NORTH BEND – The number of people who have climbed Mount Adams, the second-highest peak in Washington state, is pretty small. The number of 50-year-olds who have climbed the mountain is even smaller. Narrow that list to 50-year-olds climbing Mount Adams to raise money for breast cancer awareness and you have North Bend resident Sarah Moore.
“I want to celebrate my good health,” she said. “I’m blessed to have it at this age.”
Moore hopes to summit the peak on July 24, about a week shy of her 50th birthday on July 30. She will be one of six climbing the peak with help of guides set up by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. All the climbers will be raising money for the climb that will go toward cancer research.
After seeing an advertisement for the climb in the Seattle Weekly, Moore decided to sign up. Moore used to work in research herself at the University of Washington and her sister works in cancer research. The social worker said she has few talents that could raise money, but she does have the will to climb Mount Adams, which is apparently not a technically difficult climb but an exhausting one.
“I can’t dance or sing, but I can hike,” Moore said.
She will start training for the hike in the next few months. Thankfully, Moore said she has one of the best hiking practice mountains right in her backyard, Mount Si. The climbing trainers told her that if a person can hike up Mount Si with a 50-pound pack in less than 3 hours, they are in good enough shape to climb Mount Adams. Moore has reached the peak well under that time, but without the pack.
“With the pack, it’s going to be a whole other story,” she said.
To make the climb worthwhile for the research center, the climbers are required to raise $3,000, no small sum. Moore, a British expatriate, wants to use the opportunity to meet more of her Valley neighbors.
“I moved to North Bend two years ago and I haven’t really been part of the community yet,” she said. “If people are lovely enough to send a check, wonderful, but I want to meet people.”
Every dime Moore raises will go to fighting a devastating disease. One in every eight women will develop breast cancer and it is second only to lung cancer in the number of cases. In 2003, 3,800 women in Washington had breast cancer, 700 of them died.
Since the sun reflecting off the snow can burn the skin, mountain climbers get up in the wee hours of the morning to climb. When Moore gets up at 2 a.m. to summit the mountain, she will be hurting, but she knows every step she takes and every dollar she raises will be worth it.
“I truly believe in research,” Moore said. “We wouldn’t be where we are now without it.”
* To pledge time, resources or ideas for Sarah Moore’s efforts, contact her at (425) 888-4165 or sarahm730@hotmail.com.
