Rick Safe and on His Way Home

Teed up to scale Mt Everest’s peak

In the latest voice message sent via sat phone earlier today, Kids Alive supporter and veteran mountain climber Rick Poole, sounding tired yet confident, said he and his team are now teed up to scale Mt Everest’s peak early tomorrow (Nepal Time).

Rick and his team are now 6,000 feet shy of Mt Everest’s summit as they await their turn to scale the peak. At 23,500 feet above sea level, Rick is about 3,000 feet higher than the summit of Mount Denali which he climbed a few years ago.

The vagaries of weather at this altitude impose a narrow window of time to scale Mt. Everest’s summit. This is compounded by the fact that there is only one-lane passage to go up as well as to descend Everest. To avoid traffic jams and ensure safety, the climbers are led to the top in batches.

This year Nepal Department of Tourism has issued a record number of Everest climbing permits: 381. According to The Himalayan Times, over 200 climbers attempted to scale Everest’s summit this morning. Accompanying the climbers to ensure their safe passage as well as to carry climbing gear are 500 local expert Sherpa climbers.

Rick, in his usual understated way, commented, “Walked up here this morning, went up the Lhotse Face again. A little slower going today, not because of us – it was a pretty busy day on the ropes and these people are having a hard day and there's really nowhere to go, so it's okay.” Lhotse Face runs at a steep incline of 30 degrees covered with snow and ice.

Rick Poole, veteran mountain climber, businessman, husband, father, and longtime supporter of Kids Alive, is committed to raising $1 for every one of the 29,035 feet he will climb! Rick’s goal is to benefit the children of Dominican Republic as they scale the mountains in their own lives and climb toward bright futures.

Please join Rick with your financial and prayer support and follow his final ascent via this blog and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KidsAlive/.

Rick Poole and his family with Kami Rita Sherpa who has scaled Mount Everest 25 times and is now Rick's climbing guide.

Record breaking news!

Kids Alive supporter Rick Poole has now exceeded Noah’s “40 day” record! Unlike Noah, however, Rick is not in an ark on water, but trudging in snowshoes soled with Jaws’ teeth, crossing deep crevasses on flexible aluminum ladders.

In Rick’s latest audio message, he documents his 41^st day on the mountain, his weakened voice and labored breathing competing with the howling winds around him. Between gulps of air, he describes his climb from Camp 1 to Camp 2 and the stamina it demanded. Now at 21,500 feet above sea level, the formidable challenge that Everest poses becomes even more real.

“That [Khumbu] icefall is crazy beautiful – a little scary, but beautiful. Everyone did great,” says Rick. This weekend he and his team will scale Camp 3 at an altitude 24,000 feet, a new record for Rick and his fellow climbers.

Scaling Everest requires going up, then down, and then back up again! At this altitude, climbing is a tremendous strain on the body, and returning to a lower altitude relaxes it, building resilience to then climb even higher. The journey from here gets steeper, as Rick scales the face of the world’s fourth-highest peak, Lhotse, at a gradient of 30 degrees on his way to the top of Mt. Everest.

Rick Poole, veteran mountain climber, businessman, husband, father, and longtime supporter of Kids Alive, is climbing Mt. Everest to raise $29,035 for at-risk children and orphans. That is $1 for every one of the 29,035 feet he will climb! Rick’s goal is to honor and support the children of Dominican Republic as they scale the mountains in their own lives and climb toward bright futures.

Please join Rick with your financial and prayer support and follow his ascent via this blog and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KidsAlive/

Summiting Mt. Everest

Kids Alive supporter Rick Poole made it to the top of the world’s highest peak!

Rick With Kids Alive Flag at Base Camp

In the latest report received by Kids Alive from Camp 4, Rick successfully made it to the rooftop of the world at 29,035 feet above sea level on 23 May at 11:15 am local time.

The Geneva Spur

Rick’s every step to the top of Mt. Everest had to be meticulously calibrated, tested, and then executed. There was no room for mistakes. One misstep could plunge him down the face of Mt. Lhotse at an incline of 30-40 degrees, or worse, send him down one of the many bottomless crevasses in the Khumbu Ice Fall. Each step came with a grim reminder of his fragility and mortality.

This is similar to the reality faced by many children before they arrive at a Kids Alive site.

Rick was moved by the sight of some of the children he encountered during his visit to Dominican Republic with Kids Alive. It moved him profoundly enough to commit to raise $1 for every foot he climbed to the top of Everest. Rick is raising money, as he puts it, “to put a smile on the faces” of children. These are at-risk kids who navigate the formidable Everests in their own lives, climbs which, without your intervention, can lead them down deep crevasses of injustice and poverty.

Camp 4

Rick and his fellow climbers left Camp 4 at 26,400 feet and trudged all the way up via South Col to reach the summit, scaling the last and the most treacherous 2,635 feet leading to the summit over an area known as the “Death Zone.” This last section had to be scaled within 24 hours as the altitude, weather, and physical endurance of the human body is subjected to extreme conditions. One 55-year-old climber from Utah who went ahead of Rick is believed to have died of cardiac arrest on his way back from the summit.

Will you join us in praying Rick and his team back down the mountain safely? And please encourage him by “putting a smile on the children’s faces” – give a gift that represents 200, 100, or 50 feet of Rick’s climb to the top!

Rick with his family at Base Camp

Click below to watch more on climbing Mt. Everest, courtesy Google Earth: