Walking to Everest for Good
By Michael Frank, Adventure Journal on January 10th, 2012
Even getting to Everest Base Camp isn’t easy. Just ask Erika Lederman, who last week reached 18,373 feet on the way to the mountain and was euphoric. She was there as part of a charity-organized climb, Women for Women International, which enlists individuals to raise money for women in war-torn countries so they can rebuild their lives, even as it provides the fundraisers with a non-financial goal — in this case, to trek to Everest base camp. The six-woman team each raised over $15,000 and trekked for 18 days, but at the highest point Lederman suddenly felt funny and in the middle of the trail decided it was time to take a very deep nap. It was the sign of acute altitude sickness. Lederman eventually made it to base camp, a very laudable goal, and blogs that the greater point of removing oneself from the humdrum of “first-world” duties is precisely the point of a trek like this, even if you never summit Everest.
