - Mount Borah

Located in the Lost River Range, Mt. Borah is the tallest mountain in Idaho sitting at an elevation of 12,662 ft. The Lost River Range is part of the Challis National Forest in Eastern Custer County, ID. Mt. Borah's topographical prominance is 5,892ft. My 2019 goal was to climb Mt. Borah and back in September my friend Cylus and I successfully summited the peak. I will never forget this experience and to me it is a survival story and it has changed me. To start off, I have to admit we were very stubborn and underestimated this mountain. Many people told us to turn back because we did not have enough sunlight to reach the summit but we decided to keep pushing for the peak. The first mistake was the time we started the hike. Originally we planned to start early in the day but our camping spot was far away and we didn't reach the trailhead until 3pm. We had all of the correct gear but in our rushing, I forgot to pack warm clothes. Cylus did not bring enough water and we both forgot to bring our headlamps. About a half hour into the hike, we realized we forgot all of the things I mentioned and decided to keep pressing. Once we reached the treeline, that is when we passed the hikers who strongly suggested we turn around. But peak fever had already set in and we pressed. Once we passed chickenout ridge, I was extremely exhausted and Cylus got ahead of me. While he pressed on, I kept struggling up the last stretch towards the peak and I watched the sun gradually set. I began mentally preparing myself to spend the night on the mountain and that is one thing I did right. I began scouting out areas to get out of the wind and I was able to keep myself calm. Once the sun began setting, I filmed Cylus and I talking and joking in order to keep us stress free and calm. Eventually we agreed to take our chances at climbing down the mountain in the dark because of how cold it was getting. This is when things began to really set in and we knew at any point we could sip off the mountain and die. The moon had gone behind the mountains and all we had was the stars and our phone lights. It took two hour to go from the peak to the saddle and we did it with our night vision and occasionally one of us would tell the other to cover their eyes and use our flashlight to see. We did not use our lights the whole time because my phone was at 50% and Cylus's was around 25%. We couldn't afford to use all of the battery. There were many times we almost went off a drop or slipped down a rock slide. When we reached the saddle we had to climb up the rope and we knew chickenout ridge would be the hardest part. When I climbed up the rope, my phone fell and slid about 20 feet down the mountain on a rock slide. Cylus decided to try and get to it because his phone was at 15% and mine was still around 50%. We needed my phone to get over chickenout ridge so he risked his life to get it. Chickenout ridge at night was the most terrifying thing I've ever done in my entire life and at one point I almost lost my footing. After hours of climbing down the mountain we finally reached our vehicles at 2am. Many lessons were learned that night but the story was worth every minute. Now our goal is to climb all of the Idaho 12er's. https://www.instagram.com/zak_klein https://www.inaturalist.org/people/zakklein [The following footage was complied by an experienced individual(s) - no attempt should be made to reenact or recreate the following footage. No animals within the following footage were harmed. The footage depicts animals being restrained and no intent has been made to injure, harm or stress the animal(s). All animals used within the following footage were released back into their natural state. Viewers should not attempt the following outtakes without the appropriate permits and review of the relevant legislation and industry professional assistance.]