Full potential show ep. 11 interview with johnny collinson

Full Potential Show Episode 11:
Interview with Johnny Collinson –
Youngest Climber to Summit Seven Peaks

Hello everybody and welcome to the Full Potential Show.
I'm James Rick and this is your number one non-boring
source for personal development. Today we have a special
guest on our show, Johnny Collinson. Johnny Collinson is on
the line and Johnny has climbed all seven summits of the
highest peaks in the world... is that right, John?

Johnny: That is.

James: We're going to talk to John today a little bit about his adventures, as well as the story
behind it and how that whole process went. So, John, first of all for the audience that may not
be all familiar with your accomplishments, can you briefly describe what it's like to actually
climb the seven summits? How difficult of a challenge is that?

Johnny: Well, climbing the seven summits is a pretty big feat to the highest peak on each
continent. So it takes a lot of drive and focus to keep yourself in the right physical shape and to
mentally prepare yourself to travel and to be away from home for two months at a time even.

James: So tell me about that, John. How long did you have to prepare for each of the climbs
that you did on average?

Full Potential Show Episode 11 Transcript
Interview with Johnny Collinson – Youngest Climber to Summit Seven Peaks
www.fullpotential.com

Johnny: On average, I'd say I was training for about 2 months before I left for Aconcagua, which
is the highest peak in South America and was the first of my seven summits. After that, I trained
for about 3 weeks before Mt. Everest and throughout the summer I pretty much stayed in
shape as we went from peak to peak. I didn't have to train too much between summits.

James: Johnny, you sound like a young guy like myself, how old are you?

Johnny: I'm now 18. I just turned 18 in March.

James: So, you summitted all seven of the highest peaks in the world under the age of 18?

Johnny: Yes.

James: How old were you when you climbed Everest?

Johnny: I was 17. We flew to Nepal on my 17th birthday.

James: How did you get into climbing at such a young age? I had read at your website that you
had climbed at the age of four... what was the summit that you climbed? Mt. Rainier at the age
of 4.

Johnny: Yes, Mt. Rainier is probably the most famous of the climbs
that I did at age 4, but we had summitted over 200 large peaks in the
continent of the US. My parents got me into climbing at a super young
age and just instilled a love for the mountains in me.

James: So it was your mother and your father that are big on climbing
and they got you climbing at 4 years old. Now, John, what would you
say was the hardest climb out of all 7 of your summits? You know, most people know about Mt.
Everest and some of these I can't even pronounce. What would you say was your hardest climb
out of all of them?

Johnny: None were extremely technical climbs, but Mt. Everest, just because of the sheer size
of it and the amount of preparation, as well as the altitude. Mt. Everest was probably the most
difficult summit.

James: Did you have any close calls? You know, obviously, this is a very dangerous thing to
attempt. Did you have any close calls while you were climbing any of these mountains?


Johnny: We did in Africa. It wasn't on Kilimanjaro, which is the highest in Africa. On the second
highest peak in Africa, we were doing some rock climbing - having some fun, and Ii actually
came down with a unique condition called high-altitude pulmonary edema. It's basically - your
lungs fill up with a mucus and liquid. It's pretty dangerous. The only way to counteract it is to
move to a lower altitude. That was probably my closest call.

James: How long did you have that condition?

Johnny: I had it for only about maybe a weekend. There was really no signs that let us know
that I was going to come down with it. It was like the super dangerous and fatal symptoms were
hitting me so we had to evacuate the camp. I was probably breathing normally and everything
in about ten hours.

James: So that was pretty scary?

Johnny: Yeah.

James: Now, John, so tell me...your parents influenced you at an early age to do climbing and
acquire a passion for it. Was there anybody close to you - friends or family - who tried to
persuade you to not attempt what you did?

Johnny: No, everyone was super supportive, so that really helped me. I might be gone from
home so much of the time, that none of my friends or family were really disapproving. So it was
a lot easier for me to leave.

James: So you had a really supportive family and friends network, so that's fantastic.

Johnny: Yeah.

James: Were you ever scared? Did you ever doubt yourself that you could do these climbs?

Johnny: No, not on the physical level and probably not on the mental level either. I was always
super prepared and ready to go for it.

James: So you feel that maybe you didn't have the fear that others would have because you
knew that you were super prepared?

Johnny: Yeah.

James: So, by spending the time to be prepared, you were able, when it came time to perform,
you were able to perform - very confident in your abilities.


Johnny: Yeah, exactly. Because we've done a lot of climbing around as a family, we've probably
done some more technical climbing than there was many of the summits.

