July 9, 2002
T-minus 8 days and counting! Yep, next Thursday I'll begin my journey up the mountain! This will be my last update until after the climb when I send you all an email reporting the adventure and sharing the pictures. I'm excited.
Training
What can I say, I'm ready! John Hurlbut and I made an attempt at Camp Muir on Rainier this last Sunday but called time of death at about 8,550 feet when John's legs began to cramp and the weather started looking really bad, so we headed back down. Good thing too because just as we were exiting the park, it began pouring rain as well as thundering and lightning. On our drive home there was a power grid out too, no stop lights or electricity other than oncoming traffic headlights. Regardless, I got some good pictures, especially of John glissading down a couple of slopes, hee, heee, heeee.
I've also created my team bandanna so check it out and see if you can't find your name on there. ;o) You all helped me get where I'm at and you'll be with me all the way to the top. Thanks again!

June 25, 2002
Training
Training has been going well, nothing major to report other than 'CLIMB SCHOOL'! A group of about 27 of us went through 'climb school' on June 15th and we all had a good time rolling around and sliding in the snow with sharp metal objects. Basically we went up on Rainier to about 6,000 feet with 3 RMI guides and they taught us how to 'self-arrest' with our ice axe (stopping yourself from falling), how to walk with cramp-ons (metal spikes), and how to walk while roped up. It was quite fun. Check out the pictures on the site (http://www.thefrolic.com/climb/pics.html). Oh there was also an RMI photographer that tagged along and took picts as well. To view those, and there are actually a couple good ones of me sliding, go to: http://www.summithaus.com/ then click on Photo Galleries, then click on the 'Select your 2002 Climb Date...' and choose either of these:
June 15, 2002 ALA Snow School (1-40)
June 15, 2002 ALA Snow School (41-74)

June 4, 2002
Training
This past Saturday, June 1st, we had the biggest group ever on our last official training climb. It was a gorgeous day! I got some really great pictures, click on the pictures link above. We hiked from Paradise (~5,000 ft.) up to Camp Muir (~10,000 ft.) and it took a good part of the day. We left the parking lot about 9:30am and got to Muir around 3pm, stopping for lunch at Pebble Creek (~7,200 ft.) The sun was intense and 40spf sunscreen was mandatory and I don't think there were any masochists in the group, but some still got burned. Most reapplied it at every break because ya just sweat it or rub it off. I had my sleeves rolled up and through moving my arms, my sleeves moved up past my elbows enough to find that unprotected skin, so I have a funny little red line around my elbows on my arms. I have to admit that the last 500ft. getting up to Muir was hard. I could really feel the thinner air and got a little light headed carrying a 50lb. pack but felt really great once we reached Muir and took it off. Having made it to Muir without any severe difficulty, I'm 110% confident that I'm physically ready for the summit attempt, now if the weather just cooperates. If the weather on climb day is like it was this last weekend, it will be fantastic!
Fundraising
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. What more can I say. I've surpassed the minimum amount and locked in my climb date so everything is in place. I'm still taking donations and want your support, so come with me to the summit and make a difference for someone you know who smokes, has asthma, lung disease or lung cancer.   The Lung Association also put forth Incentive Prizes for those raising more than $3500; check out the list: http://www.alaw.org/support_alaw/climb_for_clean_air/incentives.html
The deadline for donations to be in is June 14th, less than 2 weeks, so if you have been putting off that donation that you told yourself you were gonna put in, now's the time. Thanks again! 

 May 23, 2002 - Hiking up to Pebble Creek last weekend was great! It was even easier than last time which is good, shows I'm getting in better shape (whew). I actually had more difficulty at the bottom of the mountain on the way down than up higher. This was because the snow is starting to melt and once we got down near the bottom, it was like walking in 2 feet of mashed potatoes. Although the weather forecast was mostly sunny, it turned out to be mostly snowy as you can see in the photos. I glissaded down a shute just below Pebble Creek and it was a blast. Glissading is basically sliding down the snow on your butt with all of your hiking gear while using your trekkin poles or ice axe to steer. Being my first time, I ended up sideways at the bottom (again see the pictures - the ones of me glissading courtesy of John Hurlbut). Fundraising is going great, I'm practically there, just need that little umph to push me over the edge. We are less than a month away from the climb!!!

