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December 04, 2007
Summit for Life Report
Hello Friends & Family,
I'm less than an hour away from attempting the 3,267' climb up Aspen Mountain with at least 200 others in the 2nd annual Summit for Life challenge to help promote education and awareness about organ and tissue donation. This event is the brainchild of my buddy Chris Klug, who I'm sure you all remember as an Olympic Bronze Medalist in the Parallel Snowboard GS in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the first ever organ transplant survivor to medal in the Olympic games.
Over 97,000 people in this country alone are waiting for the gift of life through organ donation. Even though one deceased donor can save eight lives, 18 people die preventable deaths every day due to the shortage of available organs. While I have already raised the minimum amount of pledges required to participate in tonight’s event, please consider making an additional tax-deductible contribution to fund education and awareness programs throughout Colorado. More information on how to help support this very worthy cause is available at www.summitforlife.org
Why am I just e-mailing you all now with less than an hour to go before this challenge begins? Frankly because until a few minutes ago, I wasn't 100% certain I was going to be able to muster the courage to go through with this. I'm by no means in the same kind of shape as some of these athletes who expect to finish this climb in less than 45 minutes. Truth be told, I'm still not 100% convinced I’m going to be able to make it up in the four hours before ski patrol scoops up the leftovers. We have received 16" of badly needed heavy wet snow since yesterday afternoon, and the snow is supposed to re-intensify after dark with another 4-7" predicted. It's gonna be tough! But I'm prepared to give it my best shot anyway. I'm well rested, fed, totally carb'd up, stretched-out, dressed in layers, and have my snowshoes, ski poles and my new LED headlamp laid-out and ready to go and have already downed two of my four Red Bulls as I attempt to go climb a mountain after dark, in a snowstorm!
- Bill
Bill Tomcich, President of SAS and Shanna Hutchinson, Reservation Agent participated with the support of www.stayaspensnowmass.com. Bill Tomcich with a last minute entry received 103rd for the men with a time of 2:24:23:442. Shanna Hutchinson placed 4th overall women and 20th overall with a time of 1:12:29:329. The race is a 2.5 miles climb up 3200 vertical feet to the top of Aspen Mountain at night time. Racers use any type of non-motorized transportation to reach the top and are lighted only by headlamps. The uphill event racers have to raise a minimum donation of $160 in Support of Organ Transplant.
For more information on events in Aspen/Snowmass, visit us at www.stayaspensnowmass.com
Posted by Dina at December 4, 2007 02:50 PM
