Climbing high (twice!) to help beat breast cancer
SEATTLE -- What to do to raise money for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center? How about climb a few dormant volcanoes?
I took my video camera, and joined other climbers going for the summits of two Mexican volcanoes, just a few hours from Mexico City.
The two - Iztaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba - were a challenge. Izta rises 17,340 feet -- some 3,200 feet taller than Mount Rainier.
Izta's volunteer national park host welcomed the group at 12,000 feet. After two nights and a day hike to get used to the altitude, it was time to move on.
Already two miles up, we loaded up our backpacks to hike up to the next base camp.
We spent the night at 15,000 feet. We got a few hours of shut-eye and then took off after midnight for the summit.
It was a fast ascent - just 5 hours - and we reached the summit well before sunrise, which meant no cool pictures.
Back at camp, Tacoma climber Emily Morris explained why she does this.
"I climb for my mom," she said. "She has stage four breast cancer and um, she'll lose her life to it. And I don't want to go through what she goes through. She suffers every single day, she's in a lot of pain"
Emily told me it was hard, even overwhelming to summit Izta. She knows her climb is symbolic of what cancer patients face every day.
"It's a hard life to live," she said. "You fight every day for your life."
And, just 48 hours later, we're headed for another, even higher summit - almost a mile higher than Mt. Rainier.
We regrouped and repacked for the summit of Pico de Orizaba - at 18,700 feet.
After reaching the top, Emily said, "That was hard. It was very hard. It was really steep for a really long time."
Another climber, from Seattle, David Kendall said, "I'm exhausted, I just climbed 18,700 feet!"
Two successful summits - symbols of the success we hope our fundraising climb will bring Fred Hutch researchers, searching for a cure to breast cancer.
I've already chosen my mountain for next year's Climb To Fight Breast Cancer. I am going to climb Mt. Adams - and I challenge you to join me on the mountain. Yes, I would like you to come climb with me!
To learn more:
http://getinvolved.fhcrc.org/goto/denisewhitaker
I took my video camera, and joined other climbers going for the summits of two Mexican volcanoes, just a few hours from Mexico City.
The two - Iztaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba - were a challenge. Izta rises 17,340 feet -- some 3,200 feet taller than Mount Rainier.
Izta's volunteer national park host welcomed the group at 12,000 feet. After two nights and a day hike to get used to the altitude, it was time to move on.
Already two miles up, we loaded up our backpacks to hike up to the next base camp.
We spent the night at 15,000 feet. We got a few hours of shut-eye and then took off after midnight for the summit.
It was a fast ascent - just 5 hours - and we reached the summit well before sunrise, which meant no cool pictures.
Back at camp, Tacoma climber Emily Morris explained why she does this.
"I climb for my mom," she said. "She has stage four breast cancer and um, she'll lose her life to it. And I don't want to go through what she goes through. She suffers every single day, she's in a lot of pain"
Emily told me it was hard, even overwhelming to summit Izta. She knows her climb is symbolic of what cancer patients face every day.
"It's a hard life to live," she said. "You fight every day for your life."
And, just 48 hours later, we're headed for another, even higher summit - almost a mile higher than Mt. Rainier.
We regrouped and repacked for the summit of Pico de Orizaba - at 18,700 feet.
After reaching the top, Emily said, "That was hard. It was very hard. It was really steep for a really long time."
Another climber, from Seattle, David Kendall said, "I'm exhausted, I just climbed 18,700 feet!"
Two successful summits - symbols of the success we hope our fundraising climb will bring Fred Hutch researchers, searching for a cure to breast cancer.
I've already chosen my mountain for next year's Climb To Fight Breast Cancer. I am going to climb Mt. Adams - and I challenge you to join me on the mountain. Yes, I would like you to come climb with me!
To learn more:
http://getinvolved.fhcrc.org/goto/denisewhitaker