Tubbs Snowshoes is proud to support Climb for Change: Two Peaks, Two Days, Two Beards, a climb to raise money for Peak 7 Adventures, by donating snowshoes for the ascent of two peaks in two days. The following blog post was written by Landon Faulkner, one of the Two Beards climbing for change:
The crunch of the snow was muted under the ripping wind that bit at our faces. The final push to the summit of Brokeoff Mountain seemed overly laborious due to the wind and snow that seemed to encircle us with each step. I stopped to catch my breath and check our altitude, “400 vertical feet to the summit” I yelled to Andrew who was about 30 feet behind me. He gave me a thumbs up letting me know the message had not gotten lost in the wind. Looking around me everything was white, Lassen Volcanic National Park was living up to the winter wonderland that I had read about.
We continued on and then just a hundred or so vertical feet from the summit the snow stopped and the sky opened up like Moses parting the Red Sea. Blue sky and a warm December sun revealed the summit and a glorious view of a sea of clouds below us and Mount Lassen, a still active volcano, peaking through the low lying clouds on the other end of the park. Taking in the unreal splendor it felt like 9,236 feet might as well have been the summit of Mount Everest. Climbing Mount Brokeoff in late December of 2013 had made an impression on me that I would not soon forgot, a memory of amazing beauty that would be etched in my mind like an ancient hieroglyphs and an unquenchable desire to do it again, only better.
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Climb for Change: Two Peaks, Two Days, Two Beards began to develop over the subsequent year out of the desire to climb Brokeoff again, only better. At first it was just a plan to couple Brokeoff Mountain with Lassen Peak in the winter again, a trip that would cover over 30 miles on snowshoes. However, as the plan developed it became clear that using this climb as a platform my cousin and climbing partner, Andrew, and I could make a difference in the lives of under-privileged youth.
We partnered with Peak 7 Adventures, a non-profit organization from the Pacific Northwest in order to accomplish our gal of reaching out and helping others. Peak 7 provides outdoor adventure programs (whitewater rafting, rock climbing, alpine climbing, etc.) for “at-risk” and under-served youth allowing them to have an opportunity to experience the outdoors at an extremely low cost. Our Climb for Change campaign goal is to support Peak 7 Adventures by climbing two peaks in two days to raise $5,000 on their behalf. All of the money raised goes directly to Peak 7 to provide a greater reach and support of teens they serve.
The actual trip will cover over 30 miles in a park named after a still active volcano. However, don’t let the volcano fool you – Lassen Volcanic National Park receives more snow than any other area in California with an average of 41 feet per winter. Covering that kind of distance, in the dead of winter, in a place with that much snow requires some special gear. Aside from all the long underwear, balaclavas and down jackets, avoiding a 30 mile post-holing hell with some of the best backcountry snowshoes on the market is paramount. The Tubbs FLEX ALPs are just the snowshoe for the job with features that will allow Andrew and I to not only cover the distance safely, but also climb over some aggressive backcountry terrain. We’re stoked to have Tubbs Snowshoes as a sponsor and look forward to our climb on February 21-22 and to reaching our $5,000 fundraising goal. Our hope is that we can have an amazing and safe climb while being able to support the great cause of getting teens outside.
If you would like to support getting under-served youth outdoors please visit www.active.com/donate/climb4change and make a donation of support. For more information about the event visit www.landonfaulkner.com or www.peak7.org.