As a youth in Scouting, Michael Vaill learned the value of setting goals and working hard to meet them.
Those habits have continued to serve him well as an adult.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Vaill (Eagle Class of 2010) recently had one of the best weeks in the history of recorded rock climbing. First, he and his climbing partner, fellow Eagle Scout Tanner Wanish, climbed the three of the largest formations in Yosemite National Park in record time: 17 hours, 55 minutes.
Less than a week later, they did something else that no one has done when they became the first climbers to scale four Yosemite peaks in less than 24 hours.
“The fact that these four walls had never been done in a day — it feels really great,” Vaill says.
Vaill, 32, developed a passion for rock climbing only after he earned the rank of Eagle Scout from Troop 2 in Evans, Georgia; graduated with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Georgia; got a Ph.D. in biomedical science from the University of California, San Diego; and worked for several years in research labs.
It was when he moved to California that he discovered rock climbing, and he’s been roped in ever since.
It might have been nearly 15 years since he earned the rank of Eagle Scout, and even longer than that when he first signed up for Cub Scouts, but Vaill says he still uses the lessons he learned back then.
“Probably one of the most important lessons of Scouting is setting a goal and working toward it,” he says. “It was like that when I was in Cub Scouts working on all the requirements.
“My academic, professional and climbing careers are all connected by the same thread of setting a goal and not stopping until I’ve reached it.”
The benefits of a youth-run troop
The memories Vaill cherishes the most from his time in Troop 2 all involve camping — not just the actual nights spent outdoors, but the brainstorming, planning and preparation that went into each trip.
He served as patrol leader and senior patrol leader, and he and his fellow youth would plan almost everything the troop did.
“We had the support of adults, but our troop was really youth-run,” he says. “We would come up with ideas, decide where we wanted to go and plan events. Then we’d go there and execute whatever it was we were trying to accomplish.
“That goal setting and the execution of those plans are valuable skills. It’s extremely powerful.”
Never one to shy away from a challenge, he decided when he was a Cub Scout that someday he would earn the rank of Eagle.
When he got older, he became interested in science and found that by applying the same principles he’d learned in Scouting, he could achieve big things in that area too.
“Scientific pursuit is the same thing we did in Scouts,” he says. “Finding a problem and being able to solve it is the fundamental skill of accomplishing anything.”
According to Vaill’s LinkedIn profile, he has studied things like “RNA-protein complexes that function in the CRISPR-Cas system,” “rat models to study the in vivo action of the hormone leptin in the brain,” and “mammalian cell culture models with proteomic and molecular biology techniques to study the impact of protein glycosylation upon the transcription of cellular factors pertinent to an understanding of the function and cure/improved treatment of diabetes.”
If you understand any of that, you’re a lot smarter than I am. Thankfully, Vaill was able to put it in simpler terms.
“I liked solving problems,” Vaill says. “If you look at the biochemical function of a cell, it’s such a complicated system. There’s so little we know. It’s awe-inspiring.”
He lives in his van!
Now, Vaill lives in his van in and around Yosemite National Park.
Thanks to a frugal lifestyle and healthy saving habits in his 20s (a Scout is thrifty, after all), he earns all the money he needs (and then some) working around 10 hours a week writing scientific papers.
The rest of the time he spends climbing.
He met Wanish through an online climbing forum and was struck by how much they had in common. Wanish was looking for a climbing partner who was motivated to do multiple climbs in one day.
“I was like, ‘I gotta meet this guy,’” Vaill says.
The Yosemite Triple Crown consists of the Nose on El Capitan, the northwest face on Half Dome and the south face of Mount Watkins. Combined, they offer more than 8,000 feet of climbing.
Yosemite National Park is one of the few places in the world that features three such challenging, technical climbs so close together, and over the years, it’s become a goal for the best climbers to make it to the top of all three in 24 hours or less. (You’re allowed to drive the short distance between climbs.)
It is believed that Vaill and Wanish are the ninth team to complete the feat. They did it 35 minutes faster than anyone else.
As they sat together discussing their accomplishment, they set a goal to come back next year and add a fourth peak to climb in 24 hours. Shortly, though, “next year” became “next week.”
Six days later, they climbed El Cap, Half Dome, Mount Watkins and the south face of Washington Column — nearly 9,000 feet of vertical climbing.
Setting the Triple Crown record was great. Climbing a fourth wall was also great. But that’s not what keeps Vaill going.
He wants people to hear their story and set their own challenging goals. And if they achieve them? Great. And if not? Simply pushing yourself to your limit is enough.
“Maybe we can inspire someone to try something difficult for themselves, even if it’s not rock climbing,” he says. “It’s a privilege to be able to inspire other people.”
You can follow Vaill’s future adventures via his Instagram page.
Photos by John Kasaian
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