Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/36481
McIntosh’s latest quest a true mountain to climb PAGE 4 BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM As a self-made All-American offensive tackle, and a first-round draft choice, Chris McIntosh got into the habit of “scaling moun- tains’’ — a figure of speech — to realize all of his goals and dreams. If everything goes according to plan, McIntosh will now actually climb a mountain; no ordinary mountain, mind you, but majes- tic Mount Rainier, which rises to 14,411 feet above sea level. “Tuesday is the magic day,’’ McIntosh said. That’s when McIntosh and his eight-man team are scheduled to reach the summit of Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the Cascade Range; some 50 miles southeast of Seattle, Wash. This is Round 2 for McIntosh, who attempted the climb with a smaller group last summer. “It was the first week of June and it turned out to be still winter on that mountain,’’ he said. “We made it to 10,000 feet and we got caught in two different heavy snow storms. “After having about three feet of snow dumped on us, we were chased off the mountain. But it was a cool experience. What I liked about it, and it’s cliché, but it was a journey instead of an event.’’ McIntosh, who lives outside of Hartford, has been training for about six months. That has en- tailed lugging a 60-pound back- pack up a local ski hill a few hours each morning, three days a week. “It has given me something to focus on,’’ said McIntosh. “When I was playing football, it was easy — you’d focus on the next oppo- nent or game. “What I found after I retired is not having a specific goal or date on my calendar which made it really hard to drag myself into the gym for a workout.’’ Mount Rainier has had his undivided attention. “There are not a lot of things that can replicate those four days we’re climbing the mountain,’’ he said. “There’s essentially no con- tact — no phone, no email. “It requires that you’re focused on what you’re doing because there’s a pretty significant down- side if you’re not paying attention. “When I’m home, I’m a hus- band, I’m a dad and I’m a busi- ness owner. All those things require concentration. But when I’m out there, I have four straight days to focus on one thing.’’ McIntosh, 34, has generally kept busy with his businesses. He owns the Be Fitness and Wellness Center in Delafield and Body Ba- six, a health and wellness nutri- tional supplement company. When he was playing for the Seattle Seahawks, McIntosh was 328 pounds at his heaviest. Today, he weighs 243, the result of McIntosh devoting himself to a “living’’ weight, not a playing weight. “After I retired, I started to pay more attention to exercise and nutrition,’’ he said. “I love to cook and I started to cook with healthy ingredients and it kind of snow- balled to where I am now.’’ It’s where he wants to be on Tuesday that really matters. Last year’s team never got the chance to top off their climb the right way. “We had a Wisconsin flag with a Motion W,’’ he said. He’s trained a long time for a second chance at that summit, and photo op.