Option 02 · The Heavy Days
Father + Son Coming-of-Age Retreat
Four days in the Santa Cruz mountains. Fathers and sons, real challenge, and a rite of passage he will carry the rest of his life.
The spec
One father + one son (12–17)
4 days · Thu–Sun
6 father-son pairs
Santa Cruz, CA
The logistics
- Thursday in, Sunday out
- 5-acre mountain property, Santa Cruz, CA
- One father, one son · 6 pairs max
- 4 days of your life and $4,000
What's involved
- Rite of passageA structured ceremony where you name what your son is leaving behind and what he is stepping into, witnessed by the other fathers and sons.
- Forge workYour son hammers steel with your hands working next to his. He leaves with something he made.
- Hard thingsWayfinding, a long climb, cold water, a night under the stars. Contained stress that proves he is more capable than he thought.
- The talksPrompted, private father-son sessions on values, phones, girls, fear, failure, money and purpose. You don't have to know how to start. That's my job.
- The good stuffFire, sauna, cold plunge. Where the guard drops and boys start talking like men.
- FoodMy wife and family cook for us. Some of the highest praise I get is about the food.
What you leave with
- ·Proof he can do hard things, earned in his own body.
- ·A clear line between the boy he was and the man he's becoming.
- ·Something he forged with his own hands.
- ·Language for the conversations you've been putting off.
- ·A short list of promises you made to him out loud.
- ·Other fathers walking the same road.
This is for you if
- ·Fathers with a son roughly 12 to 17.
- ·Dads who feel the window closing and want to do something about it now.
- ·Men who want their son's idea of manhood to come from them, not from the internet.
It isn't for you if
- ·A vacation or a workshop.
- ·A dad sending his son to get sorted by someone else.
“Knowing Pat has profoundly shaped the way I parent. He showed me, through his example, how to be creative, present, and truly engaged as a parent.”
Adee Zukier Cazayoux · Mom, maker · Founder of W.A.G.
Inquiry
Put your hand up for the waitlist.
Thirty seconds. No obligation. I'll read it myself and reply within a day.
Helping fathers become
harder to kill, easier to love
& more free to live