This caps an extraordinary 3 days together, 3 days at a campsite by an alpine lake and a granite mountain, 3 days when there was no other soul to be seen, 3 days of talking about subjects we'd never discussed before. I was surprised and delighted because my son wanted this much of my time to himself. Chad was surprised and delighted that the old man could actually climb the mountain, accept his help and support, and love him back.

So this might tell you a little of who I am. I'm tough as old shoe leather. And, I have a sentimental streak a mile long and a yard wide. I've been some places and done some things most people haven't. I know big words and usually prefer to use plain ones. You can count on me to do what I commit to.

If you'd like some more objective details about this coach and human being, I graduated from Harvard, did graduate work at Columbia, and I've spent most of my life in the world of business. I have worked for some big companies like CBS and Merrill Lynch. I've worked for a dot.com, and a hot Madison Avenue advertising agency. I've taught computers, and designed and presented a curriculum on day trading. I have created 7 businesses of my own, including an advertising agency, a commercial deep sea diving company, a computer training company, and a consulting company. Several were successful, one went bankrupt. I had an alternate career as a commercial deep-sea diver in Africa, and I have some dandy stories about that escapade. I've had three amazing wives. My second wife, Lynn, begat the handsome young man you see at the top of the page. My third and last wife, Annie, has brought me two step-daughters, at least one potential son-in-law and a measure of peace.

Currently, I am a successful professional coach. I'm a Coachville graduate, and I run the NYC Midtown IMidtown Coaching Center - www.nycmcc.com which trains new coaches and supports old ones. I give seminars at the Learning Annex on Jump-starting your small-business, and I speak in public about finding out who you really are, why time management is impossible and what to do about it.

Here's what I want from you. Greatness. No B.S. I want your greatness. You may be a little unsure about whether greatness is really in there or not. In fact, it's a natural state of being. I want to help you untangle yourself from whatever is holding you back, to release your handbrake. My business is successful when you win. I have big goals for my business. Are you prepared to take on big goals as well?

It can start with a call to 516 944-6454 or an email to craig@craigjennings.com.

Update: It's July of 2005, three years after I climbed PolyDome with my son Chad. We have our sights set this year on Ragged Peak in Yosemite, at 12,000 feet, one of the higher peaks there. We plan to go in August, and I'm now pounding around a high-school track most every morning trying to get in shape. I point out to Chad that Ragged Peak is three thousand feet higher and I"m three years older. We agree that at this rate we'll be climbing Everest in about 15 years more! PS - this is not a complaint. Seems to me that to have your son as a companion and fitness coach, is pretty dandy.

Update: It's December of 2005. Chad and I climbed Mt. Talac, in the Desolation Wilderness just north of Lake Tahoe in late August. I damn near didn't make it, but Chad was both coach and sherpa to me. As we climbed up the mountain, Chad told me - "4 miles forward and 2000 feet upward!" I complained "aren't lakes supposed to be at the bottom of mountains, not the top?" He replied - "once we get to the lake, it's only 2000 more feet up to the top of Mt. Talac!

We spent four days together in the wilderness - cooking our own packed-in food (and eating very well, I might add! Would you believe spaghetti with clam sauce plus coffee with rum on the shores of Lake Gilmore at 8500 feet?). Would you also believe that in a wilderness area you leave the site totally clean. You pack out everything you took in, including used toilet paper!

One morning, we rose at six, breakfasted at 7 and found ourselves alone at the summit of Mt. Talac by 9am.. What was special was the time alone at the top of a mountain. Mmmmm - stuff to see, stuff to think about! Over the four days, Chad and I had some personal, you could say intimate, conversations. The kind of conversation where you can leave off for a while, and then come back with "you know, there's still something I don't understand!" I don't know where or when else I have that kind of freedom and leisure to talk, discuss, explore. You have surely figured out by now that I love my son enormously. What we both discovered, in the 4 days, was more about each other - more that had simply never surfaced before, wonders, things to admire, newly considered and newly voiced plans and ambitions.

As we walked out, we were pleased we'd climbed, and happy it was over. I still harbored a fear that I'd stretched my son's patience because I'd had so much difficulty making the clumbs and he'd had to help me a lot. At the roadhouse in Lake Tahoe, where we stopped afterward for a beer and a steak, I surrendered up my fear when Chad said "You know, Dad, I really admire your determination and willingness to push yourself. Can we make this an annual event?!!"

Forgive the pun, but this was a peak experience for us both! Thanks for listening.