It’s official! Registration opened for the Summit for Life last weekend, and as soon as I got the notice, I signed us up. We’re signed up for the ‘non-competitive 1 hour earlier start’ wave. On December 6th, we’ll be doing the nighttime climb of 3,267 vertical feet over 2.5 miles. AND, I should be able to finally meet Chris Klug!
I’ve been not-so-secretly following the Chris Klug foundation, and was interested in “some day” being able to participate. As we were planning the surgeries, and during my recovery, it was something to look forward to, along with winter sports and my waterskiing adventure. After surgery, I booked us flights with soon-to-be-expiring airline miles in June when there was nothing but hope that we would be healthy enough to go. That was when I still had a tube emanating from my skin, and had to have others pick up the golf ball when we played mini-golf. It’s been a few very successful months, and I’ve been eyeing mountains that are similar. My first mountain, Uncanoonuc, has a similar steepness to Aspen, but is only 0.5 miles. Mount Tecumseh, my first post-transplant 4000′, is 2200′ vertical over 2.5 miles. Mount Jefferson is 2700′ vertical and 2.5 miles. My Belknap Mountain long hike was about 10 miles and 3200 vertical feet.
Mountains out west are different. It’s at a higher altitude. It’s on snowpack. It’s at night. It’s going to be fun.
From last year:
The Derek Janiak Hepatobiliary Forum 
Exciting & excited for you “guys”!