Peak Friendship Goals
The following is an excerpt from Alumni & Friends Magazine Winter 2025 issue. Read the full issue here.
Virgil Miedema ’67 and Gary Mailloux ’67 seek adventure and lifelong learning.
Virgil Miedema ’67 and Gary Mailloux ’67 met at Jamestown College in the fall of 1963. Little did they know 60-plus years later, their adventures together would extend beyond Sanford Hall—far beyond it—all the way to the foothills of Southeast Asia.
Let’s start at the beginning, exploring how a commitment to an active lifestyle has helped the duo hike some of the greatest mountains in the world.
Virgil and Gary lived together in Sanford Hall.
“Virgil was my poster project to get into an active lifestyle in college,” said Gary, who was always committed to physical fitness.
“Not everyone could be the athlete Gary was at Jamestown College. Somebody had to do student government!” Virgil responded quickly.
The light-hearted nature of this exchange is important as Virgil was on the cusp of having a more active lifestyle thrust upon him.
Gary and Virgil were friends of Dr. T. Franklin Grady, who taught Psychology and was the house master at Watson Hall. During their freshman year, President Kennedy was killed. This moment served as a catalyst of sorts for Virgil to serve in the Peace Corps.
“Dr. Grady said, ‘Go for it’,” Virgil recalled.
Upon graduation, Virgil found himself in the foothills of Nepal teaching school as a peace corps volunteer at just 21 years old.
“Nepal changed me,” he said, reflecting on what kickstarted his commitment to an active lifestyle. “Everybody walked. I came from North Dakota where everybody drove. My longest walk was later in the evenings walking down to the Depot for a study break and back to campus.”
Meanwhile back in the States, Gary worked as a teacher and coach as well as in athletic administration. Although he is semi-retired now, he still coaches cross-country at Fargo North High School and will celebrate his 56th year coaching the program in the fall of 2025. Gary is known for his commitment to an active and healthy lifestyle, as he consistently runs with his athletes.
Over the years, Gary and Virgil would see each other casually once or twice a year, picking up where their friendship left off.
However, things changed in 2004 when Virgil (who was working in India at the time) emailed Gary that he was going to hike in Tibet.
To Virgil’s surprise, Gary sent a very short, but concise response of four words: “I’m in, send details.”
Gary showed up (putting in a vacation request from his administrative post that shocked co-workers), and the two came together to start what has now become a two-decade long affinity for trekking and hiking some of the most famous and dangerous terrains in the world.
The base camp of Mount Everest in Nepal and Mount Kailash in Tibet are two notable hikes that stand out from multiple trips for Gary and Virgil. They’ve flown into the most dangerous airport in the world, Lukla, at 9,500 feet at the base of the Himalayas.
“On the trails, we’ve had to have an immediate awareness, because if you aren’t paying attention, with thousands of feet below, it can be quite dangerous,” said Gary.
Virgil recounts that while they were up at around 16,000 feet resting in the shambles of a hut, former Olympians on their hike had to be flown out by helicopter due to sickness.
“You just never know how your body will respond at certain altitudes,” he explained.
The duo’s highest attained elevation was at 18,200 feet around Mount Kailash.
Aside from the adventure and the grind of physical activity necessary to complete these treks, both Gary and Virgil connect these times to Jamestown College where they discovered the importance of being life-long learners shaped by experiences.
One such example is a course the pair took together—World Religions with Dr. Strandness.
At the time, Virgil considered himself a “loosey goosey Episcopalian.” But his spiritual geography was expanded in this class and in life.
When he went to Nepal, Virgil taught people who came from an entirely different faith background, whether that be Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. His appreciation for people outside of his experience growing up in Marion, ND blossomed.
Gary agreed. He explained how it is one thing to read about a different culture, and another completely to experience it firsthand.
“I got to observe a far simpler type of life—people that were content with what they have,” Gary said. “Put that side-by-side with the materialism and break-neck speed we live with. It gave me a sense of appreciation.”
Both men will turn 80 years old soon. They are both active, getting up to seven miles a day regularly walking. Will there be additional treks in the future? The last one occurred when they were 77 years young. Time will tell. But in the meantime, a commitment to a lifestyle of movement and activity has brought this duo relational health and friendship, from the humble beginnings of Sanford Hall to the world’s most majestic mountains.
