Beyond The Shades
Welcome to Beyond the Shades, the podcast that explores the stories of people who refuse to accept limits.
Hosted by Shady Rays founder Chris Ratterman, Beyond the Shades features conversations with extraordinary individuals who are pushing boundaries, defying expectations, and redefining what's possible. From world-class athletes and entrepreneurs to adventurers, innovators, and everyday people doing remarkable things, each episode takes listeners behind the scenes of journeys fueled by passion, perseverance, and purpose.
Whether it's climbing the highest peaks on Earth, overcoming life-changing obstacles, building groundbreaking companies, or pursuing impossible dreams, these are the stories you won't hear anywhere else.
Because sometimes the most inspiring view comes when you look beyond the shades.
Beyond The Shades
Ben Jones LIVE from Mount Everest Base Camp
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What happens when you record a podcast from one of the most extreme places on Earth?
In this unforgettable episode of Beyond the Shades, Shady Rays founder Chris Ratterman sits down with adventurer Ben Jones at Mount Everest Base Camp, more than 17,600 feet above sea level. Surrounded by towering Himalayan peaks and the climbers preparing for their summit attempts, Ben shares what drives him to pursue challenges that most people only dream about.
From the physical and mental demands of high-altitude expeditions to the lessons learned through perseverance, preparation, and embracing discomfort, this conversation explores what it truly means to push beyond your limits.
Beyond the Shades is a podcast featuring extraordinary people doing extraordinary things—and this episode embodies that mission in every way.
In this episode:
- Recording a podcast from Mount Everest Base Camp
- The mindset required for extreme adventure
- Preparing for one of the world's toughest environments
- Lessons in resilience, leadership, and overcoming fear
- Why growth happens outside your comfort zone
🎧 Subscribe for more conversations with people redefining what's possible.
Living a life of adventure is about going for it. Not just living life, but pushing it with a purpose. I'm Chris Radderman, founder and CEO of Shady Ray Sunglasses. And in this podcast, Beyond the Shades, we let you see life through the lens of extraordinary people and the stories that shape them. Let's get into it. We're excited to have Ben Jones with us today. He is an elite expedition leader, a high-altitude survival expert, and has led expeditions on the highest mountain peaks on every continent, including Mount Everest, which he has climbed 10 times. Right now, we're talking to him from Base Camp at Mount Everest, and he is about to go on his 11th expedition. Hey Ben, thanks for joining us today on the podcast. I'm excited to talk to you and learn a little bit more about your adventures in life and exactly where you are. Thanks for coming on.
SPEAKER_01I'm excited to be here, Chris. Thanks for having me. So right now, tell everybody where you are. I am at the base of Mount Everst in Everst base Camp. It's at about 17,500 feet above sea level. And yeah, we are just um getting prepared to go up and and hopefully summit Everst in the next week.
SPEAKER_00Pretty exciting. And how many times have you done that? I have summited 10 times. 10 times. So you are a pro at this point of the of the largest the largest mountain on Earth, right?
SPEAKER_01It is, yeah. Um I don't know if I'd say I'm a pro, but I do have uh you know about 15 years of experience being on this mountain um since 2011.
SPEAKER_00So tell us what it's like. What is it truly like to climb Mount Everest?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think it's it's not exactly what you often read about and hear about in the news. Um, I think a lot of times people get tricked into thinking that Mount Everest is actually easy, but uh I don't really think it's easy. It's actually a a really challenge challenging climb and uh can be quite dangerous.
SPEAKER_00What are some of the situations you've come into come across as you've made that climb?
SPEAKER_01Um well, over the years there's been lots of different kind of um accidents and deaths. And you know, I was here in 2015 when there was a a major earthquake that hit. And I could be wrong in the numbers, but I think there were 18 or 19 people that were actually killed here at Everest Space Camp.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Wow, and you lead groups of people that are are making the ascent um probably for the first time, first and only time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, generally. Sometimes we have some repeat customers that maybe didn't make it the first time.
