Transcendent
Adjective.
a: exceeding usual limits : surpassing
b: extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience
c: in Kantian philosophy : being beyond the limits of all possible experience and knowledge
Humans are hard-wired to strive. For hundreds of thousands of years, members of our species were required to run, hunt, and continually adapt just to stay alive. In contrast, technologically modern societies, with all of their conveniences and contrived grandiosity, mask many of the very elements that facilitated our path towards an exceptional evolution.
Instead of running down antelope, our food is packaged in plastic and bought from a store with currency rewarded for skills that have nothing to do with staying alive. For millennia, nightly stargazing stoked curiosity about human existence. Now, the stars are all but blotted out; and the few clear views that remain have been overtaken by trains of satellites—which often perpetuate isolation instead of creating connection. Our societal status is determined by what we buy, instead of the growth that we experience inside.
We were meant for more.
Adventures in the outdoors connect us to the core of being human. By strategically seeking physical, mental, and emotional challenges; by developing connections with other people; and by creating space to contemplate our purpose through a lens of internal and external exploration, we experience transcendence. Curating and facilitating those level-ups is the mission of Transcendent Expeditions.
Meet our Team
Chris realized that the only problems he wanted to solve in a cube were Rubik’s, so in 2014, he left his desk job behind to seek something more—ultimately proceeding to design and live a life that would be the envy of most Millennials.
Chris has kayaked the fjords of Eastern Greenland in search of unclimbed alpine rock. He’s eaten whale with an indigenous hunter while basking beneath the aurora borealis. Summited 6,000 m peaks in Nepal—one of them solo. Sailed to Antarctica with Mike Horn—the world’s greatest living explorer. Ridden motorcycles across Vietnam, the Alps, and Baja. Completed the first traverse of a remote ridgeline in the Canadian Rockies. He’s crossed New Zealand’s Southern Alps using skis and a packraft. Taught himself how to hunt—and harvested an elk, in the tundra of Colorado.
What a wonderful life, right? Yep—but depth is created when light meets shadow; the more one exposes oneself, the more shadows one will discover. An inalienable truth: the universe seeks balance. When the highs are Himalayan, the barrage of lows are relentless. The untimely loss of Chris’s closest uncle. Adventurous mishaps that hit too close for comfort: an injury in the mountains and self-exfiltration in the midst of an Icelandic storm. Altitude sickness on descent from his first summit in Nepal. An avalanche—and corresponding duel with death—on descent after completing the first traverse of the Endless Chain Ridge. His father’s suicide—and the guilt that ensued. The sudden cessation of professional partnerships. Romantic breakups. Loss of self; and dissolution of identity.
It is between these disparities where the human spirit grows. Where meaning is derived. Purpose is inspired. Where transcendence occurs. Chris is living the master class.
Chris Brinlee, Jr.
“Life is Chiaroscuro—art defined by its relationship between light and dark. Adventure facilitates that exploration like nothing else.”
— Chris Brinlee, Jr.
