Vail Valley local Meghan Buchanan has climbed the world’s Seven Summits twice and is on the trajectory to be the first American woman to complete the Explore’s and Adventure’s Grand Slam. Yet she maintains that grit isn’t what is found at the top of the summit — grit is the journey that gets you there.
Buchanan is the founder of GGRIT, a framework and brand guided by gratitude, growth, resilience, integrity and tenacity. An aerospace engineer, adventure athlete, keynote speaker, author and neurodivergent woman, she adopted Game Creek Trail this past May through the Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance (VVMTA) Adopt A Trail program, connecting people to public lands and encouraging community members to push through what they think is possible.
“The reason I connect with VVMTA so deeply is because as a child dealing with learning disabilities, the outdoors has always been my safe space. That is where I built my confidence,” Buchanan shares.
Game Creek Trail is a mirror to GGRIT’s and VVMTA’s mission: to foster an inspiring environment where everyone finds courage to take ownership in their story and find strength and connection in every step, or pedal, in the great outdoors.
“My experience with the trails started as a little girl,” Buchanan says. “That is the place I am not broken, that is the place I am whole, that is the place I am good enough. The trail doesn’t make fun of you. It is what built my confidence. That is where I return to recharge and reenergize. It is through the mountains and big climbs that I learned to love myself and be good enough for myself all the time.”
On November 12, Buchanan will bring the grit cultivated on Game Creek Trail to Antarctica, when she departs Hercules Inlet for a two-month, 700-plus mile unsupported ski to the South Pole, with approximately 9,000 feet of elevation gain. From the moment Buchanan begins the exhibition, with two fellow mountaineers, she will be pulling 250 pounds of gear and necessities, without any resupply or aid.
Buchanan says training on the Vail Valley trails and persevering dyslexia, ADHD, injuries, career challenges, loss and setbacks have prepared her for this upcoming exhibition. What she once thought was her biggest weakness, dyslexia, is actually her biggest strength and gave her grit.
“Grit is the ability to preserve through doubt, fear and negativity and becoming comfortable in the uncomfortable in reaching your goal or overcoming your obstacle,” she says. “We have those moon-shot goals that are exciting, but most of the challenges we face in life are the dumpster fires you never asked for.”
When she feels overwhelmed, Buchanan returns to the trails weaving throughout her backyard. “The weight of the cost of these exhibitions, financially, drains me and the time away from work is a stressor,” Buchanan shares. “The way I have always have and continue to manage that is getting on the trails and that is getting on my bike and mountain biking something quick and steep to work it all out. It helps balance me, focus and flushes out my anxiety, and I get back to prepping and making this exhibition happen.”
Working trail maintenance alongside fellow trail enthusiasts takes care and communication. Buchanan is going to bring the lessons of teamwork with her on her journey through Antarctica.
“In a team, everyone has their own strengths,” she says. “That is how you really make a team whole, by letting each person’s individual strengths shine and letting them take the lead and you take a step back. And then when it’s your turn, it is your turn shine.”
Buchanan says that VVMTA has taught her that she doesn’t need to know the answers to everything. Putting her ego aside allows her to know herself better and understand where she can contribute and when it’s time for others to lead. This is a crucial lesson Buchanan will be bringing to Antarctica, and necessary during the harsh, life-threatening conditions.
Buchanan is one of many individuals across the Vail Valley who consider time on the trails an essential tool in their coping toolbox, one in which is only possible with public land access.
“If we are using those resources, then it is our responsibility to protect those resources for generations to come,” Buchanan emphasizes. “The trails here literally connect us all. We all live her because we want to live in nature. We have this thirst for adventure and the outdoors. It doesn’t matter your gender or political preference; we all spend time on the trails and that connects us all as human beings in this valley.”
Buchanan’s story of GGRIT transcends any summit, representing that the greatest climbs are not always measured in elevation gain or miles crossed, but in perseverance, public land protection and the value of VVMTA.
This Colorado Gives Day, give back to your trails and the nonprofit that keeps them a safe space not just to train for adventure, but to train for what life has in store. Anything anyone can give through the end of the year will gave double the impact. Each donation will be matched up to $50,000 towards the $100,000 Colorado Gives Day goal.
“I cannot wait to get back from Antarctica and continue down my path, to continue encouraging others and teaching others how to use GGRIT to accomplish their goals,” Buchanan says.