May 5, 2002 - We hiked on Mt. Rainier yesterday. We attempted to make it up to Pebble Creek but stopped about 600 feet (elevation wise) short due to weather and terrain conditions - check out the photos. It was great and lots of people showed up. We all sang 'happy birthday' to Karen Derrig for her big 40 which is actually today. Her hubby, Dave, brought along a present and surprised her - a cool new GPS Device (Global Positioning Satellite for all you non-geeks). Physically it didn't seen as hard as Mt. Si but there were a few times my heart was pumping pretty hard, probably due to elevation. We hiked up to 6600 feet in elevation from Paradise. Pebble Creek sits about 7200. I wore snowshoes for the first time and it was a fun experience. I didn't trip once but had many attempts at it. ;o)

April 29, 2002 - Reached the $2000 mark today!!! WOOOOHOOOO! I can't say how much I appreciate everyone's support and I can't imagine how this will benefit kids with asthma, smokers, and those affected by lung disease/cancer. Only $1500 to go. I'm going to do a Krispy Kreme day at work, that should be fun, hee, hee. We are hiking up to Pebble Creek on Mt. Rainier this weekend. This will be our first leg of the journey to the top. With all the wonderful support, I don't feel like I'm doing this alone so I'm going to create a shirt or bandanna with all the names of those who are supporting me and taking it, you guys with me to the top. This is definitely a journey I am not on alone!

April 16, 2002 - So we had our 3rd official training hike on the 6th and ironically I had a flight down to San Jose that very same day for my job. The Mt. Si hike was the most difficult of the official hikes we've done yet, 8 miles round trip. I ran 3 out of the 4 miles down to the bottom so that I could make it to the airport on time. When we left for the Si summit at 9am it was raining, boooo, but by the time we made it to the top it had stopped. It was still cloudy up top so there wasn't much of a view, but it was pretty nonetheless. I managed to work out a couple times while I was down in California and now that I'm back, I posted pictures from that hike. Check 'em out (click on the Pictures link above).

April 5, 2002 - We had our 3rd official meeting at REI in Redmond this last Tuesday and Robin Evans-Agnew, an ALA of Washington colleague gave a talk about who benefits from our fundraising and participation in the event. He talked about lung disease and in particular about asthma camp and young kids struggling to breathe on a daily basis. Robin was quite entertaining, inspiring, and self-expressed. He also told the story of his daughter's birth and how he was thrown into a panic when she didn't breathe when she first came into the world, making a great point about how something so simple is so important and crutial to how we function and live. I hope to have some pictures and links on my site soon to show where the donations are going. It is truely touching to see the difference you can make in someone's life, not someone in a different country, but someone right here in Washington! Heading up Mt. Si tomorrow so look for some new picts soon!

March 7th, 2002 - We had our 2nd official meeting at REI this last Monday and Fireman Mark Anderson, who is one of the trainers, gave a talk on equipment and being prepared. It was great. I also picked up my gators so little by little I'm getting the right gear for the job. We have our first official hike this weekend at Rattlesnake and I think some of us are going to hike a bit further along the ridge. It's been really cold this week and we've gotten a little snow so I hope the weather hold up for the hike. Fundraising is going great and I'm on track to make my goal.

February 19th, 2002 - I have completed my duties as head coach of Eastlake High School's Boys Swim Team and can redirect some of that focus now on training and fundraising. I attended the kick off meeting last week on the 12th and it was great. I took some picts too (click on the 2/12/02 picts). I met Lou Whittaker and really enjoyed listening to his stories and jokes. I plan to be in the same state of mind and health when I'm his age. He just had his 73rd birthday and he mentioned the possibility of doing the climb with us this year. Pretty awesome!

February 4th, 2002 - Been a while since I've added an entry. The last two hikes have been cancelled due to weather and whatnot. Found out last week that Apple no longer participates in Gift Matching so that brings me back under the thousand dollar mark <sigh>. I've made a few trips to REI and purchased some of the necessary equipment, gators, etc. Yehaw.

January 18th, 2002 - Fundraising is going great! I just received two huge sponsors from co-worker Bur Davis and a dear friend that I use to work with at Apple in San Jose, Eve Medina. Thanks you two!!! That put me at my first milestone. My training continues. I'll be doing hikes on the weekends and gradually increasing the weight of my pack. During the week I'll be cross-training by starting swimming again in the mornings and continuing my Tae Kwon Do classes. Oh, let's not forget a little snowboarding in there as well. That counts too, heh, heh. Little Si tomorrow morning.