Sunday, March 29, 2009

Return to Alaska!

In an effort to gain more training for Mt. Everest and Vinson Massif, we've decided to make a return to the highest mountain of North America: Mt. McKinley of Alaska! While the team already carried the Air Force flag to this summit last spring, this group will ascend to keep their skills sharp and to continue to build momentum for the two big peaks remaining.



The plans have the team arriving in Alaska around May 20th, with a start of the climb on the 22nd. As with all our climbs, the weather and team health dictate the exact number of days necessary to reach the summit, but we're predicting a return no later than June 10th. We'll have four Air Force members climbing on this trip. On the same schedule will be five special forces team members: two Navy SEALS, two Army Rangers, and one member from of the Dominican Republic SOF.



We'll be looking to use this climb to start fundraising for our planned Everest climb. Originally we were set on a 2010 attempt, but a new baby in the life of one of our lead climbers and a operational deployments during the best climbing window might delay it to the latter part of '10 or the early party of '11. In the mean time, we are incorporating the USAF 7 Summits Challenge as a not-for-profit organization. This should help us to raise the money necessary! Many thanks to Mark Rockefeller for his legal assistance in this important venture.

If you can offer any assistance, advice, website support, or sponsorship, please don't hesitate to contact us at: usaf7summits@gmail.com.

Climb High, Fly Low- Capt Rob Marshall