A spring Update: Everest, Alzheimer’s, The Big Project
As spring touches many parts of the northern hemisphere it is still winter here in Colorado albeit with 70 degree highs this week! But one thing is constant around the globe: Everest climbers are already in Kathmandu for the 2009 spring season. As has become my tradition, I am covering all the action on my site. I also want to update you on my Big Project I mentioned in the previous update. Everest 2009 Coverage Over the past few months, I have posted interviews with climbers from Germany, U.K, France, U.S. and more. I have had the honor of interviewing people who make a big difference on Everest such as Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking and his efforts to clean up the mountain with his EcoEverest expedition. Also I interviewed Luanne Freer of Everest+ER – the hospital that provides care for Nepalese and climbers during each season since 2002. Also generous with their time are Russell Brice of Himalayan Experience and Eric Simonson of IMG – two of the biggest names in the Everest guiding community. There has been a great reaction to these interviews by my readers so I invite you to read them. The daily play by play of Everest action has already started as the teams are now reaching base camp. Memories Are Everything: The 7 Summits As I mentioned in my last update, I am working on a big project for 2010 and beyond. I am extremely excited that the Alzheimer’s Association has agreed to join me on the project. They are the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research and the largest nonprofit dedicated to Alzheimer’s issues. If you have friends or family with Alzheimer’s and are looking for assistance, please visit their site or call their 24 hour helpline. They are amazing people with outstanding resources and talents. The project is an ambitious one that builds on the success of The Road Back to Mt. Everest in 2007/8. My objective is to raise $1 million dollars for Alzheimer’s research through a series of global fund raising events. I am calling it Memories Are Everything: The 7 Summits. The events will emphasize the connection between a healthy body and mind. There is a direct connection between staying healthy and warding off Alzheimer’s and other dementia. I will partner with local organizations on each continent for presentations, fund raisers and a local physical event such as a hike or climb of a local hill. The largest event will be an attempt of the highest mountain on that continent – the 7 Summits. Other climbers will join me however the project’s priority is to raise research money for Alzheimer’s. As you can see, this is a huge endeavor that will require extensive logistics and help from organizations around the world. Alzheimer’s does not know country boarders or politics. It affects everyone without selection. As the world ages, without a solution, this problem will impact families of every country – large and small, rich and poor – regardless of their education or medical services. Progress is being made and there is hope. Recently I met with a university professor who has shown some amazing progress on ing Alzheimer’s with a very innovative approach. However the statistics are startling. The California Alzheimer’s Association just reported that the number of Californians with Alzheimer’s disease will nearly double to 1.1 million by 2030, contributing to a jump in ment costs from $50.5 billion to $98.8 billion. Also that Californians ages 55 and older have a one in eight lifetime risk of developing the disease. How You Can Help If you are interested in participating in Memories Are Everything: The 7 Summits, please contact me. Specifically we need experienced organizations for managing the local events, sponsors for the 7 Summits and spets in global public relations and fund raising. The relative costs are low yet the payoff is huge. My Mom Many readers ask me how my mom is doing. She continues to decline and is now in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. Recently she started suffering from hallucinations. She seems to recognize our voices over the phone but does not know who we are even in person, this was not unexpected. Physically she remains in good health but is growing frailer each month. Thanks everyone for signing up for these updates. I only send one every few months and appreciate any comments or feedback. Remember: Memories Are Everything Climb On! Alan
Climbing Videos and Alzheimer's Update
