We did it!

THANK YOU!

At 5:25am on July 24th, we reached Rainier's crater rim, about 45 minutes later we were standing on top of Washington!

An emotional day to say the least.

And it's here....

Time sure goes by fast....too fast.

I leave for Rainier tomorrow morning @ 6am.

Thank you too all those who donated, sent me well wishes, encouraged me, and stood by me! I will be climbing for you and all your loved ones who have had their lives somehow touched by breast cancer.

I'll be back Saturday night!

Until then....goodbye for now!

~David

Mount Shuksan Attempt

I had a great time, even though our climb to cut short due to high avy risk.

Trip report on Northwest Hikers

Enjoy!

I hope to get out for another climb soon! Next on the schedule is Little Tahoma on the 4th of July weekend!

~David

Goooooaaaallllll!!!!!!!!

$5000!

Need I say more....except....

THANK YOU!

McCready Fundraiser! :p

I'm sorry to say that the fundraiser at Fado has been canceled.

However Mike McCready (ummm, guitarist....Pearl Jam), has really come through for me (Thank You Chris Adams!)!!

I have a bunch of great PJ posters that are all signed by Mike (think Benaroya, Gorge....gems, etc), a bag of guitar picks, and an Angel 45 signed by Mike.

I'll try to get some photos of the items tonight! And they will be up for bid/sale soon!

Mt. Baker Ski Area - Mountaineers Snow Overnight

I had a great time camping in the snow with fellow Mountaineers at the Mt. Baker Backcountry Ski Area. Learning things like rope travel, crevasse rescue, belay methods, and team arrest are some very important things to be safe in the mountains!

Enjoy the pics! CLICK HERE FOR THE TRIP PHOTOS

David

One last push to the summit....

Hey all,

It's now coming down to the wire. Just a couple weeks left until my donations are due, and I'm about $1300 short. This has been one of the toughest challenges I've taken on, and I think I've done pretty well (with huge help from my wife Lisa). To date the climbers who are participating in the Fred Hutchinson Climb to Fight Breast Cancer have raised nearly $400,000!

Please take some time to visit my blog (http://climb4cure.blogspot.com), and let me know what you think...pass it along to friends and co-workers. Thousands of people out there are affected by breast cancer in many different ways. That's what fundraisers like this are all about, connecting people to help reach a common goal, in this case, to fight breast cancer.

Since my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple years ago, it has been a wild ride....and now I feel we're reaching the calm AFTER the storm. Our lives seemed like they were on hold for a while. Now, it's time for us to make a push toward reaching our goals as a couple, and I think this climb represents that for myself. It's a culmination of many things for me personally, it's also a new beginning in alot of ways. I've joined Mountaineers Club of Seattle, and I hope this is only the beginning of my climbing career. I also hope to make new friends on Rainier, all of us will be fighting the internal struggle to get to the summit, all with a common thread.

We are also trying to put together a last minute fundraising party at Fado Irish Pub in downtown Seattle. We still need some raffle prizes to give away to people who donate at the fundraiser. If you have anything please let me know. We are trying to find things like sporting event tickets, and music/sports memorabilia.

Thank for your time, and continued support!

David Town

For more info on the Fred Hutchinson Climb to Fight Breast Cancer, please visit www.fhcrc.org/climb.

Music/Sports and Climbing to Fight Breast Cancer

If you have any music/sports memorabilia, event tickets, etc. to donate for a fundraising event, please email me at goodtruant@gmail.com!

Thanks!

Fundraiser details coming soon!

$1200+

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long since my last update! Life...it happens!

I'm happy to say that the art/auction at Talaricos was a success, raising over $1200!!

Thanks to eveyrone who came down! (I have the best family and friends!)
Big thanks to all of the artist who doanted!
Huge thanks to all of my sponsors!
Giant thanks to my special someone special! Lisa...there are no words.

Right now we stand at about $3500 raised, only $1500 to go!

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

TY!

David

Who's ready for some pizza???

Tomorrow is the night! 6-9pm @ Talarico's Pizzeria! (click the image for info on Talarico's)

Talarico's was nice enough to donate a couple of these pies!

Sample Donated Photos...and more!

Please Click here to view 11 of the donated photos!

So far there are 20 items up for auction! Thanks everyone!

Here's some pics of the custom shoulder bag Lisa made for the auction!

A HUGE thanks to Cortney at Wallflower Custom Framing for donating her time and frames for the Jason Hummel prints!







And, thank you to the West Seattle U-Frame-It for donating a $50 gift certificate! This will go a long way to as a special prize for someone who buys a matted print!





Please click on the images to visit thier respective websites!

TY TY TY TY !

A GIGANTIC Thanks to my wife Lisa! My biggest sponsor! She helped print, cut mats for, made and printed flyers, sewed some art that she has donated for the auction, and put together ALL of the photo packages! A truely fantastic person....that you should all meet at the event!

...too long

I can't believe that it had been 6 MONTHS since I had gone on a hike with my wife. I think we spend our best times in the woods...lost, but found....and not really lost.

On Sunday we took a hike up the beautiful Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail. :)

Please click here to take a look at our trip pics!