SPEAKER_00Very cool. Tell us a story about how of a time where um really you were feeling a lot of pressure and fear in the midst of climbing Everest or or another large mountain.
SPEAKER_01You know, I think times on Everest, it's um, you know, this this expedition's so long, it's about two months in total, just doing all the acclimatization. It takes 10 days to just trek to base camp, and then we're going up and down the mountain. And just to acclimatize, we're going up to camp one and camp two, and then coming back down, and then going up again. And so there's a lot of pressure towards the end of it to make sure that we hit the right weather window so that we're able to actually get to the summit. So it's probably the most kind of stressful high pressure thing that honestly that I deal with. Um also, I guess, going through the Kumbu ice fall, which is a pretty dangerous spot on the mountain, and that's leaving basically right out of here of base camp and going up to camp one. And it's just a jumbled mess of ice, huge blocks, some as big as buildings and cars, and it's constantly moving, so you never know what's going to happen in there.
SPEAKER_00Is that the area that I've seen where people will use a ladder and go over large crevices and things?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yep. Um, we just came down this morning from camp two, and there's one section where there are five ladders that are tied together going across a huge crevass.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Wow. And you said people are in this ride with you for two months, all in.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, it's a it's a long trip. You know, it's that's traditionally what it's been, and and we're starting to figure out that we can maybe do a little bit less and not be here quite as long. So I'd say more expeditions are kind of more like about six weeks these these days, but but yeah, close to two months. Basically leaving home, climbing Everest and going back home.
SPEAKER_00Okay. And you feel you seem like a pretty steady dude. How do you manage your own emotions, other people's emotions? Do people have panic moments two weeks in? Like I would imagine that keeping everybody's emotions in check would be challenging at times, surely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, sometimes as a mountain guide, you have to be, you know, a psychologist, uh, counselor, uh cheerleader, an electrician, all kinds of different jobs basically to make this whole thing happen and try to keep people's mental attitudes, you know, positive throughout the whole thing. It's easy to get distracted and for this amount of time.
SPEAKER_00Do you get nervous?
SPEAKER_01Um I wouldn't say nervous. Um but but I maybe maybe slightly, I think towards the end to just make sure that I'm making the right decision as far as uh is this the right time to go? Is the forecast aligning with what the weather's actually going to be like? Because once we leave base camp, we're gonna go to camp one, two, three, and four is the highest camp, and that's where we'll set off for the summit. And if you know, once we start heading up, if I you know if the weather changes, there's there's not a lot of opportunity to change course. I mean, there is, but once we start using supplemental oxygen, we kind of need to keep going if we can because we're gonna run out of those resources.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You know, it's uh it's interesting. At Shady Rays, we actually model the entire way that we manage the business around climbing a mountain. And the entire way we operate, and we put it into stages and we have base camps, which are our team building uh opportunities. We have what we call map the climb, where we literally come together, everybody makes a map the climb presentation and talks about what they're doing this year to be successful. And then we have our summit, which is our annual event where we all come together once a year. We're remote companies, so people are spread out, but we come together once a year and we call it our summit, where that is the peak of the new product introductions and new programs, new sponsorships, everything that we announced to everybody. And then with sunglasses, you know, they're they sell in spring and summer heavily, not entirely, but from January up through July, you have this peak and this ascension. And then you you ramp it back down uh when fall hits. And so right now we're in that that that high altitude of our sales, our operations, putting pressure on the system, pressure on the team. But uh I have not done what you have done in terms of climbing Mount Everest even once, uh, let alone 10 times, but uh, but we talk in this way and we use this metaphor, and we we think it's like it's so powerful to be able to have people working in that way and being able to you know come together as a team to prep and then start along this journey and along this hike that adds pressure as we go until we reach reach the mountaintop. And that's that's how we've done it for years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's cool. Um, yeah, I mean, I think there's so many transferable skills and business and just daily lives that that we can learn from the mountains. And uh I've certainly learned over 20 plus years of being a mountain guide. Um, but that's interesting. I I know you're from Louisville, and I grew up in Indiana. Okay. Bloomington, Indiana. So very close by from places with big mountains, but uh I've wondered if you were always attracted to mountains as well. Is that where that came from, or no?
