May 1, 2006
What does it take to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Rainier, Mt. McKinley, hike through the Himalayas, bungee jump off the tallest bridge in the world, cage dive with great whites, halo jump, and go running with the bulls? For Rohrk Cutchlow it just has to be on "The List."
Illinois State University's head strength and conditioning coach, Rohrk Cutchlow has ambition, determination and a spirit so full of adventure it's comparable to Lewis and Clark. He doesn't do all of this alone--his buddy since age six, Tom Carnes, is always right by his side.
"We made a list of all the things we want to do before we die when we were about 16 years old and try to keep up with it every couple of years," Cutchlow said.
They keep up with it by spontaneously surprising each other with a trip in order to accomplish something on the list. Cutchlow surprised Carnes a couple years ago with a ticket to Madrid, Spain, only days before their flight was scheduled to take them to Pamplona to go running with the bulls.
"When we went to Spain, we didn't speak Spanish or have living accommodations. We just slept on the beach during the day," Cutchlow said. "I think the reason we do these things is because we have a truly unfounded confidence in our existence, mixed with a lack of self-awareness."
The most recent place their lack of self-awareness took them was all the way across the world to Tanzania, Africa to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro the tallest freestanding mountain known to man, this past spring break.
"Before we began the hike up the mountain, we went on a half-day walking safari and we saw warthogs, giraffes, baboons, cape buffalo and monkeys," Cutchlow said.
And the safari was only the beginning of the trip.
"The mountain took us a total of six days to hike -- four and a half days up and one and a half down," Cutchlow said.
After the four and a half-day taxing hike on the Umbwe route, Cutchlow and seven of the original 10 climbers finally made it to the 19,340-foot summit.
"We were only at the summit for 20 minutes because it was 20 degrees below zero plus the wind chill factor, and unfortunately I don't remember any of it," Cutchlow said.
Cutchlow hiked and climbed up the 19,340-foot mountain while battling altitude sickness. The sickness was so overwhelming at the top that Cutchlow couldn't focus, speak clearly, or breathe well.
"After the summit we had to hike back down to the next camp," Cutchlow said. "It took everyone else two hours to hike while it took me six hours because of the altitude sickness," Cutchlow said.
According to Cutchlow, no amount of training could prevent the altitude sickness.
"I trained about a month and a half before the trip by running on the treadmill and putting a medicine ball in my backpack and running up the Redbird Arena stairs," Cutchlow said.
Cutchlow got his gear for the trip from Wild Country's store just blocks from the Illinois State campus.
"The people at Wild Country provided me a wealth of knowledge to take with me on the trip," Cutchlow said. He was so thankful for their help that he made a banner, with a little help from his infant son, Grayson, dedicated to Wild Country.
"Wild Country has its own banner that people take with them on trips but someone else was using it so I made a banner (that said `Wild Country') out of my son's cloth diaper and took a picture of us holding it on top of the summit," Cutchlow said.
The type of help and support that Cutchlow received in Normal, Ill. to prepare for his trip was similar to the support he received in Africa on his trip.
"The people were tremendous. It was really a humbling experience from every viewpoint. The mountains were so humbling and the people were so generous," Cutchlow said.
It doesn't seem that Cutchlow's adventures will be slowing down anytime soon.
"We want to plan a trip to New Zealand to go bungee jumping off Millau Bridge, the tallest bridge in the world," Cutchlow said. "Then we want to go over to Australia to cage dive with great whites in the Great Barrier Reef."
Mt. Kilimanjaro seems to have given Cutchlow and Carnes some inspiration to hike other mountains as well.
"We're probably going to do Mt. Rainier this coming July in order to get us ready for McKinley in a year or two, but I would also love to walk through the Himalayas sometime soon," Cutchlow said.
His motivation doesn't stop with "The List." Cutchlow exudes a motivational spirit throughout his career as head strength and conditioning coach for all Illinois State athletics and it is seen and appreciated by the athletes as well.
During Cutchlow's time at Illinois State, he has helped open and outfit the beautiful new Richard and Fran Owen Strength and Conditioning Center in Redbird Arena, and has helped hundreds of Redbird student-athletes get bigger, stronger, faster--and better.
"He's great at getting us going before games," said Ronnie Tate, Illinois State senior football student-athlete. "He gives us pep talks and sets up activities to get us pumped for the game."
Whether it is on the field, in the conditioning center, or in the rain forest, Cutchlow has an inspiration and motivation that is bold.
Cutchlow's future adventures aren't simply ideas. For many Cutchlow's adventurous spirit and natural ambition may seem like traits that are hard to come by but for him and his buddy it's almost too natural.
"For him [Carnes] and me, it's as simple as `it's on The List,'" Cutchlow said.