I hope you are having a wonderful summer. I am all recovered and settled in after returning from Everest in late May. I have a few updates to pass on for the website as well as some news on Alzheimer’s research and a great PBS show to air in August. NEW VIDEOS On all of my climbs, I have taken videos in addition to pictures. Now those videos are newly edited, faster to load and easier to view. They can be found on one page and include Everest, K2, Denali, Rainier and more. I’ll be adding more over the summer including one for Longs Peak here in Colorado. I hope you enjoy them. Let me know! click here for the videos NEW CLIMBS Next I have continued to climb adding 7 more Colorado 14ers this summer. I now have climbed 37 of the 54 peaks over 14,000′ in my home state. click here for trip reports and pictures EVEREST 2009 It is never too early to talk about Everest so I have started my coverage for next season with a discussion on my Climbing Forum. My goal is to make it the place for all things Everest 2009. Everyone is welcome! click here for Everest 2009 ALZHEIMER’S UPDATE News is mixed on research breakthrough. Newsweek published an interesting article this week describing some mixed progress on research front. It is a good short read. Also, thanks to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund’s newsletter, I learned of an upcoming PBS program entitled The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s. It will air on Sunday August 3, 2008. Finally a bill titled the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act to increase research funding was introduced in Congress last year. Please contact your Congress Person to ask for their support. The cost is less than $1 per American in 2008. A small price to pay for more research funding. OK, that’s all for now. Thanks for all your support and interest. Remember: Memories are everything. Climb On! Alan
Invitation to the Everest Presentations
Hello, As I mentioned a few dispatches ago, I will be speaking in California and Colorado and hope that you can join me at one of these events. In particular, it would be great to see you at the luncheon on Tuesday, March 4. Regular readers already know that I am returning to Mt. Everest in April 2008 for a special cause that I am very passionate about. I will be attempting the north side with a small team. I have been training extensively for the past year with climbs on Denali, Shisha Pangma, Aconcagua and Orizaba. However, This is more than just about climbing mountains. The Road Back to Mt. Everest: Memories are Everything is my year long journey to raise awareness and $100,000 for Alzheimer’s research. My partner in this endeavor is the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. Please see the invitation below with all the details. Here is a summary of these events: March 3rd 7:00PM – Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (open to the public) March 4rd 12 Noon – Decathlon Club, Santa Clara CA (by this invitation only) March 4th 7:00PM – Decathlon Club, Santa Clara CA (open to the public) In addition to these events, I will be presenting with Ryan Waters of Mountain Professionals on March 13th 8:00M at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder CO. This is open to the public. I understand that many of you do not live in California, Colorado or even the U.S. so please feel free to forward this on to someone you may know in those areas. Please RSVP to Katie Cutler. I hope you will come along on this journey. As usual I will be posting dispatches frequently during the Everest climb. You can sign up for notification on my dispatch page. Climb On! Alan Please Join Us for a Unique Luncheon Memories Are Everything Climbing Mt. Everest to Cure Alzheimer’s Disease Tuesday, March 4 at 12 Noon Decathlon Club 3250 Central Expressway, Santa Clara Tickets $60 (half of which will go to support Alzheimer’s research) RSVP to Katie: kcutler@curealzfund.org or 781-237-3800 We hope you can join us for an intimate gathering to learn about Alan Arnette’s incredible mountaineering experience. To learn more about Alan, visit his website: www.alanarnette.com. Please forward this information or let us know of other friends in the area who would be interested in learning about Memories are Everything or Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. If you cannot attend the luncheon, we will also be having two receptions open to the general public, March 3rd 7:00 PM Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA Phone 650-493-9300 March 4th 7:00 PM Decathlon Club 3250 Central Expressway Santa Clara, CA Phone 408-738-2582 Cure Alzheimer’s Fund is a 501c3 non-profit corporation with Federal Tax ID# 52-2396428. Wines from: Please RSVP to Katie Cutler.