SPEAKER_00I mean, I was always attracted to just kind of the majesty of mountains and and how inspirational they are. And um, and as a kid, went out to Colorado, did some hiking with my family, did some kayaking, getting out of the park system here. So I think I did always have have that attraction, maybe not in the most extreme of settings, but um, but I did. And you know, if you walk into Shady Ray stores, you should you see a lot of pictures of mountains, and we are all about mountains, lake life, hiking, you're right in the middle of the country. A lot of our you know competitors are in California and on the coast, and um, and we have team members all across the country, including on both coasts, but we really lean in to just the beauty of the mountains, and uh and we do a lot of photography. We need to we need to get you some shady rays and take some pictures up towards the top of the summit. That would probably be some incredible content. We've shot in a lot of amazing locations throughout the world. Uh, but Kilimanjaro, Everest, those are not not two of them that uh that we've shot at, but but definitely we lean that way for the content we produce.
SPEAKER_01Well, it can definitely get you some content for sure.
SPEAKER_00And what I love about your story is really just getting out into the world and doing things that uh the majority of people would not be comfortable doing. And you seem like you do it with a lot of passion, a lot of steadiness, and um, and have a really interesting life because of it. There's a quote that I read many days to myself, and I think it makes me think of your story, which is you can choose a life of ease and comfort, or you can choose a life of service and adventure. And which of those, when you're 90 years old, are you gonna be most proud of? And I always try to lean into that in my world in different ways, and sometimes it's dad life, sometimes it's work life, sometimes it's getting out into the outdoors. But if I can lead with service and adventure over ease and comfort, that is a North Star that I try to I try to think about. So inspiring to hear about what you do every day, you know, and and or consistently throughout the months and years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, me too. I mean, I think that's that's the the greatest part about life, I think is um, you know, it's nice to be comfortable in places and we all enjoy that. But I appreciate it so much more after being here on Mount Everest for two months, and then I get to go home. And, you know, you just all those little things that you take for granted. Um, it just like you you just realize how how easy and lucky do we have it, really. And so it's uh I I've always been, you know, I think just one of the most important aspects of life in general is just getting out of your comfort zone, and that's really the only time that you're gonna grow and learn. And yeah, I'm pretty consistently, you know, a lot of times, although my comfort zone has changed a little bit because I'm doing this all the time, it's not necessarily out of my comfort zone at this point, but initially it was.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah, and you build that muscle. I mean, literally, I have a sign in my office that says purposely put yourself outside of your comfort zone. And I've heard people say, you know, the measure of success, one of the key measurements of success can be traced down to the amount of times and the amount of time you spend outside of your comfort zone. And I always thought that was that was really powerful and relates to to what you're saying.
SPEAKER_01I would agree with that wholeheartedly for sure.
SPEAKER_00So when you're home, what do you do then? Are you still looking for the adrenaline rush or are you sleeping in late, going to the farmers markets? I mean, how do you balance this this work life and and and with with coming home and how you need to decompress?
SPEAKER_01I definitely balance it out a little bit, but I you know, I I just love being outside. I love being active. And so all of my hobbies are are something in the outdoors. I mean, and it and it changes. Um, you know, I love trail running when I go home in the summer, right after this, especially. Um right now, the big activities I'm really into is golf and uh dirt biking and kite boarding. So those are kind of the some new things that I've been getting into.
SPEAKER_00Kiteboarding.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Tell me about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, with a big kite. Um, so you're riding, it's kind of like uh looks like a snowboard or like a wakeboard. And um just cruising around in the sea.
SPEAKER_00Cruise around in the sea, okay. Yeah, we definitely need to get you making some content for Shady Rays. This is right in the wheelhouse. Kiteboarding and and Mount Everest. Um so back to some of the extreme climbs and things that you've done and are about to do. Like, what would you say is your why in what in life and and why you've chosen this path?
