Jeff Evans is a climber. But every so often, he fantasizes about a different life.  The life of a "dirt-bag Ranger."  

"I've always thought that if I wasn't a dirt-bag climber, I'd be a really good dirt-bag Ranger," said Evans.

At 42, Evans knows it's a little late to pursue his dream of joining the Army Rangers. Besides, he is already pretty good at what he does. He has led numerous expeditions up some of the world's tallest mountains.  For 17 years, he has been the primary mountain guide for Eric Weinhenmayer, the first blind person to summit Mount Everest. He also served as guide for six blind Tibetan teenagers when they climbed 23,000-foot Lhakpa-Ri, one of the highest mountains on the planet. 

So instead of giving up his career and enlisting in the Army, Evans and his climbing partner Weinhenmayer sought other ways to give back to the military community. In 2009, Evans, Wienhenmayer and the World T.E.A.M Sports organization devised Soldiers to the Summit, a program that hoped to lead 11 disabled veterans to the top of Lobuche East, a 20,161 foot mountain in the Himalayan range. After months of rigorous training and planning, Evans succeeded, and he and 10 disabled veterans summited the Himalayan mountain in October 2010.

"You know, I've stood on a lot of harder mountains and higher mountains, but I've never been as proud standing on a summit as I was with the Soldiers to the Summit group," said Evans.   

Evans now takes from the lessons he learned from his Soldiers to the Summit experience when giving leadership talks around the country. On Dec.7, he will be the opening speaker of the Extraordinary Leadership conference at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Wash. Sam Senn, one of the organizers of the conference, said Evans is a pleasure to hear speak.

"Jeff is a kick in the pants," said Senn. "He's so cool and laid back, but he does some amazing things."

Evans was picked to open the leadership conference, Senn said, because he can provide great lessons in character and strength. Lessons he learned in part while on the mountain with Soldiers to the Summit.

"We really wanted to find a speaker who could speak with a ‘character first' kind of leadership quality," said Senn. "And if anyone can teach integrity and value, it's Jeff." 

At the conference, Evans will cover the themes of leadership, commitment, teamwork, and accepting adversity. As the expedition leader and the doctor for the Soldiers to the Summit trip, Evans said he pulled from his strengths in leadership and commitment to help deal with the difficulties of the climb. He said one of the harder parts of the climb was helping the veterans work through their mental anguishes following the traumatic experience of war. 

"Leading into the climb, I assumed it was the physical issues that would be the biggest issues for me to treat," said Evans. "But as the trip went on, I found it was the Soldiers' PTSD and emotional frailty that proved toughest for everyone."    

Evans said that Soldiers to the Summit was such a successful experience that he is designing a model for future climbs, with some of the first expedition's graduates acting as instructors.

"We hope this will become a rehabilitative tool for many veterans to use," said Evans.  

Both Evans and Senn are hoping Joint Base Lewis-McChord Soldiers attend the December conference, which will feature keynote presentations, audience participation and discussion among a panel of experts. Evans and other well-known community leaders will be on hand. Tickets are $279 and can be found at www.theexcellenceproject.net. On Dec. 6, a benefit for Soldiers to the Summit will be held at the Governor Hotel in Olympia.  Tickets to that event are $30.

Evans said that though he will never achieve his goal of being a crusty, tough Army Ranger, he relishes the chance to talk with Rangers, who are all leaders themselves.

"Servicemen have committed their lives to leadership," said Evans. "The messages of the conference will resonate strongly with them."