Bethesda man to climb for a cure

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Bethesda man to climb for a cure

by Bradford Pearson | Staff Writer

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Brian Lewis⁄The Gazette

Danny Rogers, of Bethesda, works on his bouldering — a climbing technique — at Earth Treks climbing center in Rockville. Rogers, 24, is participating in the Climb to Fight Breast Cancer later this summer, when he will climb Mt. Adams in Washington state. All money will go to fund breast cancer research.

As Bethesda resident Danny Rogers thumbed through the November 2006 copy of Outside magazine, an advertisement caught his eye. ‘‘The Climb to Fight Breast Cancer,” it read. Within minutes, Rogers had signed up.

‘‘Sometimes I rush into things when I get excited,” the 24-year-old Bethesda resident said. ‘‘But this is okay.”

This summer, Rogers, along with more than 100 other men and women from across the United States, will take part in the Climb to Fight Breast Cancer, a multi-continent fundraiser for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

While others are going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania or Mt. Elbrus in Russia, Rogers is sticking state-side, opting for Mt. Adams in Washington. The climbs take place over the entire summer, starting in early June at Mt. Hood in Oregon and ending with Mt Kilimanjaro in late August.

Each climber must raise a certain amount of money per climb — the higher the peak, the higher the contribution — with Kilimanjaro and Elbrus coming in at $10,000, and Adams at $3,000.

The monetary issue, as well as Rogers’ relative inexperience with alpine mountaineering, made him choose the 12,276-foot Mt. Adams. In terms of all the mountains in the climb, Mt. Adams is in the middle of the heights. Mt. Baker in Washington state is the smallest at 10,781 feet, while Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest at 19,340.

‘‘Most people that do this climb start out with Adams, or Baker and Rainier (two other Washington state mountains involved in the climb), then go to Kilimanjaro or Elbrus,” Rogers said.

According to Rogers, most of the climbers have a personal reason for doing the climb, either having had breast cancer themselves or knowing someone with the disease. While he said no one close to him has had the disease, he added that that doesn’t diminish its importance.

‘‘Just because I don’t have a personal story attached to my climb doesn’t make it less important,” Rogers said.

Rogers, who is a graduate student in quantum cryptography at University of Maryland, began climbing during his undergraduate years at Georgetown University. While he enjoyed climbing, it wasn’t until he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that he began to fall in love with the sport. Rogers climbed every day in New Mexico, but it wasn’t for the reason many climbers do.

‘‘It was more about being outside than the adrenaline rush,” Rogers said. ‘‘I like the technical side of it; it’s like solving a math problem with your hands and feet instead of your brain.”

The Mt. Adams climb, which runs from July 20-22, presents many different kinds of challenges for Rogers. Not being an athlete in high school or college, Rogers said that the physical nature of the climb will be difficult.

‘‘Doing any activity, let alone climbing, above 11,000 feet is challenging,” Rogers said. ‘‘Overcoming the physical challenges of climbing or mountaineering has always been very satisfying to me.”

To prepare for the climb, Rogers trains a few times a week at Earth Treks climbing center in Rockville, and also travels to local mountains like Sugarloaf in Frederick County. In the past Rogers has climbed Wheeler Peak, New Mexico’s highest mountain at 13,161 feet, and Torreys Peak in Colorado, which tops out at 14,267 feet.

The Climb to Fight Breast Cancer is in its 10th year, according to the Hutchinson Center’s Media Relations Manager Christi Loso. What began as a small group of climbers known as the Breast Cancer Research Guild has turned into a global fight to eradicate the most common form of cancer.

The expectations for this year’s climb are higher than ever.

‘‘We set a goal of $500,000 raised this year,” Loso said, ‘‘but with over 100 climbers, we should surpass that easily.”

The fundraiser has earned more than $2.25 million over the past 10 years.

In order to participate in the fundraiser, Rogers has to raise $3,000 by the end of the summer. So far, he has garnered close to $1,600, mostly through donations from family and friends. He has also earned money through donations from his fellow volunteer firefighters at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad.

‘‘A lot of the guys there have done similar things raising money for marathons,” Rogers said. ‘‘It was real nice of them to support me, too.”

Rogers plans to start approaching local businesses for their support in the fundraiser as well, as he not only has to pay to participate in the fundraiser, but also his flight to and from Washington.

‘‘I have never been one to ask for money,” Rogers said, ‘‘so I have to keep reminding myself that they are not giving the money to me, but to the cause of curing breast cancer.”