SPEAKER_01I mean, I think some of the things that we were just talking about, I think just you know, I'm just attracted to kind of pushing myself and seeing seeing what I can do, um, getting out of my comfort zone. Um I yeah, it's that's really what attracted me to to doing all of this. Um you know, did some triathlons and some marathons and things like that just to really kind of test my body and be uncomfortable. And that's that's the part, you know, for for me personally. And then the other part of it, I think, is just um showing this this world to people that that don't get to see it very often as well, and um learn to appreciate being in the mountains and respecting the mountains and learning how to be comfortable in this environment, too, I think is the key as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, amazing. So you're talking about climbing Mount Everest, and you sound a little like uh you're you're talking about taking a walk in the park or maybe a or maybe a bike ride through town, uh, because I know you have you have a lot of experience and and proficiency here. But tell us really what it what it is like from the elements to the the hiking and the terrain, um the you know, the the longevity and and the endurance that's needed. Like I think people would love to know what it really feels like, maybe the first time you did it, as you're going up, as you're seeing so much mountain in front of you and um and going through this process and and setting up camp. Like, tell us about what what that experience is like.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I I think it's there's some misconceptions about mountain climbing in general, like you were saying, like as far as adrenaline rush. I mean, everything is really slow in in the in mountaineering, basically. So we're we're just walking slow, essentially, is what we're doing, walking slow uphill a lot of the time. So it's really actually not that exciting a lot of the time. Um, certainly on different aspects of this mountain in particular, the Kumbu Ice Fall, as I mentioned before, that's a pretty exciting and maybe a little bit of an adrenaline rush occasionally as you're going through there. Um, it's just a scary place, um, just because you don't know what's going to happen. But then from like Camp 1 to Camp 2, it's it's we're in an area called the Western Coombe. And it's just it's just it's the most beautiful place that I've ever seen in the world, actually. And I'd I'd love to be able to come back here every year and see it. But you've got this just the backdrop of of Mount Everest for behind you as you're walking up towards Mount Everest. You've got Lotsey, which is the sixth highest mountain in the world, which is right next to Mount Everest. And it's just surrounded by just glaciers and ice and rocks and snow, and just it's really a beautiful place. Um but just the climb in general, especially this climb on Mount Everest, it's just it's kind of uh broken up into different pieces. So, you know, as I said, it's like 10 days to trek to the base camp. And that's kind of a cultural experience. It's fun, it's not super hard for the Everest climbers coming in, but that can be that trip oftentimes is is is maybe somebody's Mount Everest, just to come to the base camp and see it. Um, so once we arrived at base camp, we basically just hang out here for almost a week. We'll do a little bit of training, just a little bit of skills review. Um, but there's a lot of down days. Um, we're just kind of hanging out, resting, acclimatizing, let our let our bodies kind of get used to the lower oxygen and higher altitude.
SPEAKER_00Wow. And so if you're walking slowly um through the mountains uh day after day, what how long are you would you be hiking in any given day?
SPEAKER_01Um so yeah, different uh for each day, obviously, but uh you know from here to like camp one would be about six hours. Going up from camp one to camp two is maybe four hours. Then we start kind of getting up into the steeper terrain from there in the Lotsey face, and that can be from Camp Two to Camp Three, is maybe around four to five hours as well. And then it's a pretty long day from camp three up to the South Coal or Camp 4. That's usually about eight or nine hours sometimes. And then the summit day on Mount Everest is usually about 12 to 14 hours round trip from camp to summit back to camp.
SPEAKER_00Very cool. And tell me a little bit about your gear, and I'm specifically interested too about the type of eyewear that is needed in this type of environment, other climbing gear. Like what are the things, the tools of the trade that you need to climb Everest?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, as far as eyewear, it's super important for sure, as you know. Um, but really dark glasses, just because there's so much reflection coming off all the ice and snow. So I don't know that much about it. I know you do, but you know, like the category four.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say cat is cat four, not a lot of people using those for every day, but I would imagine that would be important. That is the very darkest lens that you can get, not even suitable for driving. Uh, but but in these types of situations, can be crucial to have a lens that dark.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it really is. It just it really strains your eyes and you can feel it. I've got some category three glasses I was wearing the other day, and I can start to feel it in my eyes, and you know, they get a little bloodshot. Not very good for the eyes for sure.
