26 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {punchline} How does Heidi Richards of Portola Valley describe some of her experiences as a professional mountain guide who has reached the summit of the seven highest mountains on all seven continents? “A suffer-fest.” Fortunately, Heidi is the kind of person who enjoys challenges. “The physical demand, and the simplicity of it all, is incredible,” she explains. Heidi attributes her endurance in such a challenging field—she led climbs for more than a dozen years—to being “very clever and very resourceful” and staying in great shape. As she approaches 60, Heidi’s no longer a guide but she exercises every day, hiking up and down Windy Hill Open Space Preserve and on trails in Palo Alto’s Foothills Nature Preserve with friends. You can find her surfing with her family in Santa Cruz and skiing in winter. Heidi says the “high of exercise” is something she thrives on. “I feel really lucky it makes me feel good,” she says. Of course, a mountain guide’s challenges are far from just physical. “Climbing mountains is a great opportunity to develop your mind … There’s a lot of time for reflection.” Case in point: the time Heidi spent 11 days in a tent waiting out a storm at 14,000 feet on Denali, also known as Mount McKinley, in Alaska. “You can’t get out of your tent without your skin completely covered, and those are tough times because you have to keep physically active.” If you don’t, you won’t be prepared to make it to the top at 20,310 feet, Heidi says. It pays to expect the unexpected on Denali. On one expedition, Heidi says it took 28 days to climb, due to bad weather delaying the summit until day 26. Winds could be howling at 30 mph with wind chill making the temperature drop to 10 degrees below zero. PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNIE BARNETT ABOVE: Heidi Richards makes her home in Portola Valley these days, but for years she led climbers up and down Earth’s highest peaks as a professional mountain guide.
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