About Level 7 High Terrain
Modern life rarely creates space to slow down, reflect, and see ourselves clearly. Level 7 High Terrain exists to create that space.
Through immersive coaching experiences rooted in relationship, challenge, and the wisdom of the natural world, we help individuals, families, leaders, and teams reconnect with themselves and carry those lessons into everyday life.
[ why we do this work ]Our Mission
We believe success is not only measured by what is built, but by who we become in the process, integrating a forged character, awakened purpose, and grounded strength. Our mission is to create experiences that help people step away from the noise of everyday life and reconnect with themselves, their relationships, and the values that guide them. Through coaching, meaningful challenge, horses, and the wilderness, we cultivate lasting transformation that continues long after the journey home.
[ Who We Serve ]A Different Way to Return
There comes a season for many people when life looks successful from the outside but feels strangely unfamiliar on the inside.
You've built the business. Raised the children. Kept your commitments. Achieved the goals you once dreamed about.
Nothing is objectively wrong. Yet something quietly asks..."How did I get so far away from myself?"
We call this Soul Drift. Not in a religious sense. In a deeply human one.
Soul drift rarely happens overnight.
It happens one responsibility, achievement, expectation, identity at a time, until one day you realize you’ve become incredibly capable…and strangely unfamiliar to yourself.
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High Terrain isn't built around lectures or quick fixes. We combine coaching, immersive experiences, horses, and the wisdom of the natural world to create experiences that cultivate lasting awareness, meaningful relationships, and personal transformation. The goal isn't simply to inspire change — it's to help you carry it home.
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We work with leaders, entrepreneurs, military members, first responders, families, couples, and individuals navigating seasons of growth or transition. Whether you're seeking greater clarity, stronger relationships, or a renewed sense of purpose, every experience is designed around the person — not a one-size-fits-all program.
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The land has a way of slowing us down and revealing what the pace of everyday life often conceals. Removed from constant distraction, we create space for honest reflection, meaningful challenge, and the kind of awareness that lasting growth requires.
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Not at all. Most High Terrain experiences require no previous experience with horses, hunting, or the outdoors. We meet people where they are, providing the preparation and guidance needed so they can fully engage in the experience.
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You don't have to have it all figured out before reaching out. Whether you're exploring private coaching, an immersion, a guided hunt, or simply wondering what High Terrain is all about, we'll help you find the experience that's right for you. Every journey begins with a conversation.
[ the high terrain philosophy ]On Wilderness & Horses
You don’t think your way back to yourself. You remember your way back.
The wilderness slows us down.
Horses respond to what words cannot hide.
Challenge interrupts routine.
Experience bypasses the analytical mind.
Sometimes that's exactly what's needed.
[ meet darin ]Our Foundation
I once heard Robert Bly speak about how technology has advanced so quickly that our mysticism is at risk of becoming obsolete.
That hit me because I grew up in a world where mysticism wasn’t a hobby. It was woven into everyday life. Not in abstract spiritual language - but in thresholds.
Your first knife. Your first rifle. Running your trapline alone. Working livestock. Caring for tools and land so the land could care for you. Earning enough for your first truck and then using it to disappear into wild places.
Nobody gathered you in a circle and announced you were a man. You became one through weight.
Then my time in the Marine Corps brought another set of thresholds — selections, assessments, gatekeeping cultures of excellence. Places where you were tested, not to break you, but to reveal you. To see what you carried when comfort was stripped away.
One of the highlights of my career was helping refine selection criteria. Because it forced us to ask: What does excellence actually look like when nobody is watching? And how do we build a path where people can choose to become that? After retirement, I realized something uncomfortable: I’ve lived almost 30 years inside rites of passage. Most people haven’t.
Many people look at the mountains — literal or metaphorical — and feel overwhelmed by the vastness. They want the wild, but they don’t know where to begin. The range feels too big.
I know that feeling. I was that kid in Montana staring up at ridgelines, wondering what it would be like to chase elk up there.
Then one man - who owed me nothing - said, ‘Hey Darin, come cut wood with me.’
That was the threshold.
And it wasn’t just firewood. It was learning how to read trees. Read wind. Read lean. Read the mountain. It was my first real taste of this covenant: If you take care of the mountain, she will take care of you. He brought me into the wild within by bringing me into the wild without.
Level 7 is built around that same gesture: not hype - invitation. Not spectacle - threshold.
[ certifications ]Associate Certified Coach [ACC]
Advanced Wilderness Life Support [AWLS II]
Hear Darin’s episode on The Rich Outdoors podcast with Cody Rich
[ ABOUT ]Darin is an innovative and proven leader. His experiences as a young man in the mountains of Montana, integrated with years of military service in special operations, honed his intuition and skill to shape highly-trained teams/individuals within complex environments.
His passion is connecting people to uplifting and reflective experiences. Darin is a husband, father, outdoorsman, and coach. Montana is his residence and the mountains are home.
Stay Connected to the Journey
Receive emails with announcements and occasional reflections from Level 7 High Terrain. Thoughtful updates. No noise.