Everest for KiDs
Before I leave for Aconcagua, I want to share with parents, malady teachers, educators and anyone else interested an idea I am working on. I want to invite you to join a special opportunity in 2008 as I return to Mt. Everest. As you subscribers know, this is part of my Road Back to Mt. Everest: Memories are Everything – a year long effort to summit Everest and raise $100,000 for Alzheimer’s research. The opportunity is for students to get personally involved and for educators to incorporate the climb into their curriculum. As students follow my climb, I will call into the classroom a few times and do some Q&A via email. They will learn about the culture, geography and climbing. I will be climbing from Tibet (China) on the north side. The Chinese are taking the Olympic torch to the summit as part of their preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This may be of interest to some. On their side, the students could do some fund raising via events, car washes, etc. for Alzheimer’s. The donations would go directly to Cure Alzheimer’s Fund with 100% of the funds going to research – none to me, my climbing expenses or the CAF’s overhead. In addition to raising money, the cascading impact of increased awareness through the students, their parents and other teachers should be high. A PowerPoint presentation is available upon request that I created for CAF that may be useful in conversations with your School Board. I already have two schools who have “adopted” me. I can probably handle one or two more and would like one from outside the US. Please contact me with your questions or interest. I am leaving for Everest at the end of March. Climb On! Alan
2007 Year-End Update
With the holidays upon us, I wanted to send out a greeting along with a Road Back to Mount Everest: Memories are Everything update. I leave for Aconcagua in a couple of weeks. This will be my second climb of the highest mountain outside the Himalayas. I summited back in 2005. I will be going with and Dave Elmore, the same team that I will go with to Orizaba and Everest. So it will be a great chance to get to know each other better, get some training in and practice some skills at high altitude. I will try to post some dispatches but it is more difficult from South America than in Asia due to having to use the Iridium satellite system. As I reflect on my Journey I want to share some more personal thoughts with you, my subscribers and as always, thank you for your continued support. I am not a professional fund raiser or mountain climber for that fact. I am just a 50 something guy trying to combine two passions in my life: family and climbing. Earlier this year when I began to consider trying to return to Everest something gnawed at me. Climbing is an intensely selfish sport that usually benefits only the person who does it. When I think back to my second attempt on Everest, I think I was guilty as charged. Maybe that is why I didn’t summit. Who really knows? As the raw seriousness of my Mother’s situation set in, I saw her disease – Alzheimer’s – like I never had. She was losing everything that she had experienced over a lifetime. And it would get worse. As I deeply considered tying my climbing with fund raising, I didn’t want to take advantage of my Mother’s situation. I didn’t want to take advantage of friendships. I didn’t want to be that person everyone avoids. I did want to be a champion for raising awareness of Alzheimer’s. I did want to be that person who took risks and accepted hard challenges for a good cause. I did want to help millions who would suffer from this horrible disease. Thus The Road Back to Mount Everest: Memories are Everything was born. With two climbs completed and two more ahead before Everest, I want to thank everyone who has donated or sent me encouragement. I spent some time with my Mom this past week. She is doing well. Her physical health is holding and she has recovered from her broken leg a few months ago. Her mind continues to slip and she knows it. In her words she tells me, “it is all washed away” as she rubs her forehead. I am grateful that I was able to video her remembering her childhood and life. It seems that her oldest memories are the easiest to recall. I am also grateful to the staff that takes care of her on a daily basis. I am told if I don’t ask, then people don’t know so once again I am asking for your donation to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. Remember that 100% of your money goes to research with the highest probability of slowing, stopping or reversing Alzheimer’s disease. No monies go to me, my climbing expenses or the Fund’s overhead. My Everest 2008 climb has been finalized and I will share the details when I get back from Aconcagua and Orizaba. Again, please check the dispatch page for updates directly from the climbs. Until then, I want to wish everyone a great holiday season. Please enjoy the time with your friends and family and make lots of new memories. Please remember: Memories are Everything. Climb On! Alan
The Road Back to Mt. Everest: Memories are Everything
The Road Back to Mt. Everest: Memories are Everything Welcome to the Denali dispatch page. Live updates will start around June 12th. In 2007 and 2008, I will be undertaking a challenging goal. The Road back to Mt. Everest is a year long journey where I will attempt to summit Everest in 2008 plus raise $100, 000 for Alzheimer’s research. In preparation, I will attempt Denali in June 2007, Shishapangma in September 2007, Orizaba in January 2008 and then Everest. In between I will climb more of the Colorado 14ers. Please join me in this journey. Using a system that includes a digital camera, PDA and satellite phone, dispatches I will send dispatches directly from the major climbs. If you are interested in receiving notification of these dispatches from The Road Back to Mt. Everest expeditions or for the Alzheimer’s research fund raising, please enter your email at the top of this page. Your email will never be sold or used for any other reason. Period. You can cancel your subscription at any time. Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease that impacts so many people. Researchers are making great progress but more is needed. The Cure Alzheimer’s Fund is a non-profit organization that raises money and directs targeted research. Their mission statement is to fund research with the highest probability of slowing, stopping or reversing Alzheimer’s disease. The Fund is supported by grants from three families and covers all of their overhead. This means 100% of your donations go directly to Alzheimer’s research! I encourage you to read more about the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund at their website and to give generously today. All your donations to the Memories are Everything fund will be tracked so we follow our goal of $100,000 together. All your donations are tax deductible. Please make your tax deductible donation today to Memories are Everything through the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. All donations go 100% to Alzheimer’s research and none to the climbing expenses. Thank you, Alan