YOUR AD HERE »

One step at a time: Reaching the summit of Mt. Elbert

Assaf Dory, right, Shannon von Driska, Steven Fotion, and Dash Wong walk along the Mt. Elbert Challenge trail towards the summit as the sun rises on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)

Assaf Dory’s voice rang out in the darkness, cutting through the tent fabric and waking up the rest of the team before 5 a.m. accompanied by speakers blaring a song by The 5th Dimension.

Although he didn’t sleep the night before due to pain from his first day of hiking, Assaf’s excitement to summit Mount Elbert kept him in his usual intoxicating cheerful demeanor. The dozens of people who gathered to celebrate this astounding accomplishment – including Assaf, fellow military veterans facing injuries and chronic pain, and their friends – filed out of their tents to eat oatmeal and chug instant coffee around the fire that was still burning from the night before. At approximately 5:30 a.m., the team pulled on their packs and filed into line as they began the second half of the hike to the top of the tallest mountain in Colorado.

The Mt. Elbert Challenge all started with Assaf. He first brought in his friend Steven Fotion and then he picked up the phone and made a call to another friend and fellow veteran, Dash Wong.



Dash Wong, left, and Assaf Dory share a joke on the first leg of the Mt. Elbert hike to the summit on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
As Steven Fotion catches up the Mt. Elbert Challenge crew after a later start, he embraces Shannon von Driska while she rests next to the fire at the campsite on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. The team hiked Mt. Elbert in two stages, camping overnight at tree line. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)

“I have a stupid idea,” he told Dash.

“I’m in,” replied Dash before Assaf even had the chance to tell him more.




The three friends grew their crew to four and brought in fellow injured veteran Shannon von Driska, the only woman on the team and the only person from outside of Colorado, to climb Mount Elbert to raise awareness for suicide prevention and raise money for Challenge America. Over the course of several months, the team trained for the feat but had never reached the 14,000 feet of elevation that they planned to encounter for their main challenge. This would also be all four of their first 14ers, an accomplishment that they all relished.

Each with their own challenge to face, the foursome had no doubt that they would be summiting on Sept. 15.

Dash Wong tells jokes as Assaf Dory chews on a stick and Shannon von Driska rests with her legs up after the first day of hiking on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Assaf and Shannon both have mouth guards to avoid breaking teeth when bouts of pain hit them from CRPS. Unfortunately, they had both forgotten them, so Assaf used a stick instead. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)

Assaf was injured in the line of duty as a Florida deputy sheriff 17 years prior that resulted in amputation of his right leg. What came next was worse: the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome that both Assaf and Shannon live with. It is also known as “the suicide disease,” because the only known way out of the pain is to end your life.

For Shannon and Assaf, the mutual understanding of the pain and mental struggle brought them together through an online support group for those living with CRPS. Shannon was diagnosed with the disease in 2019 following multiple surgeries for her broken leg and ankle suffered while training to be a U.S. Army medic in 2007. Although Dash and Steven do not live with CRPS, the two face their own debilitating physical maladies. Dash served in the U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen command team and in 2017 had his right lung removed due to adenocarcinoma. Then, earlier in March 2019, Dash contracted COVID-19 which left him with 40% scar tissue on his remaining lung. Steven is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves and competes in both strongman and bodybuilding competitions. He suffered catastrophic failure to both quadriceps tendons that he’s still recovering from.

Shannon von Driska braces her head on her hands as she tries to find a comfortable position on the ground at the campsite as the pain from the first day of hiking sets in on her leg on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
As the pain from the first day of hiking sets in, Assaf Dory and Shannon von Driska rest around the campfire on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Both Assaf and Shannon live with a rare condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome that leaves them in extreme pain after physical activity. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Shannon von Driska takes her second bout of pills of the day for nerve and pain mitigation for her Complex Regional Pain Syndrome while hiking the first leg of the Mt. Elbert trail on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Shannon takes medication three times a day since she was diagnosed with CRPS in 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)

“I don’t know if I’m stupid or stubborn,” said Assaf multiple times as he continued up the rocky trail on the East Ridge of Mount Elbert.

