Discover what you’re really passionate about and not what others tell you to do. Follow that road, follow that passion – and it may not even work out for you – but the journey along the way is worth it. Follow what you love and see where it goes.”

Travis Soares

Travis Soares was born to climb.

Growing up in a leafy, suburban neighborhood, he loved being outdoors, loved exploring any wild places he could find.

“We lived on a dead-end street, with lots of woods and a pond, and as a kid I was always outside. I would try to get lost on purpose, because I really enjoyed it,” Soares said.

But climbing trees and exploring the woods behind the Sowams and Hampden Meadows elementary schools in Barrington, catching frogs at the Kent Street pond, were hardly enough to satisfy his passions.

“I knew that I wanted to explore bigger landscapes … The big mountains captured my imagination. I knew I wanted to go out and explore the west,” Soares said.

This summer, at age 26, Soares not only explored the west, he explored more of it, faster, than anyone else in history, accomplishing something that had never been done before. Soares climbed the 247 peaks in the Sierra mountains in 117 days, averaging more than two mountain climbs per day for nearly four months.

“Before starting, I gave myself about a 30 percent chance of doing this, so the fact that I actually finished it is awesome,” Soares said. “It was a total test of my love for the mountains — going every day, all day, for four months … But I woke up every day and remembered why I was doing it.”

Asked what drove him, he said: “I like to explore new places, and I like to be present, to live a simple life. I like to go on a nice long walk or climb. It’s kind of a gift to be able to do that … It’s definitely really hard, but when you do finish and you’re sitting around thinking about it, you realize that while you were out there, that was the time of your life and those were really precious moments.”

Despite the simplicity of his accomplishment, the path from young outdoorsy kid to self-aware, reflective, world-record-mountain-climber was not as simple as it might seem.

From ‘weird kid’ to mountain man

Young Travis never felt like he fit well in Barrington.

“Growing up was a little tough for me. When I was in high school, I didn’t get very good grades. I didn’t really have a set path. I was a pretty weird kid, I think, who didn’t really fit in,” he said.

Barrington is a sports-centric town, often dominated by the star athletes and star students. Travis was neither.

“He didn’t quite fit the Barrington mold,” said his father, Paul Soares. “Barrington is a very competitive school. I don’t think he was ‘weird,’ he just didn’t fit the mold.”

Soares told a story about his oldest son’s knack for not wearing shoes to school. Eventually the vice principal told Travis he had to wears shoes in school. Slightly the rebel, Travis politely challenged whether that stipulation was actually in the school handbook.

Turns out it was, so Travis starting wearing shoes to class — but he didn’t wear them to track practice.

“The path that most people go through in Barrington wasn’t really for me,” Travis said. “It was difficult, to feel like I didn’t fit in. But I knew my direction, and where I wanted to go, and I decided to stay true to myself.”

A college that fit

Staying true meant choosing a college suited to his passions. After graduating from Barrington High School in 2014, Soares enrolled at Prescott College in Prescott, Ariz., a unique school with a wide range of programs, such as Leadership, Outdoor Adventure, Environmental Research, Wilderness Training, Climate Change, Social Justice, and Food Systems. Freshmen orientation was a 21-day backpacking trip in the canyons.

Soares chose Prescott after traveling there with his parents for a campus visit and not only seeing the campus and learning more about the programs — he also saw professors walking around with no shoes and realized he had found a place where he belonged.

Soares majored in Wilderness Leadership at Prescott, learning how to become a wilderness guide, with a minor in Environmental Studies. It’s an understatement to say a lot of his coursework was “in the field.”

“We explored a lot more than just Arizona,” he said. “A lot of times, we packed into a van and drove up to the Sierras.”

Soares came alive in every way during his four years at Prescott. “It all just totally blew my mind, just how big it is,” he said. “There’s so much space. The ridges go on and on. You can climb all day and not get to the top. There’s so much to explore and roam.”

He had always loved being outside, but that’s when he discovered his truest passion. “I loved climbing. That’s what I centered my life around. I really got into technical climbing, bringing those skills to the big mountains.”

His mother, Martha Donovan, gives much credit for her son’s successes and accomplishments to finding a college that matched his passions. “He would not have survived at a traditional school,” she said. “For many, many kids, there isn’t a school that fits them, but we knew that was where he should be. We’re glad he went there, and he graduated … We feel very lucky that he was able to find other people to support him and give him what he needed to get to the point he’s at now.”

An expert climber

As Soares progressed through his four-year college program and beyond, his skills grew immeasurably. With friends and fellow climbers, he began more difficult climbs, more extreme challenges. Most difficult so far is one of the most famous climbs in the world, “The Nose,” a sheer granite face of El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley.

