Mt. Rainier

Third  Annual Mt. Rainier Organ Donor Awareness Climb, July 2011

We just returned from the great WHITE North…. aka Seattle where we joined a team of climbers from the Seattle based Swedish Medical Group.  Our strong group included a transplant surgeon and his surgeon wife, a radiologist with a terrific laugh, the CEO of the Northwest OPO (organ procurement agency), a kidney recipient and kidney donor,  a medical procedure/product rep, Craig and me. Our goal, not only raise awareness for organ donation, but to show the world strength, vigor, and the tremendous quality of life post transplant.

Vigor was not the issue here….The elements were!  If it was summer in WA, no one told the mountain! On our final summit push we turned back at around 3 am after reaching 11,200 ft. due to inclement weather. We had blizzard conditions, with the summit reporting a wind chill of -5 degrees Fahrenheit. I was literally being pushed over by the wind!  Some of our climbing party went on to reach the peak, only to report the conditions were dicey with no visibility at all. we feel we made a good decision given the exposure and associated hazards. And, more importantly, everyone had a great time and made yet another positive impact on Organ Donation. Of course we are already planning on attempting another climb up this amazing mountain in the future.  It’s way too magnificent not to cross the crater at the top – with visibility! Stay tuned for more information to follow.