Princeton Weekly Bulletin, April 13, 1998
Princeton women Climb Against Odds
By Carol Carlson
Some people climb a mountain just because it's there. But five Princeton women have nobler reasons for scaling Alaska's awesome Mount McKinley next June: they're out to raise awareness about breast cancer, as well as $2 million for research into ways of eliminating the disease.
Majka Burhardt '99, an anthropology major, Bethany Coates '98 (history), Naomi Darling '97, Katie Gamble '98 (ecology and evolutionary biology) and Meg Smith '98 (geosciences) are facing a three-week, 20,320 foot climb up the highest mountain in North America; snow, ice and glaciers -- some more than 10 miles long; temperatures ranging from the mid-60s to 40 below; packs and four-foot sleds of gear that each weigh 40 to 60 pounds.
This ambitious team, which has joined forces with the Breast Cancer Fund of San Francisco for logistical and fund-raising support, has already begun to work out more than an hour each day to build strength and stamina. They have done training climbs in the Cascades of Washington State and spent a week in January climbing California's rugged Mt. Shasta.
Six breast cancer survivors
It was on Shasta, said Smith, that the Princeton climbers met the other team of climbers with whom they will share the assault on McKinley: six women who are breast cancer survivors.
"We'll hopscotch each other up the mountain," predicted Smith. "We'll both be ferrying loads up. We don't know yet if we'll try to move together -- there are differences in age and outdoor experience among us." Each group will have its own guide, certified by the American Alpine Institute. Burhardt, who is currently doing junior independent work and climbing in Nepal, will guide the Princeton women.
All will ascend by the West Buttress route, which, said Smith, "is the most traveled and best established. If the weather is perfect and everyone is feeling fine, we could be up and down in 16 days. But we're allowing five extra days in case of bad weather or anything unexpected." The group will carry a 21-day supply of provisions, to be deployed among approximately six camps along the route.
Impetus from Outdoor Action
The original idea to "do something" about breast cancer started in 1995 with a group of friends in Princeton's Outdoor Action program, Burhardt explained. "We were all interested in women's health, and we got talking about Expedition Inspiration, a climb to the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina. What really impressed us was that it was sponsored by the Breast Cancer Fund, and all the climbers, aged 22 to 62, were women who had survived breast cancer."
For Meg Smith '98, the motivation for the climb comes from her grandmothers and her mother, who have all survived breast cancer. "At the time my mother had breast cancer, I don't think I fully understood what she went through," she said, "but planning our climb has helped me understand it better."
And meeting the survivor team on Mt. Shasta, she said, had great impact. "Those women have been through so much. Some still have the disease and are climbing in spite of it. I came away from California really determined to do something about breast cancer, and McKinley is a good way to do it."
In choosing the name "Climb Against the Odds," the students said, they hope to convey their resolve to beat the current "one woman in eight" odds of contracting breast cancer.
"Even the fundraising has been an incredible learning experience," said Gamble. "We're hoping to raise $100 for each vertical foot of the mountain."
Fundraising continues, said Smith, and will continue even after the climb. The North Face has agreed to outfit the expedition, including tents, sleeping bags, parkas, gloves -- even coffee mugs.
Two challenges in one
With their Climb Against the Odds, the women are confronting two challenges at once, the highest mountain in North America and the leading cause of death in women between 25 and 54.
"We know that climbing this mountain involves risk," said Burhardt, "but so do many other important things in life. We just hope that through this climb, we can motivate others to join us in working to defeat the disease."
The three members of the Class of 1998 will leave for their adventure in Alaska's Denali National Park the day after graduation. They plan to rendezvous with their teammates in Anchorage. After sorting gear and packing supplies, says Smith, "We'll take a bush plane from Talkeetna onto the Kahiltna Glacier, at about 7,000 feet." All the climbers hope to have both feet firmly on Mt. McKinley by June 7.
McKinley, known to indigenous people as Denali, "The Great One," received its name in 1896 from William Dickey, a member of the Class of 1885 and prospector for gold in the Alaska Range. In 1896 Dickey wrote a newspaper article describing the mountain he christened "McKinley," in honor of the presidential candidate and champion of the gold standard.
For those who like to enjoy their mountains in warmth and comfort, the team is sponsoring an April 23 fundraising slide show in Dodds Auditorium. For more information on the Climb Against the Odds, call Smith at 258-8226.