“It’s 3,000 feet of pretty vertical rock,” Soares said. He and two others climbed it together last year. It took them four days, with the three of them sleeping on the rock face along the way.

Soares also began testing his climbing abilities mixed with speed, challenging himself to scale and descend peaks faster than anyone before. He achieved 17 FKT (“fastest known time”) speed records on some of the smaller mountains in the Sierra range, before he was ready for the biggest test of his life.

About a year ago, Soares got the idea to climb the entire Sierra Nevada range — and to do it as fast as possible. Through a mutual connection, he met Nathan Longhurst, another skilled climber, and the two decided to tag-team the effort. Planning began last October and continued for nearly six months. Soares and Longhurst had to map out timelines, trails, sequences, supplies, gear, etc.

They also had to get used to climbing together, so they spent a lot of time on the side of mountains. “We met up in Red Rocks in Nevada, and climbed a whole bunch of stuff there. We worked really well together, and we’re really good friends now,” Soares said.

The Sierra challenge

Though partnering on the Sierras challenge, Soares and Longhurst had slightly different interests. Longhurst wanted to climb and ski many of the mountains, so he set off first, in February of this year. He skied 73 peaks alone, before he and Soares met in April and began climbing together.

The two-person team started near the base of Mount Whitney, tallest of all 247 Sierra peaks, at 14,491 feet. Their method was to drive to a group of peaks, park the van and set off together. They would set up a base camp and then start climbing, up and down each peak. After one or two weeks in that location and conquering all the peaks within range, they would break down the camp, load up the van, stop to grab more supplies and drive to a new starting point.

“We would stock up for maybe a week or two of supplies,” Soares said. “You’re burning so many calories, so we’d eat a lot of high calorie foods, like Oreos, Ramen, instant potatoes, Cliff bars.”

See learn more about Travis Soares’ record-setting journey, including photos, blog posts, timelines, sponsors and causes, go to: sps2022.com

Donovan spent months obsessively watching her son’s progress on their website, able to see the little black dot showing where he was at all times. Whenever the dot stopped moving, a little dose of high anxiety crept in, never knowing if he had fallen off a sheer face or not.

Of course, that never happened. Almost everything went according to plan. Soares and Longhurst climbed 174 peaks together, day after day, month after month. When Longhurst finished after 138 days, 14 hours and 1 minute (an FKT that stood for about a month), Soares kept going alone, setting off to hike the 73 peaks that his friend had skied down earlier in the year. He flew through the challenge.

On Aug. 12, exactly 117 days, 8 hours and 34 minutes after he had begun, he finished his trek on San Joaquin Mountain, a modest 11,598-foot peak. He had climbed all 247 peaks faster than anyone in history.

He could have finished sooner, but the Soares family planned for a special finish to this odyssey. On day number 116, Soares climbed four peaks alone. Then on day 117, he met up with his mother, father and brother and sister. The five of them climbed peak number 247 together, an 8-hour hike along a steep trail – no ropes or vertical climbs necessary — that Travis could have completed in less than three hours if he was alone.

But he slowed down, hiked the trail with his family, and made speed-climbing history, celebrating at the finish with those closest to him in the world.

Gaining perspective

Soares has had a few months to look back and reflect on his accomplishment.

“When I first started back in April, it was challenging because I put in so much work and had only climbed 12 peaks. I realized I needed to compartmentalize and not get overwhelmed by how many mountains there are and take it one peak at a time. The mental challenge was as difficult as the physical,” Soares said.

“It’s a good lesson for life. Focus on what you’re doing and don’t get overwhelmed by the task ahead. Just taking things one day at a time and being present was a big takeaway for me.”

Soares was back in Barrington earlier this month and invited the public to a presentation in the auditorium at the town library. A large crowd of nearly 100 people heard him talk about the challenge, the accomplishment, and his perspective on life.

“It’s pretty tough to be present in the moment these days. We’re distracted by so many different things,” he said. “Whatever it is, get in touch with yourself and discover what you’re really passionate about and not what others tell you to do. Follow that road, follow that passion – and it may not even work out for you – but the journey along the way is worth it.

“Follow what you love and see where it goes.”

His parents are immensely proud of their son, mostly that he’s gained such a great perspective on life. “He really has lessons to share with others, to keep encouraging them to find their passion and follow it,” Donovan said.

For Soares, the trail continues up. He is back out west, living out of his van, climbing when he can and working when he can, to save up money for more climbs. He is happily living the life he longed for as a little kid.