City: Loveland, CO

Profession: Residential Real Estate

Fundraising Goal: $15,777 (summit elevation of Mont Blanc in France/Switzerland)

Describe your event, including location, distance, goals, and activity type:

We are a mother daughter team and will have a guide to the summit of Mont Blanc. Afterwards we will hike Tour du Mont Blanc which is roughly 112.24 mile.

Mont Blanc meaning “White Mountain” is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe rising 15,777ft above sea level. It is the second most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and it is the eleventh most prominent mountain summit in the world.

This will be a 6-day commitment of acclimatization, training, with a 2-day summit window. Roughly 16 miles round trip for the high alpine summit and 10,000+ vertical feet, not including training and acclimatization. We will start in the Chamonix Valley, hike up to Mer de Glace for glacier training and head back down to the valley. Accent up to stay in the Torino hut to gain altitude to assist in acclimatizing. After descending to the valley one last time and repacking for summit attempts, we will then ascend to the Gouter Hut. Weather permitting, we will then summit, yay!

Returning to the valley we will enjoy one Zero Day to repack before heading off to start Tour du Mont Blanc. The TMB makes a complete circumnavigation of the entire Mont Blanc Massif passing through France, Italy, and Switzerland. We will travel through a myriad of scenery and vantage points of MB, admiring the accomplishment of summiting along the way. This trek will take 10 days passing through beautiful alpine villages and remote high mountain cols. We will be camping and carrying our own gear and food all but one day when we stop to stay in Courmayeur to stay at Auberge De la Maison. We have chosen some variants to the standard route for more scenic beauty. The trail concludes in Chamonix, where it all began. The journey will then continue to a stay near the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, Lake Como, Italy for some canyoneering and Florence, Italy to fill our bellies & souls with food & art.

In a few sentences, describe your connection to U2FP, why you chose to run in support of U2FP, and whether you have a personal connection to spinal cord injury and paralysis:

On May 7th, 2022 we went to the viewing of An Accidental Life about Quinn Brett’s recovery which inspired us to make our summit of Mont Blanc a fundraiser for U2FP. Sarah’s uncle, Dan Ashbaugh, had a spinal cord injury as a teenager. His determination and positive attitude propelled him into competitive disabled skiing. He represented the United States at the 1988 Winter Paralympics in alpine skiing. He competed in three events and won three Gold Medals. It certainly did not come easy. There were many surgeries, PT, struggles fitting braces…and the endless list of things that he has to deal with on a daily basis.

Is this your first event like this? If not, what else have you done?

A little back history on us; Sarah and I through hiked the Colorado Trail in 2018 (486 miles). Since then we have been working on climbing all of the Colorado 14ers. We have completed 38. We decided to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc, which is 105 miles in Europe, but have been delayed since Spring of 2020, due to Covid-19. 2022 is the year and we have added the Summit of Mont Blanc before our backpacking.

Do you listen to anything when you train? If yes, what? Both of us: Jay Shetty. Watchhouse (AKA Mandolin Orange)

What are you most excited and/or nervous about?

A new adventure further from home in a new country, while experiencing the outdoors. This is an additional 1,200 ft higher than we have climbed before.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Doing anything in the outdoors puts a smile on our face fills our hearts with peace!

Lorraine: Hiking, climbing, SUP’ing, cycling, running, kite boarding, snowboarding, skiing, eating, and eating. Not competitive, for pleasure only! Goal to finish climbing the CO 14ers in summer of 2023 before Sarah turns 30 in August.

Sarah: Hiking, climbing, swimming in alpine lakes, SUP’ing, cycling, running, skiing, oil painting, meditation, gardening, cooking & playing ball with my dog Acorn.