James: Well, everybody, for those of you who are just now listening or watching this on Full
Potential, we're speaking with Johnny Collinson. He summitted the 7 highest peaks in the
world. We are now talking about his story and all the things that you could learn from his
challenges that might help you prepare for your own summits in your life.

So , John, tell me, how much time would you say that you invested in preparation? I know that
you said a couple of months before every summit, but would you say that this is really a lifetime
of preparation?

Johnny: Unbeknowingly, yeah, it's definitely been a lifetime of preparation just gaining skills
like physically climbing skills and also just taking on certain things in life and having my own way
of looking at challenges and stuff. But I didn't know until about 4 months before we left for
Argentina that I was actually going to be undertaking it.

James: You didn't know that you were going to be doing the seven summits? How old were you
4 months after you left Argentina?

Johnny: Before I left?

James: Yeah, how old were you at that time?

Johnny: 16

James: So you're out there like, "Well, heck, I might as well try to do all 7. We've done 1, now
we're going to do 7." Was that the thinking behind it?

Johnny: Pretty much. Well, the idea was to go for Everest and to
try to be the youngest to summit Mt. Everest. It takes a lot of
money and preparation to get there, so we wanted to try to test
my skill at high altitude. That was the reasoning behind Aconcagua.
After that, we summitted Aconcagua. Then in between, that's
when the thought process evolved to include all of the 7 summits.

James: So, got it. This was in preparation for Everest and then you said, "Well, since we've
already done one, why not knock it out as a big campaign and do all 7."

Johnny: Exactly.


James: That's pretty neat. You started out it was going to be one big goal and you wound up
knocking out 7 as part of a bigger goal.

Johnny: Yep.

James: That's fantastic. Now, John, did you ever doubt yourself or your teammates in this
process? I mean, did you ever feel like it wasn't going to happen?

Johnny: No, there was a couple of times when little things would happen like we'd miss our
flight or our baggage wouldn't get there on time or something like that. It might have looked
like a certain peak wasn't going to happen, but I never had any doubts in myself or my team.

James: Over the course of your journey, what are the biggest lessons that you think you've
learned? What are the biggest lessons that you share with others about your experience?

Johnny: Just because I've traveled to so many places and a lot of them being very 3rd world
countries and stuff. I've seen how people live in those countries and their appreciation for life,
even if they don't have a lot of fancy things and a lot of money. So
when I come home, I look at our society and how we might treat
the planet or how my generation might use their time. So the
biggest lesson that Ii get from that is probably getting people to
appreciate what the earth has to offer in terms of environmentally
and getting kids outside and active.

James: You probably have had a lot of time to think up there in the mountains. Would you say
that was a spiritual experience? What thoughts are going on in your head at 10,000 feet above
the earth and it's all just quiet around you...white snow? What are your thoughts in that kind
of space?

Johnny: A lot of the times, you're just kind of wondering what's going to happen within the next
few days or the next period of time. So when I'm actually on the mountain, a lot of thinking was
devoted to reaching the summit and the next step in my journey. It wasn't really until the plane
arrives home that I really get into my experience that i just had and really think about it.

James: So, you really don't get time to think about it critically. You just got to do the job, you've
got to get it done. Knowing what you know now, John, do you feel that you may have
underestimated the time, energy or money required to reach your goals? Do you think you may
have underestimated how hard it was going to be?


Johnny: No, I kind of went at it with the feeling that it might be harder. I was trying to think of
the summit as being harder than it might actually be, that way I might be more mentally
prepared

James: So was it easier than you had imagined in your mind?

Johnny: Yeah, probably.

James: So, I think that's a really great lesson there. Sometimes we might think it's going to be
easier to get where we want to go, but I think what you just said is you looked at it like it was
going to be harder than it actually was. So you were pleasantly surprised instead of being
surprised to the negative and wanting to quit because it was too tough

Johnny: Exactly.

James: John, knowing what you know now, would you do it again?

Johnny: If I had the chance to...probably.

James: Based on your experience, what lesson could you offer to
someone who might attempt to do the same thing? Or let's say
even something big, bold and scary in your life? What lesson out
of your life experience would you have for them?

Johnny: Just dream big, I guess. My dream was to get to the top
of Everest. So I reached that and I went even further. The biggest
lesson that I can think of is to dream bigger than what you actually dream about.

James: When did you have the dream to climb Everest? At what point did that actually stick out
as a goal for you?

Johnny: The first time was probably when I was about 9... so pretty young.

James: How did you even know about it? How did you even get inspired by that thought?
Where were you...give us a picture of when you thought, "Hey, I'm actually going to climb
Everest". When did that thought occur?

