Editor,

I am safe and down off Mount Rainier. I am tired but no longer wet. After six days of climbing and learning new mountaineering skills, our team was at Camp Schurman—9,400 feet— preparing for our summit attempt.

We went to our tents excited and eager following a beautiful sunset. We awoke to pouring rain and high winds. Our guides put us in a standby mode hoping that the weather might break. We hunkered down in our tents, still hopeful we would get a chance at the summit.

Unfortunately the weather only got worse. At 3 p.m. that day, the decision was made that a summit attempt was not in the cards and we would need to move down to a lower elevation to ride out the storm.

This was disappointing for us all to hear but we knew it was the right decision. This is one of the realities of climbing. One of our guides reminded us that the mountain will always be here.

I am so grateful and humbled by all of the support you all have given me. I am reminded of the truth that often the journey is more important than the destination.

While the disappointment is still there I feel that I have accomplished most of what I set out to do. We raised $6,205. This is awesome! Like I said before, whether you are climbing or supporting a climber, together we do make a difference.

CHRIS KESLER

Freeland