West Seattle Herald Article

Click here to read the article that appeared in the West Seattle Herald!

:)

And now a word from my sponsors....

I couldn't be doing this with out the help of...(please click on the logo to visit thier websites.)












_____________________________________
Artistic Framers
5631 California Avenue Southwest
Seattle, WA 98136-1572
(206) 935-8770
_____________________________________


Thank you for the printing! :) :)

ALPINE STATE OF MIND - Jason Hummel Photography

Karen Crowe Photography

Justin Reznick Photography

sTePh aBeGG

ShacknastyJim!


Musical Guest









Artists: Dave Bloomfield, Carina Booyens, Lisa Town :), Karen Crowe, Jason Hummel, Steph Abbeg, ShacknastyJim, Bruce Savadoh, Justin Reznick, Linda Spearman.

And a special thanks to my wife Lisa for matting a bunch of pics...and keeping me on track with this fundraiser! I love you! 2 years! Happy Anniversary!:)

A HUGE thanks to Cortney at Wallflower Custom Framing for donating her time and frames for the Jason Hummel prints!







And, thank you to the West Seattle U-Frame-It for donating a $50 gift certificate! This will go a long way to as a special prize for someone who buys a matted print!





Please click on the images to visit thier respective websites!

TY TY TY TY !

Climb Fundraiser!

Where: Talaricos - West Seattle
When: March 23rd 2010, 6pm-9pm

Art Auction and Fundraiser!

Amazing photo's by the likes of Jason Hummel, Justin Reznick, Steph Abegg.......and more names to be confirmed soon! Just click the names and view the amazing photos! Some will be framed, all will be matted and ready to frame! Look for discounts on framing at the event also!

We just added a beautiful signed and framed print by Jody Bergsma! Donated by Liberty Bell Printing! :)

$2100 ! !

Thanks everyone! $2,100.00 collected so far!

Teton Gravity Research - Generations Trailer

Granite Mountain 1-30-10

I haven't been on snow for a while so I decided to load up the pack and head to the Granite Lookout. The trail is in decent shape, until you hit the 3200 foot mark. At 3000 feet you see the first tiny patches of snow, by 3200-3500 feet you're on a slushy slick trail. Treking poles were very helpful in the slick mess. Micro spikes would have been very nice.

At around 3800 feet the trail crosses an avy gully that goes straight up for almost 2000 feet. The gully was littered with avalanche debris, but everything was very stable all the way up. Conditions got better as I went up, cooler temps made for better snow to kick steps in. About 2/3 up I crossed over some steps kicked in the snow and took advantage of the nice set of stairs made ahead of me. After a few minutes I noticed a group of 3 headed straight up the gully. At this point it was starting to get a little crusty and slick in places so I put on my crampons. I really sped up and caught up to the group in no time, and thanked them for the steps. They where headed in a direct line straight up the gully, and I decided to head climbers left to the ridge. As I traversed back to the right towards the tower, I met up with the 3 climbers, slightly ahead of them.

On the way down it was a combo of plunge stepping and glisading. I also got in some self arrest practice. It would have been much more fun if it wasn't for the bad the snow conditions and the avy debris.

I think and ice axe was a must, it would have been nice to have micro spikes (esp. on the way down on the slushy trail!), and crampons helped out alot at the top.

I saw 6 other people the entire day, it was really nice to be out of any sort of crowd.

Fog obstructed any views, but the tower itself was beautiful with all of the windblown snow stuck to it.

CLick here to view all the pic from my trip up to the lookout!

Playin' in the snow!

A couple weeks ago I took Gavin and Payton out to the Gold Creek SnoPark for some fun in the snow! We hiked a few miles in to the woods, blazed our own trails. The snow had a thick crust of ice over the top from the freezing rain that fell the night before, so instead of making snowmen, we tried to buld an ice fort! Then we hiked further back in the woods, found a nice cozy place and made some hot chocolate!

Great times with the kids!

Click here to view all the pics from our trip!

$2,000.00 !

Thanks everyone! $2,000.00 collected so far!

Also a thank you to all of those who have left messages with your donations. They are inspiring, and it really makes me feel that I'm training and climbing for you...with you!

Granite Lakes 1-16-10

Yesterday, I loaded up the pack and set off to the Granite Lakes, just off I-90, a few miles past North Bend. It was a spring like day. A month ago this trail was completely snow and ice covered. Today, it was as if the warmth of spring has melted it all away, and the spring run-off was at full force. The trail was sloppy and there were multiple small stream crossings due to the run-off.

I felt pretty good. I was also using this trip to test out my mountaineering boots, to see how they would feel on an approach hike. Overall i was very happy with them, and they were great on the creek crossings....water tight. My feet were sore at the end of the day, but no blisters or hot spots. *Thumbs up* for Lowa Mountain Experts. Better yet, got them @ 65% off from Sierra Trading Post. ;)

11.2 miles, 4.5 hours, 2300 elevation gain.

Click here to see pics of my hike.

West Seattle Blog Article

Click here to read the article.

It was a great experience to sit down with Keri DeTore and talk about what has transpired over the past year.

Thanks to Tracy Record @ the West Seattle Blog for making this happen!