Every Day an Adventure

Anyone who’s met First Descents alum Raymond “Half Squat” Figge knows that he strives to make every day an adventure, and so it’s no surprise that he’s one of FD’s most involved volunteers. 

“I’m not even supposed to be here,” Half Squat says. “When I was first diagnosed, they gave me a few months, then a year, and that was in 2017. So I’m still here, and I’m not going to waste a minute doing boring things.”

Half Squat’s diagnosis is Stage 4 Kaposi sarcoma, and the fact that he’s still in active treatment — “I’ll always be Stage 4, that’s just the reality” — doesn’t keep him from jumping into life joyfully. “I’m so glad that I found a community that accepts my super exuberant personality and supports me during my cancer journey,” he shares.  “There’s nothing like finding your people when you’re dealing with true life and death situations, and it makes all the difference in how you deal day to day.”

Half Squat first found his community with FD in 2018, when he did a weekend rock climbing program near Nederland, Colorado, followed by a weeklong ice climbing program in Ouray, Colorado, in 2020, and then as a Genentech ambassador on a rock climbing trip in Estes Park in 2022. He started volunteering at several Out Living It Project fundraisers, including Ragnar and the Leadville Trail 100 Series, and has also given generously of his time for a variety of FD Community Adventures, including snowshoeing, hiking and paddleboarding. Most recently, he took 15 adventurers on a whitewater rafting adventure with outfitter OARS in Moab, Utah.

“OARS was awesome,” Half Squat says. “They provided everything for the day, we just had to get there and pay for accommodations. They set us up, took us out on an epic day of whitewater, and fed us lunch. They even worked hard to meet all of our dietary restrictions. We had a blast, and now we all have a new group of amazing friends.”

Half Squat says that hosting Community Adventures is his favorite because it’s so easy. “Honestly, Tops [Andrew Coulter, FD’s program manager who runs Community Adventures] makes this so easy, and he makes it impossible to mess it up,” he explains. “I just give him a date and time and activity, and then the week of the event he sends me who has RSVP’d. Two days before the event, I send out a “howdy” email to the group, and then the day before, I share all the details that they absolutely need, like where we’re meeting and anything they need to bring. When everyone gets there, we have a quick introduction to everyone, and then we go have fun.”

One of the first questions people have for him is how he got the nickname Half Squat.

“On my first program, I was at campfire talking about the cancer of it all and how I first heard about FD when I was skiing at Loveland,” Half Squat says. “Chemo had really sapped my strength, and so when I got off the lift, I could barely make it a thousand yards, and the more I tried, the harder it got.”

A ski patroller found him and got him down the hill, and along the way he told Half Squat about FD, which led to his first program. “I had started doing strength training and physical therapy to get stronger, and at the campfire, a participant asked me if that helped,” Half Squat explains. “I said, ‘Yeah, before that I could hardly do one and a half squats,’ and then Mogul [FD Lead Staffer Nader Jamal] asked, ‘What’s a half squat?’ And we all laughed, and here I am.”

Since he has so much experience, we asked Half Squat what it’s like to lead a Community Adventure for FD:

What’s your favorite thing about volunteering with FD?

The joy I get out of spreading the First Descents lifestyle. I love that my experiences with FD brought me back into myself after my diagnosis, and there’s really nothing like sharing the FD love.

What are the challenges of running a Community Adventure?

Nerves are at the top of the list, because you want to make a good impression. You want to do well and show attendees a grand time, and so it can feel like a lot of pressure. But like I said, Tops makes it so easy, and so most of that is just in your head. Everything is really taken care of, and so my goal is to get better about checking in with folks versus trying to figure out the logistics. Like, when it was lunchtime, everyone wanted to know what we should be doing, and we’d already had more structured things happening, and so I encouraged everyone to just  hang out. That turned out to be the right call, because everyone relaxed and just bonded harder.

What was the best part about this Moab adventure?

Being able to do the mindful moment introductions and campfire, which felt a bit like being on a program. Otherwise, seeing everyone come out of their comfort zone and rafting. Everyone was having a good time, and we so quickly felt like we’ve known each other forever even though we just met. 

Getting a group of strangers together is always so uncomfortable, but having everyone come together and have that camaraderie — it’s so touching to see. Even though we’re all going through different things mentally and physically, we realize quickly that emotionally, we’ve all dealt with the same sh**.

Even when we have a strong support system at home, that support needs a break and starts to wear thin. We know they’re trying their best, but it takes a toll on your friends and family, too. But then you get a group of your peers together, and it’s like, I’m honestly not alone. I thought I was the only one who felt this, but no, you’re not. It’s a powerful feeling, and it’s something you just can’t find anywhere else in the same way.

What’s your own favorite way to get Out Living It?

To make every day an adventure, I’m always outside doing something: hiking, paddleboarding, just going out and being in nature. It has always been a very healing and detoxifying space. I feel so at ease in nature, and being able to experience it and the calm serene of it all, is just the best way to really feel alive. I’ll try anything. Well, I won’t base jump, but give me anything extreme otherwise, and I’m there.