Johnny: We were laying in a tent in (???), Colorado and the snow would be coming down so
hard on our little shelter and was weighing the whole thing down. We'd have to wake up every


few hours to bang the snow off. If I was like suffering at all I'd think about Everest, how much
gnarlier it would be on Everest.

James: Were you right?

Johnny: We had pretty fair weather when we were there, but I think, obviously, there have
been some expeditions that have run into pretty major problems because it is a very dangerous
place.

James: So in a way, you physically prepared yourself, and you even hardened yourself, against
challenges that you experienced on lesser mountains by saying, "Boy, if you think this is bad,
just wait until you climb Everest."

Now, John, where do you think you're going to go from here? This is a significant achievement
at a young age. You're going to be able to...I'm sure other people are going to want to hear your
story. Do you have a path in mind on where you're going to take this from here...are you going
to keep climbing? Are you going to speak? Or where do you think you're going to go with it
from here?

Johnny: Right now, I'm trying to reach out and do some motivational speaking and some
presentations. To try to share my experiences and try to motivate youth to get outside and find
a passion outside so they can just enjoy the natural world. As well as that, I also have a career in
free-skiing, so that's like the extreme skiing stuff. I'm doing a bit of work in that as well.

James: Now, what about for people who say, "I'd love to go out...I'd love to go climb
Everest...I'd love to go and do all this fun stuff you're talking about, but it must cost a lot of
money to do some of these things." What would you say to some of these people...or is it right?
Does it cost a lot of money to do some of these things that you're doing?

Johnny: It definitely does. It's an expensive thing to travel around and climb peak mountains,
but my family isn't rich. My dad's a ski patrolman here at Snow Bird. We've just had to reach
out...we were frugal, ever since I was a little baby. We had to go into some debt to get me into
all these places, but that didn't stop us from getting us to where we wanted to go. I'd advise
people who wanted to share the same dream as me to just try to make it happen just as much
as they can

James: So you're just saying, get out there and live life and you'll make it happen. Don't worry
about necessarily how it's going to happen - just make it happen.


Johnny: That's kind of it.

James: Now, John, do you have a blog or book where people can follow your ongoing journey
or gain access into more of your insight as you continue your life path?

Johnny: Yes, I have a blog on my website. It's www.johnnycollinson.com. It has my blog and
some photos and updates about what I'm doing.

James: Are you going to be writing a book about some of your experiences?

Johnny: We're working on it.. we're trying to get it out there.

James: Well, when you do finish it, come back and let us know. We'll post it on the website so
that people can pick it up and read it. I know I'd love to read it, John. If you ever do finish it, I'll
be one of your first buyers.

Johnny: Terrific.

James: So you've got one sold already. Well, John, it's been a real pleasure having you on the
show. I'll update you as soon as we get this posted. You're an inspiration to so many young
people and I do hope that you continue to spread that message of just getting out there, get off
your butt, no excuses, get out there and make something happen with your life. Don't
necessarily worry about the how...just keep focusing on that bigger vision and make it happen.
John, it's been a real pleasure... thank you so much.

Johnny: Thank you.

James: Well, that's all for this episode of the Full Potential Show. Our interview with John
Collinson, the young man 17 years old.. 16-17 years old, who summitted all seven of the highest
peaks in the world, including Mt. Everest. We just concluded our
interview with him.

Some of the key lessons in his interview that I found important was
setting a big goal. He succeeded in not only achieving that goal, but going
even further once he was on the track to do the climbing of Mt. Everest.
Along the way, as he was encountering challenges, he didn't say, "I'm not
going to climb Everest because I can imagine how hard it will be". He
would challenge himself and say,"If you think this is hard, wait until you


climb Everest". How can you apply some of these lesson into your life, setting a big vision or
being inspired by even the little challenges that you have knowing that an even bigger challenge
ahead and looking forward to it?

This is the Full Potential Show. I'm James Rick. This is your number one, non- boring source for
personal development. Please be sure and subscribe to these videos to get updates, when we'll
be doing more interviews and more episodes for the Full Potential Show.

About Full Potential:
The Full Potential philosophy is meant to help people operate at the best perspective in any given
situation. It is about options. It is about empowerment. Empowerment feels good. So does investing life
resources in what we truly value. If everyone was living at this level – life would be bliss. To find out
more, visit: www.fullpotential.com.

About James Rick:
James Rick, also known as “Mr. Full Potential,” is host of the Full Potential Show, Founder of Full
Potential Academy, and author of “Unleash Your Full Potential”. James Rick started his first business at
the age of 17, currently employs more than 150 staff around the world, and his businesses have
generated more than $5 million in revenues over the last 36 months.


Full potential show ep. 11 interview with johnny collinson

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