SPEAKER_00Do you all use do you know if you all wear polarized lenses or non-polarized lenses due to the the snow and the different landscape?
SPEAKER_01Um, I think some of I I do have a pair that is polarized, but I think generally, yeah, I'm not exactly sure actually.
SPEAKER_00Okay, because in in snowboarding and skiing, it's important to have non-polarized lenses because you want to see the differences in terrain. I didn't know if that was as important in what you do, but but clearly the the UV protection and the darkness of the lenses would be would be the key thing. Are people ever wearing snow goggles and things like that or traditionally sunglasses?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we'll we'll wear goggles. Um, you know, generally only when it's really windy, just to keep the the wind out of the eyes.
SPEAKER_00Right. Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So what are some other people generally like category four goggles as well?
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah. You gotta you gotta lock down the sun when you're close to it. So what are other other top tools of the trade that you need as you ascend Everest?
SPEAKER_01Um, you know, the other main thing that that is different from a lot of the other mountains that we climb on that we use here is is a down suit. So it's basically just a a big suit of down. It's just like putting on a sleeping bag. Um, so we're really only using that for the last few days as we're getting higher on the mountain where it's where it's colder. Um, but that's an important piece of the Everest gear for sure. Um, and then the boots as well. They're a much bigger boot than what you'd use on many other uh smaller mountains.
SPEAKER_00All right, tell me a little bit about uh the scariest situation that you've experienced in any climb, Everest or others.
SPEAKER_01Um this is what I'm I'm not very good about. This there definitely have been a lot of situations that I've been in. Intense. Maybe not scary.
SPEAKER_00Maybe you were scared in in intense situations.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think the the way my mind works. And maybe more as I spend more time doing this kind of thing and seeing a lot of tragedy in the mountains is that I just tend to like block some of that out, I think. But um yeah, there's been some scary situations here on Everest over the years. Um, you know, in 2014 there was a a major ice avalanche that happened in the Kumbu Ice Fall, and 17 people were killed, and um some of our climbing Sharpa, our staff was involved in that accident as well. And we heard about it early in the morning and jumped up as quick as we could to to go up and try to help and try to recover some bodies and and actually helped um some people that had some lesser injuries. But um, yeah, that's probably one of the most kind of traumatic, dramatic experiences here on Everest in in 2014.
SPEAKER_00Is weather risk of avalanche, are those the largest risks in general, or or you would are also just general altitude and um and and physical capabilities playing a big role?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a lot of you know objective hazards. So avalanches or rockfall, um, ice fall, those kinds of things. And then, you know, a lot of them are just are more kind of subjective um, you know, risks that are that are involved up here, and people just make bad decisions sometimes. And that's where you know a lot of the tragedy comes from on a lot of the seasons here on Everest or are just kind of can be some bad decision making, or weather comes in that you know was unexpected, um, and just being able to make decisions quick and be able to get yourself out of some of those situations. But sometimes you can't with the more objective hazards that you know when we're going through the Kumbu icefall and the glacier starts to move, or you know, an avalanche starts, there's really not that much you can do.
SPEAKER_00Makes sense. I've seen videos recently about climbing Everest on social media that show actually large crowds and long and lines of people traversing the mountain. Is that how it is now? Is that the experience that there's a lot more people are doing it than they might have before?
