We were pleased to welcome Mary Ann Castimore, a Christmas tree farmer from Augusta, NJ, as our guest speaker to the March 11th, 2002, NJ OWL meeting. Mary Ann was one of the 12 women in the 1998 expedition that attempted to climb Alaska's Mount McKinley. At 20,320 feet, Mt. McKinley is the highest peak in North America and is one of the most treacherous in the world to climb.

As promised, Mary Ann presented us with an in-depth and personal account of her climb. Her slide presentation, featuring highlights from the "Climb Against The Odds" documentary, brought us closer to the "chilling" challenge she faced. Mary Ann was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1986 and had a modified radical mastectomy. In 1995 she was diagnosed with inoperable and incurable metastatic breast cancer that fractured her sternum. After battling this, she concentrated on two years of training, fundraising and preparing for her McKinley climb to raise hope for women with metastatic cancer.

"I'm doing it so women see it's not hopeless," she said.

Mary Ann shared some of the realities of the climb with us, such as the team being roped together, each carrying packs weighing between 45-70 lbs. and hauling sleds. She explained how they actually had to climb the mountain twice, carrying some of their supplies to the camp, burying it and climbing back to the first camp for the rest. At camp there was snow to be shoveled, walls to be built, tents to set up, prayer flags to be hung and, of course, snow to be melted for drinking water.

Due to an upper respiratory illness some of the members had to end their efforts early in the climb. As the remaining members reached 16,200 feet, they were met with winds of 100 miles per hour. The weather conditions put an end to the expedition and the team was not able to reach the summit.

Mary Ann has truly been an inspiration. Her efforts have brought us to a greater awareness of the "mountains" in our lives that we climb and that we must help others to climb. We applaud her courage and determination and thank her for sharing her experience with us. A donation box was set out to help her with this mission. Members who would like to learn more about the Breast Cancer Fund and the McKinley Climb can visit the organization's web site at www.breastcancerfund.org.

submitted by Susan Buccellato

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