PROSTATE CANCER CLIMB
Mount Whitney, California, USA
May 11, 2003
To Benefit
Hap Weyman Memorial Prostate Cancer Fund
of the Prostate Cancer Research Institute

BANNER DAY--Climbers Erdem Tamguney, prostate cancer survivor Bruce Hestad, John Loesing and Darren Paul (seated) display the Prostate Cancer Climb banner on the summit of Mt. Whitney, CA, the highest peak in the continental U.S.

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Dispatch from the mountain:

The 2003 Prostate Cancer Climb got off to a rip-roaring start with a successful, two-day ascent over the weekend of Mt. Whitney, CA, the highest point in the contiguous U.S. at almost 14,500 feet.

The 10-man, one-woman team included five Mt. Kilimanjaro climbers this September: Bruce Hestad, a prostate cancer survivor from S. Dakota; Erdem Tamguney, a successful biochemist from San Francisco; Laney Nelson, a cancer survivor and the team doctor for the Brigham Young Univ. football team; Darren Paul, a chiropractor from Vancouver whose grandfather died of prostate cancer; and John Loesing, project director for the Prostate Cancer Climb. On summit day, Laney's son Nathan broke trail much of the way in waist-high snow. Nate says he wants to try Kili with us as well.

Jamie, Bruce's daughter-in-law, made it all the way to the top of the Chute, a 40-degree, snow-covered slope that kicked everybody's butt in the first hour-and-a-half after dawn. Except for getting lost a couple of times on the way down because we couldn't find the snow-covered trail, it was a perfect second day, albeit a long one: over 12 hours.

Hestad was awesome. A 56-year-old survivor and successful businessman, Bruce proved how men have been able to beat the disease and go on to do big things with their lives. Laney, 49, is an incredible climber who has overcome several surgeries and still has the strength of a 29-year-old. Determined Darren has legs like pistons and made the summit with only an ice axe because he forgot his ski poles; and me, I just held on for dear life as we crossed Whitney Trail Crest, a narrow mountainside ledge--only three feet wide in sections with hundreds of feet of drop-off below--covered with ice and snow. Crampons and ice axes saved the day. (Kili will be much higher, but hopefully more accommodating in terms of safety and trail conditions. E-mail former Kili climber Tom Hyde for mountain specifics.)

The weather was like a postcard: sunny and a little cold, but only very light wind. We were one of the first two groups to break trail to the top after the early May snows blanketed the mountain from 9,000 feet up. After a hard, all-day hump, the Prostate Cancer Climb flag flew proudly at the top!

Those on the Whitney team experienced just a fraction of the fun, camaraderie and excitement that will surround Kilimanjaro. Stay tuned for Kili developments as the clock continues to tick.

John Loesing
Project Director
Prostate Cancer Climb

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