Our Climb for a Cause team of 8 climbers is embarking on an incredible journey to attempt to summit Mount Rainier (Tahoma) on June 3 - 5, 2026 - guided by Alpine Ascents International. The funds we raise beyond the climb cost will directly support critical park projects in Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. 🌄✨

WHY AM I DOING THIS?

I live by four simple house rules:

1. Don't be a dick.

2. Don't be stupid.

3. You gotta send it.

4. Don't get dead.

To make the most of my life rules, I consider myself a collector of experiences and stories, not things—the kind that start with "so there I was..." and end with people saying "you did WHAT?" I'm what you might call a "mild" adrenaline junkie and ever the enthusiast for thrilling challenges. By mild, I mean I've made enough dubious decisions doing Type 2 fun that my friends have stopped asking "why?" and started asking "what now?" I've learned to embrace their concerned-but-supportive head shakes. For the uninitiated, Type 2 fun is miserable while you're doing it—think getting pummeled by wind, questioning every life choice, wondering why your legs have turned to jelly—but becomes absolutely glorious in retrospect. It's the kind of suffering that builds character, creates epic stories, and makes you say "let's do that again!" approximately three days after you swore you'd never do it again. I have an excellent memory for forgetting the sucky parts.

Here's the thing: there is absolutely NOTHING—and I mean nothing—that grounds me, centers me, or makes me feel more gloriously, ridiculously alive than standing on top of a mountain, higher than anything around for miles upon miles. Up there, my stress evaporates faster than my common sense in a room full of puppies.

Now, I've got plenty of mountaineering experience under my belt—all of it in Colorado, where I've become very comfortable making questionable life choices at altitude. But Mount Rainier? This magnificent beast in Washington? This will be my FIRST time climbing outside of Colorado. And honestly? I'm more than a little unhinged about it. In the possible best way. The kind of unhinged where you're grinning like a maniac while all your concentration is focused into a single don’t die thought and you're wondering if this is what "living your best life" really means (spoiler: it absolutely is).

WHY THIS MATTERS

I believe the best therapy is standing on top of a mountain after thoroughly pushing your limits, surrounded by protected wilderness that makes all the suffering worth it. Plus, if I'm going to be out here making spectacularly ambitious climbs on the sides of mountains anyway, I might as well do it for something that matters. Washington's national parks—Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic—these places are where people who are absolutely passionate (like me) get to be our happiest, most authentic selves. It's where we find our peace in the chaos, our calm in the climb, our sanity in the summit.

YOU CAN HELP

Washington's national parks need support for critical conservation projects. These are the places where people like me find peace, build resilience, and collect life-changing stories.

Will you help me reach my $5,000 goal so Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks can continue inspiring future generations of happy-but-slightly-unhinged mountain lovers?

Fair warning: if you support this climb, you're not just helping protect these incredible wild spaces—you're also enabling my mountain obsession. But there are definitely worse vices out there.

And because I'm extra and all about making this journey as entertaining for you as it is for me, I've created some special challenges:

📸 Summit Selfie Challenge ($50+)

Submit your silliest pose, face, or gesture, and I'll recreate it at the summit of Mount Rainier (weather and safety permitting, of course—I'm loony, not reckless). Make me look ridiculous at 14,411 feet! Your interpretive dance move? Your cat's weird face? I'm here for it. Let's make summit photos fun again!

🎥 Unhinged Mountain Facts ($250)

I've got YEARS of questionable decisions, near-misses, and "seemed like a good idea at the time" moments from the Colorado mountains. For every $250 donation, I'll post a video sharing one of these stories—the scary ones, the hilarious ones, the ones that made my friends question my judgment (so... most of them). Current story queue includes that time I definitely should have double checked the distance on AllTrails, the incident with jumping a creek in pitch darkness and why you should always tell someone your route plan.

🪓 Gear Naming Rights ($500)

Donate $500 and name a piece of my climbing gear (ice axe, crampons, helmet, etc.). It'll carry your chosen name up Rainier and every mountain after. Could be inspirational. Could be hilarious. Could be "Sir Pickington the Third." Your call. I'll send you photos of your named gear at the summit and give you updates on its adventures. Bonus: You'll have bragging rights forever that your creativity is literally climbing mountains.

DONATIONS

Will you join me in this beautiful madness?

Let's protect these parks so future generations can make their own questionable decisions, collect their own incredible stories, and discover their own love of Type 2 fun. Because honestly, what's life without a little altitude-induced delirium and a whole lot of "I can't believe I just did that!" moments?

🏔️ For the parks. For the stories. For the mountains yet to climb.