Summit for Someone Brings Two Good Friends Together for One Cool Goal

When Garth and Annie Reber contemplated their son Bowen’s 16th birthday, they wanted to mark it with something meaningful. “We have always talked about the coming of age in our society and how vague and confusing it is (16 to drive, 18 to vote and fight, 21 to drink). We really wanted to try and have something more symbolic for Bowen for his 16th birthday.”

Soon thereafter, they happened to be hanging out with their best friends, Dennis and Jen Lewon. Garth and Dennis met in 1995 and became fast friends, and despite living in separate states, their kids have spent a lifetime adventuring together. “We’ve taken our kids backpacking, separately and together, since they learned to walk,” explains Dennis. “It was definitely a family thing.” Dennis, editor-in-chief of Backpacker magazine in Boulder, CO, had made some notes in an issue of Backpacker, about a trip he was taking up the Grand Teton this July. The trip was a Summit for Someone benefit climb for Positive Tracks’ charity partner, Big City Mountaineers. The Rebers, who live in Lander, WY, and were still contemplating the upcoming birthday, started asking questions.

Could Bowen go? Dennis contemplated it enthusiastically, and then wondered, could his own 14-year-old son Milo go? In short order, a Summit for Someone father and son team was born. “Having Dennis and Milo go is really cool,” says Garth, “because the boys have been friends since they were babies. And Dennis is like a second dad to Bowen.”

To both families, the cause is a great fit. Big City Mountaineers’ mission is to transform the lives of under-resourced urban youth through wilderness mentoring expeditions. These expeditions partner with local youth organizations to take 1,000 teenagers a year (fully outfitted with top quality gear), from seven urban areas across the country, on week-long backpacking trips with a 1:1 ratio of campers to adult mentors. The money also funds programs like a Colorado overnight camp for 8-12 year olds. BCM’s programs set out to inspire the use of the outdoors and support the development of critical life skills. It works. BCM served youth describe the experience as transformative, and statistically are more likely to stay in school and less prone to drug use and violence.

BCM is funded by corporate donations and sponsors, but also in large part by the Summit for Someone program. “There are 12 standard climbs, and people can also do custom climbs or other custom challenges as part of the program,” explains Anna Simle, BCM’s Positive Tracks Coordinator and Manager of the Summit for Someone program. In all, 104 people will climb for the cause this year.

To join a Summit for Someone climb, participants pledge anywhere from $1,800 to $8,800 (depending on the cost of the trip) to climb mountains like the Grand Teton, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier and Mt Whitney in the States, and international giants like Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro. To hike the 14,770-ft Grand Teton, a three-day, 14-mile trip which includes World Class scenery and scrambling, as well as 5th Class climbing, Bowen and Milo each had to raise $4000. Both boys have met their fundraising goals, and every penny they raise will be doubled by Positive Tracks – the organization which not only matches youth dollars, but also helps kids learn “why” and “how” raising funds and awareness through their own sweat helps the benefitting charities, but moreover, helps the kids doing it.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because Positive Tracker Kate Dumanian saw the article in Backpacker and signed up for the same trip! Shared missions are part of what makes the Summit for Someone trips so popular, as Anna Simle explains. “We hear from guides that Summit for Someone groups are some of the most fun to guide. Everyone is in it for a greater goal and it creates a team atmosphere. People on these trips often become close friends for life.”

First time climbers are welcome on most of the Summit for Someone hikes, as long as they prepare for the trip, physically and mentally. “One of the great things about the Grand,” explains Simle, “is that Jackson Hole Guides, who we use for the trip, stashes much of the heavier gear at their high camp. The first day is still 6 hours of hiking but it’s with a 30 lb pack instead of a 40-50 lb pack.”

How are the young climbers prepping? Mostly by being active, teenage, soccer-playing, outdoor-loving boys. But they also have experience and a few field-tested tricks:

buy dapoxetine in australia What part of the trip are you looking forward to the most?

Bowen: I think the part of the trip I am most excited for is when we reach the top of a place I see all of the time but never get to go up to.

http://fft3.com/other-free-rules Does anything about the trip make you nervous?

Bowen: The only thing that makes me nervous is blisters.

Toughest Hike:

Bowen: A 20-mile hike I did last summer with my dad and my best friend. It wasn’t even close to the longest it was just very physically demanding. My Dad said I can’t tell where it was, but the fish were are big as my thigh!

Milo: The Grand Canyon, when I was 10. I remember that the way down was pretty easy and fun, but the way up was a challenge.

Favorite trail food?

Bowen: I like candy like every other kid, but I think my favorite is dried mango.

Milo: There have been times when uphill progress was only made possible by a bag of peanut M&Ms (see Grand Canyon, above).

What do you always bring?

Bowen: I have a favorite blister band aid, and I usually have a knife where ever I am.

What will you never bring?

Milo: Mush. My ten-year-old brother once put a pumpkin in his pack without telling anybody.

Worst camping situation?

Bowen: When we got hit by like a major sandstorm and it blew our tent away while we were in it.

Your efforts will help kids get their first hiking experience. What does that mean to you?

Bowen: “Growing up in the mountains and just being in nature has been an amazing experience for me and I want to share that with as many people as possible.”

Milo: “I think what Big City Mountaineers does is really cool. The outdoors should be a part of every kid’s life.”

Want more? Learn about Big City Mountaineers and Summit for Someone, and see how you can help mentor urban youth outdoors.

Click to contribute to Milo and Bowen‘s efforts. 

 

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