The Story

When I was 14, I was struggling with deep depression to the point of suicidal ideations. I felt as though I was shackled and caged in my own brain and I didn’t know if a key existed at that point. At the same age, I took part in my first backpacking trip ever. In the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, I was struck with breath. I could breathe for what felt like the first time in forever and I was hooked. I knew the outdoors would change my life forever. I knew I wanted to share this feeling and I knew I would have to be brave and courageous to do this. Fast-forward to 18 years old, I stood at 19,341 feet on Mt. Kilimanjaro and I’ve never felt more accomplished in my life. After 8 hours of physical and mental exhaustion, I peered out over Tanzania and Kenya and I could see the curvature of the Earth. I did it. Counseling and medications helped, but nothing quite hit my soul, the deepest part of me, in the same way as the outdoors. Despite battling a daily mental health war, I did something I never thought was possible. So my passion only grew – the fire was catching and there was no stopping it.

This brings us to the present, my current journey and adventure in the mountains of Colorado and the brain of Heather Benton. I got my Masters in Counseling, obtained my hours to earn my license, got my dream job with youth in the adventure therapy field, all while adventuring on the weekends to gain more and more experience. And I can’t stop it. I can’t stop the desire to challenge the stigma or the want to grab people by the shoulders and tell them to take a breath and educate themselves, and then maybe we won’t be so scary. Cause we’re just like everyone else; I’m just like everyone else, just with a different story. If you know me, you know I don’t hold back. I like to go big or go home because we don’t have time in this life for anything else. So now I’m going real big, huge, in fact.

In December 2018 I went to the Himalayas – the mountain range that holds the highest physical mountains in the world that draws some of the most elite athletes across the globe, and boy was it a challenge.  I took on a 100 mile trek, climb to Everest Base Camp, and a 20,305 foot (6189m) mountain called Island Peak. It has since become one of the hardest challenges I have ever accomplished; however, I just couldn’t stop there, right? So now I’ve started my mission of going for some of the tallest mountains in the world - the 7 summits. These are the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. I battle mental illness, but that won’t hold me back and people need to know that. People must know that we are capable of huge dreams, so I strive to put a crack in the stigma. Mental illness is a mountain I climb daily, and I want to carry this feeling into real life and take people on the journey of both. I want to raise awareness and to raise money to support organizations that do the same thing, because you can’t go too big. I’m going to climb the tallest mountain on every continent; I’m going to join the small list of around 70 women that have done this, but I won’t do it without making it count. I won’t do it alone and I won’t let the journey pass without showing people that those who fight mental illnesses, the unwavering warriors, can conquer mountains.