We Challenge MS - The Climb

WE CHALLENGE MS

As some of you may know, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has been a part of my life since my earliest memories. My mother was diagnosed with MS before I started school; as a consequence, I have very few memories of my mother prior to MS impacting her life. Her journey with MS was a relatively short one as she passed when I was eleven. I often think of her and the joys which she missed; children growing up, their weddings, the birth of grandchildren and so much more.

In the past I’ve taken on some personal physical and mental challenges to fund-raise for causes close to my heart including MS in 2011. Recently, I joined the MS Society national organization and became informed of the financial challenges the MS Society faces due to the inability to conduct two of its major fundraising activities, bike rides and walks, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile the needs for research into effective treatments, a possible cure and programming for those currently living with MS are as pressing as ever. The MS Society is encouraging people to find ways to fund-raise in this environment while at the same time respecting the health protocols. The thought came quickly to me that I could take my passion for climbing “very big hills” and do it in a safe and healthy manner in my own backyard of Canmore, Alberta while at the same time hopefully making it interesting and exciting enough to cause some of you to support my passion for helping people living with MS to live a better, more rewarding life.

My plan to support the WE CHALLENGE MS campaign is to attempt and hopefully complete the Triple Crown of Canmore. What’s that you ask? It If you google Triple Crown of Canmore you will find a number of websites which describe it such as https://jennykstrong.blogspot.com/2016/06/canmore-triple-crown.html. 

As the websites explains it means hiking up and down three mountains on each side of the Bow Valley in which Canmore sits. The three are: Ha Ling Peak (2940 feet of vertical climbing), East End of Rundle Mountain (EEOR to locals) which is 2976 feet of vertical climbing and Mount Lady MacDonald which is 3930 feet of vertical climbing for a total of 9852 feet up and 9852 feet down. My personal challenge is to do this in one long day (probably 12 hours). Yours is to help me achieve my fundraising goal of $1 for every foot up or down or a total of $20,000 (I rounded up)

UPDATE:  I thank all of those who have contributed to the fundraising so generously while at the same time encouraging others to help us get to our new fundraising goal of $30,000 and provide support to more people. Thank you in advance for everyone who is able to support our fundraising for MS. 

When is this happening? Great question, my plan is to pick a day during the week of August 17^th to take on my challenge. Since it will be a solo effort, I will choose a day during the week that is not rainy, and not too hot. The schedule will also allow a couple of weeks for you and your friends to get excited, make your contributions and help me achieve my goal. I plan to send out some updates before the climbing day and live updates on the day of the climb to hopefully stimulate your interest.

Thanks very much for your consideration and support as “WE CHALLENGE MS”.