Stories and Shadows: Cardinale Shares Insights and Lessons Learned

“All of us cast shadows in our lives. They may be good or bad. Choose well.” This was a Nepali Buddhist monk’s advice to mountaineer and author, Dean Cardinale. The advice stuck with him; “I decided to cast a good shadow,” he said. For Cardinale, this meant casting shadows through storytelling. Addressing an audience at the Harvard Square Co-op Bookstore on April 21, Cardinale put the monk’s advice into practice by reflecting on his book, Inspired: Lessons Learned From a Life of Adventure, and sharing slides from his inspiring life and often life-threatening mountain adventures. Cardinale was introduced by Dr. Sue J. Goldie, Faculty Director of the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator at Harvard University and of the Center for Health Decision Science at the Chan School of Public Health, a close collaborator and friend for more than a decade.

Committed to a career that included skiing, Cardinale settled in Utah after graduating from college in New Hampshire and became an expert in backcountry rescue and in avalanche forecasting while working for Snowbird Ski Resort. There he learned that preventing avalanche disasters ironically includes the careful and strategic use of dynamite and even heavy artillery to safely control them. “A window shattered by a hammer powerfully and abruptly is what an avalanche is like,” said Cardinale. “They are beautiful to watch—but from a distance.”

The majesty of the mountains would draw Cardinale across the world, from the Alps to Alaska to Asia to Africa. In his mid-twenties he climbed Denali, or Mount McKinley, alpine style without gear or guides. Once near the top, Cardinale thought they had completed their journey but only as they began the journey down the mountain did he realize that the trip’s biggest challenge unexpectedly lay ahead: the descent. “After you have reached the top, you are exhilarated that you have reached the “goal” yet you can’t let down your guard. You have to repeat everything you just did but tired and spent.”

In 2005, Cardinale joined a Mt. Everest climbing trip as a guide. On that trip he learned, “It takes a lot of small goals to achieve the big goal. Focus on the moment in front of you because life is made up of moments. Nail the moment.” Cardinale’s moment came on Day 67, when he reached Everest’s summit.

Cardinale founded World Wide Trekking to combine his love of travel with his desire to give others opportunities to explore and experience the beauty of the natural, and also to bring people together. “People who start out trips as strangers become friends by connecting through their stories. These link us to each other,” he reflected. As exciting and amazing as the external journey was for his clients, Cardinale often found watching their own internal journeys just as exhilarating and rewarding. “A good guide pushes people beyond what they believe they are capable of but not beyond what they can do.” This is sometimes a fine line.

Cardinale included stories of hard leadership lessons. During a mountaineering trip to the very remote Carstensz Pyramid range in Indonesia, one of the trip’s porters almost died when a rock fell on him in a cave that had served as the base camp. For reasons Cardinale still doesn’t understand, the other porters blamed the climbing group for the porter’s misfortune and as retribution threatened to kill one of them. The injured porter was not dead but was gravely injured and urgently needed medical care. Under Cardinale’s direction, the group made a makeshift tarp stretcher and carried him on a four-mile trek over severe terrain to a local mine to receive medical care. Returning to their base camp and unsure that the group could safely hike out of the jungle without the porters’ aid, the group decided to return to the mine to seek refuge and transportation out of the jungle. They made the hike through the pouring rain with little visibility. There Cardinale sought help while the others waited near a large storage container. The dense fog and loud noise from the heavy machinery made the unfamiliar seem even more threatening. Although he was able to flag down a truck, the driver did not speak English and was not particularly welcoming. Desperate Cardinale messaged on the CB, “American climbing team needs rescue.”

When, finally, a land cruiser reached Cardinale and he led its occupants to his group, the only person who spoke English did not help. Slowly the group realized that the guards had opened the nearby large storage container and expected Cardinale’s group to enter. The group spent the next ten days in the storage container—not exactly as prisoners since the doors were unlocked—but certainly in a tense and hostile environment. Eventually a mine employee helped them sneak out to safety in middle of the night. Showing slides of the experience and the box that was his home for these days, he said, “I learned that leadership is about bringing people together. The sum of the group is greater than the parts.”

His deep sense of social responsibility led Cardinale to found the Human Outreach Project (HOP) for which Goldie has served as an advisor and colleague in developing long-term principled community partnerships. HOP started small, initially distributing medical supplies and other necessities while on World Wide Trekking trips. Yet his goal was to create to a program that was sustained by—and also empowered—local communities and people. Initially HOP set out to support an orphanage in Tanzania, but, frustrated by the corruption plaguing existing government-run orphanages and worried that funds would not ultimately help the children in need, Cardinale bought four acres of local land in Kilimanjaro. He sought to engage and interact with the local community, using only local resources. Although the orphanage took five years to build not a single power tool was used.

The effort to include and connect with local community members built mutual respect along the way. This approach also fit in with Cardinale’s belief “that in life never do anything alone; do it with large teams!” Cardinale seemed at a loss for words while showing one slide of a beaming child, now living at the orphanage. “It is hard to describe the impact of that smile when I remember the trauma this little girl has experienced,” he said. The orphanage is now home to 13 children. While HOP is a registered U.S. non-profit, Cardinale made the decision to put the land in the name of the Tanzanians. “Yes it was five years slower getting built,” he admitted, “but that time was a gift—we made decisions in concert with the community. We went slowly and we did it right.”

In addition to the orphanage, HOP has three other ongoing projects in sites in Nepal, Peru, and the United States. In one of HOP’s newest projects, a collaboration with the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator at Harvard University, plans are in place for engagement based at the orphanage in Tanzania. The project will focus on creating a visual public health literacy curriculum while also improving the English language skills of adult caretakers. Cardinale and Goldie are also collaborating through the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator to develop curricula on decision-making and leadership, public health education, and community engagement.

“I encourage you to share your stories.” Cardinale concluded. “Cast a good shadow.”