Meeting Cory Richards: The One Who Started It All
I was so nervous I could barely sit still all morning. Mom and I chatted the whole drive to Dayton, but beneath our small talk my mind was spinning with one thing: What would I ask Cory Richards if I got the chance?
Cory isn’t just a climber or a photographer to me. He’s the reason this whole Everest dream started. Back in 2016, I stumbled across Everest No Filter, the Snapchat series he did with Adrian Ballinger as they climbed Everest without oxygen. I followed along every single day, glued to my phone like it was a TV show. That was the first spark, the tiny whisper in my head that said, “Maybe one day… maybe me.”
Fast forward to 2025, and I’m officially signed up for my first real mountaineering expedition with Alpenglow Expeditions in Ecuador. This is the year I finally decided to stop watching other people chase big dreams and start climbing toward my own. And then, of all years, this is the year Cory comes to Ohio. That doesn’t feel like a coincidence.
Front Row
We arrived early and grabbed our front-row seats. As the theater filled up, I looked around and wondered what had brought everyone there. Most of the crowd seemed… well, older than I expected. I figured maybe some of them just subscribed to this speaker series without even knowing who was on stage.
Then Cory walked out, and suddenly, he was right there, right in front of me.
Most of his stories were ones I’d already read in his book or heard on podcasts, but seeing them paired with his photos on the big screen felt completely different. His talk was part life story, part mental health advocacy. Love.
When the Q&A session opened, people asked thoughtful, heavy questions about his family, bipolar disorder, and getting help. I kept waiting, heart pounding, trying to work up the courage to raise my hand.
Finally, a window opened. I lifted my hand, immediately second-guessing everything about what I was about to say. What came out was… not exactly eloquent, but boiled down to this:
“Having gone through the full cycle of learning, loving, and quitting climbing, what would you say to someone just starting out?”
Cory looked me dead in the eye and smiled.
“Get after it.”
Three simple words. And yet, they’ve been echoing in my head ever since.
Then he expanded on his answer. He talked about how climbing is an incredible thing… when it’s not being used as a coping mechanism for mania, which is how he realized he had been using it, and why he quit. Then:
Build relationships based on shared values, not just shared activities.
Don’t let climbing become your entire identity, because you’re more than one pursuit.
Given some of my own recent conflicts around climbing and identity, that hit me right in the chest. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
A Powerful Perspective on Mental Health
Cory also shared about his new organization to fund mental health resources. What struck me most was his take on mental health:
“I don’t want to cure mental health. If you strip these unique brains from the world, you also strip away the art, the innovation, the very things that make life rich. I just want people to have the resources to manage it, and thrive.”
As someone who has struggled myself and wondered, “why me?” that perspective stayed with me. It’s not about erasing the struggle, it’s about creating space for people to live fully and authentically.
Meeting Cory (!!!)
After the talk, Cory announced he’d be in the lobby for photos and book signings.
I sprinted to the bathroom, partly because I really had to pee, partly because I wanted to be near the end of the line so I wouldn’t feel rushed when it was my turn.
As he met people, I could tell how emotionally heavy it was for him. Everyone seemed to be trauma-dumping stories about loved ones who had attempted suicide or struggled with bipolar disorder. At one point, he looked up, caught my eye across the lobby, and winked, mouthing “Sorry!” for the wait. I smiled and shook my head to let him know I didn’t mind.
When it was finally my turn, I hugged him and blurted, “Oh, Cory, I have so much to tell you.”
In hindsight, I think he worried I was about to unload like the others. But instead, I told him about my journey:
How I’d followed Everest No Filter back in 2016. His face lit up.
How that series inspired me to climb Everest someday—though for years I told myself I couldn’t. “You absolutely can.” He said.
And how this year, I finally signed up for Alpenglow’s Ecuador Climbing School. “Oh my gosh, so you’ll be with Topo and Carla probably!” who he’d climbed with before.
Photography Geek Moment
Before I left, Mom nudged me to ask about photography: how he manages to shoot at high altitude when every ounce of energy matters. His answer was so simple, yet so Cory: “You don’t have the energy. You just do it.”
As for batteries? “They’ll read dead until they warm back up, so I’m constantly rotating them. And then you don’t need as many as you think you do.”
Full-Circle
We took a photo together, he signed my book, and just like that, it was over.
Driving home, I couldn’t stop replaying the day in my head. The timing of it all blows my mind. Cory Richards isn’t just someone I admire; he’s the REASON I started dreaming of this. And now, years later, I’m taking the first real steps toward Everest.
Three words keep circling in my mind:
Get after it.
And I am.