SPEAKER_01Yes and no. You know, a lot of the stuff that that gets reported on Mount Everest, um, I I tend to think is is way overblown. Um, they just kind of put out these same headlines every year. There has been there are more people that are climbing. I personally don't think that um it's really that big of a problem. You you know what I've been doing really in the last five, six years, and and I have not been in any crowds on Everest whatsoever, and um not with any of the groups that I've led up here. And it's just about making decisions as far as like maybe going a little bit later, going on a later weather window. You know, a lot of people get impatient because this expedition is so long, it's two months, and so as soon as the weather is is ready and people are ready and acclimatized to go to the summit, they go for it. And I just wait a little bit longer and just haven't been in the any of those crowds. I I've certainly seen them, um, and I see all the stuff on social media and in the news, but um I I've been pretty fortunate to be able to avoid a lot of those crowds.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's interesting. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of these clips just get rinse and repeated and don't necessarily reflect reality. I mean, I remember as a kid going to IMAX theaters probably in the mid-90s and seeing Everest as a documentary. And I still I mean I still remember that as a young kid and just the intensity of the environment and how they they painted that picture. And I think um the thought, I don't know, I don't know when it was that the very first person climbed Everest. You probably do, but uh, but certainly it was very rare at that point um to be able to get to that level.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. I mean, it it is definitely more commercialized, and I mean it's always been sort of commercialized, I suppose. But um, yeah, I mean there's so for context, I mean, this year I think they're saying is is the most amount of people that have that are on the mountain, and it's I think around 470 people at the same time. Yeah, I mean, but there's you know, there can be about two to three weeks of good weather to be able to sum it. So that can get pretty you can space that out quite a bit.
SPEAKER_00That makes sense. What how how do you deal with food and water and what you need to pack um from that perspective for the climb?
SPEAKER_01Well, we have it, we have it pretty easy here at Basecamp, actually. I mean, we have a full base camp staff that is is cooking the meals here, really incredible meals. Um at some of the other camps, me and and co-guides are are cooking for the clients, and you know, there's a little bit of the dehydrated food, but I don't really like a lot of that stuff, and so we try to avoid that as much as possible. But you know, we'll we'll do all kinds of different things, but you know, some pastas or some rice. Um we'll make grilled cheese. Okay, so you're eating well. That sounds delicious. Yeah, we we try to eat pretty good food and try to stay away from a lot of the dehydrated like backpacker stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. That would be a a nice view, I would imagine, uh, for your for your meals. That's that's very nice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um switching gears, I heard that you rode your bike from California to Florida. Is that true?
SPEAKER_01I rode my bike from Wyoming to California and then California to Florida. Yeah, okay. So even so even farther. Tell me about that journey. Um, you know, this was right after college and just kind of in that time frame of trying to figure out what to do. And a buddy wanted to ride a bicycle across the country, and I said, why not? And so our plan was from San Diego to St. Augustine, Florida. And as we were getting closer and closer um to leaving for the trip, we we were in Cody, Wyoming. We were both living there, and um we thought, why why travel to San Diego when we could just start here and just ride to San Diego first and then turn around and head to Florida.
SPEAKER_00And how long did that take?
SPEAKER_01It was uh about two months in total, a little over two months. And I ended up, my buddy left in St. Augustine, Florida, and I ended up riding all the way down to um the Keys, all the way down.
SPEAKER_00Wow. All right, so you've climbed to the highest peak in every continent, you've ridden your bike uh across the country and then some. What's next for you? What's the next level of adventure that that you're looking to reach in your life?
SPEAKER_01Um I think playing lots of golf maybe is in the future. Trying to break break into the 80s would be my goal.
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay. Well, we've got uh Shea Ray's performance golf sunglasses. So I'll send you some. I'll send you some. They're semi-polarized and uh and I and one of the highest performance products that we have. So I'll I'll as I as you're talking about different things that you're doing biking, golfing, getting to the top of the peak, category four, all of these different things. I'm gonna send you a box with a range of range of shades for you.
SPEAKER_01That sounds awesome. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00Well, Ben, thank you for joining us today. Uh, and taking the time while you are literally at base camp and about to start on your climb. Wish you and your your crew and everybody that's with you on your expedition the very best uh and appreciate you telling your story and being able to share your story. I think it's extremely inspirational and the way that you've uh embraced discomfort, conquered fear in a lot of ways. You never totally conquer fear, but you be able to take it head on um and really train yourself for high endurance and live life to the fullest is uh is inspiring and and we appreciate the time. So thanks for joining us here on Beyond the Shades.