The team had broken up the 10.5 mile out-and-back trek into two parts. On Tuesday, they hiked in approximately two miles to tree line and set up camp where they recovered from the initial elevation gain and then continued on the next morning to reach their goal at the summit. For Assaf and Shannon, the real challenge was the technical rock stairs and loose dirt that made it difficult to navigate on crutches. Both of them had to rely on their arm muscles to hold themselves up and push themselves over the obstacles, even taking to crawling over some of the larger rock steps.

By the second morning, Shannon’s left leg was no longer cooperating with her. She was having trouble with it responding to her orders to step forward or hold weight. For Assaf, the burning feeling that the CRPS brings on was spreading. And although Dash maintained his big smiles and never failed to share one of his famous “dad jokes,” he would stop to check his oxygen levels and take a breather. By the second morning, Dash left his oxygen on for the majority of the hike as he increased in nearly 3,000 feet of elevation. For Steven, the real difficulty came after the summit. Navigating the rocky downhill grade can be extremely painful on his knees.

Assaf Dory braces his head has convulsions from his Complex Regional Pain Syndrome set in on his amputated leg after the Mt. Elbert Challenge crew’s first day of hiking on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Assaf Dory’s prosthetic lies on a sleeping pad covered with a plastic bag to protect it from the dirt at the campsite as he rests after the first day of hiking on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Manny Doron holds the hand of his friend Assaf Dory while he rests and embraces the pain setting in from the first day of hiking on the Mt. Elbert trail on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)

The team knew what to expect and anticipated the pain of the hike and what would come after. For Shannon and Assaf, the worst was yet to come when their bodies settled in from the adrenaline and the pain left them bedridden for days on end and in a state of depression after the goal was met. The Mount Elbert Challenge is what has kept them going over the past few months, they said. It gave them a goal, a sense of community, and an ability to tell their stories to let others know that they are not suffering alone.

After six and a half hours, each teammate summited: Shannon in the lead, as Assaf had insisted, followed by Assaf, Dash and then Steven. Tears were shed as each teammate hugged one another in gratitude for lifting each other up – physically and emotionally – and pushing each other forward during the entire process and to the peak.

In the end, it was a team effort. Packs were passed around, water was shared, hands were held and words of encouragement were handed out freely. The summit was only part of the story. As the team discussed future plans, such as swimming with manatees in Florida and a 10-day hut trip in the Swiss Alps, they turned around to head back down the mountain, together, one step at a time.

The sun begins to rise over Twin Lakes while Dash Wong and the Mt. Elbert Challenge team make their way to the summit before 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
The Mt. Elbert Challenge crew swap packs around and distribute weight in the early morning as Twin Lakes is lit up from the rising sun on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Shannon von Driska alongside the Mt. Elbert Challenge crew looks up the trail in the early morning on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
The Mt. Elbert Challenge crew walks towards the summit in the early morning as the sun rises on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Assaf Dory watches the trail as he edges around the rocky path as himself and the Mt. Elbert Challenge crew make their way towards the summit on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Steven Fotion, left, takes a break alongside Dash Wong as he checks his oxygen levels as the Mt. Elbert trail makes a turn towards rocky steps on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Shannon von Driska crawls along one of the many rock stairs on the Mt. Elbert trail on the Mt. Elbert Challenge crew’s quest for the summit on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Assaf Dory leads the Mt. Elbert Challenge team, setting the pace to reach the summit in 6.5 hours of climbing on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
As the Mt. Elbert Challenge crew summited after 6.5 hours of climbing, they embraced on the top with tears in their eyes and screams of joy on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Dash Wong takes a break on the summit of Mt. Elbert after 6.5 hours of climbing on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)

kbrunner@aspentimes.com

Aspen Times Weekly

Bar Talk: sway Thai

sway opened its Aspen doors at the beginning of February with nine cocktails on the menu including some options not offered in Austin, such as a Thai coffee martini, fitting in with this mountain town’s espresso martini infatuation.



See more