Countdown to Kilimanjaro
The first of the 7 Summits that I will be attempting for the 7 Reasons Project is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point on the African Continent. I will begin the Lemosho route on September 17th, 2025.
7 Reasons Project
Life is a beautiful gift that ought to be cherished, but life is not always easy. As an engineer, pilot, and amateur adventure sports athlete, problem solving has long been one of my deepest passions. The 7 Reasons Project is about solving an ever growing and critical problem in the world -what many sources call the mental health crisis.
I lived much of my life not understanding this problem, but during my mid-twenties, a life event caused my mental health to suffer. Since I wasn’t able to identify what was happening, it took hold of my life in ways that I never expected. Through personal courage and the relentless support of others, I can proudly say that I learned how to identify, understand, and move through that difficult time in my life.
In 2023, I introduced an ambitious personal project with the goal of helping others learn how to understand and work through their own mental health struggles: The 7 Reasons Project. In a single word, this project is about survival. If you do not survive that difficult period of your life, you will never be able to see the beauty of the healing that is found on the other side. 7RP is about finding ways to make it through.
For the project, I will attempt to climb the 7 Summits. While doing this, I will also have my sights set on traveling to the South Pole and, if possible, the North Pole under my own power to complete what is commonly known as the “explorers grand slam” -all for the purpose of helping others find hope, and destigmatizing the mental health conversation.
Sadly, trekking to the North Pole may no longer be possible due to climate change warming and rapidly melting the ice cap. While the South Pole in Antarctica is on an ice cap on top of a land continent, the North Pole is a point in the middle of the Arctic Ocean that has historically been covered in sea ice -now, that is changing. The last successful mission to the North Pole was in 2014, and even then, the two travelers had to swim some of the way in dry suits since the ice was melted in those areas. All attempted missions since 2014 have been unsuccessful due to lack of solid ice, such as a critical ice runway cracking in 2023.
As I do these things, I intend to raise awareness (and possibly money) for mental health resources that I trust. I will share my story, and encourage others to share their stories as well. I aim to show people who are struggling that they can overcome any mountain that is in front of them, regardless of how daunting it may appear (this picture is from Everest Base Camp, 2014).
Ground Rules
1) Safety first: no summit is worth life or limb. Myself or my team will never intentionally climb into dangerous conditions, and we will do everything in our power to avoid unnecessary risk. We will always sacrifice a summit to save or help anyone on the mountain in need, including those outside of our party.
2) There is no time limit for this project. The only real time limit is my lifetime, but even if that comes to pass before the project is complete, I intend to pass the project on to someone else so that it’s objective lives on. This project is about improving the lives of people, not climbing mountains. It just so happens that doing hard things like climbing peaks and running races inspires people, and helps raise awareness for important issues.
3) I reserve the right to change any of these objectives at any time. Again, the point is to make lives better by improving society’s relationship with, and understanding of, mental health issues. If any of these physical goals become too out of reach, too unsafe, or simply undesirable to complete, then I will change the criteria of the project.
Picture taken in Pangboche, Nepal, on the way to Everest Base Camp in 2014.
The 7 Summits
The Seven Summits are the highest points on each of the seven continents.
1) Mount Everest, Asia (29,032 feet)
2) Aconcagua, South America (22,838 feet)
3) Denali, North America (20,322 feet)
4) Kilimanjaro, Africa (19,341 feet)
5) Mount Elbrus, Europe (18,510 feet)
6) Mount Vinson, Antarctica (16,050 feet)
7) Puncak Jaya, Australia(ish) (16,024 feet)
And since there are different interpretations of the Seven Summits, any good climber will also add:
-Mont Blanc, Europe (15,781 feet)
-Mount Kusciuszko, Australia (7,310 feet)
On Foot
South Pole
North Pole (if possible)
Originally for this project, I had the goal of accomplishing a 100-mile ultramarathon as well. That goal is currently on hold as I recover from a knee injury that I sustained during a 100km race attempt in October of 2024. My doctors have since cautioned me to reconsider distance running, and my current goal is to heal enough to re-attempt the 100km race (62 miles). On the first attempt, I made it 52 miles, but was not able to complete the last 10 miles due to my knee injury slowing me down so badly that I did not make the cutoff time. If I can successfully complete the 100km race within the next few years, then I will have my sights set on the 100-miler! For now, progression, healing, and trying not to be dumb…
Vision
What does climbing mountains and running races have to do with helping people? In my opinion, a lot. For some reason, doing hard things inspires people. Throughout my life, I have been inspired by stories of other people overcoming incredible odds and doing incredible things.
These kinds of stories give us hope. They show us that incredible things are possible. They show us that we, too, can do incredible things.
The Vision of the 7RP is to inspire others by doing incredible things. Its as simple as that. I firmly believe that this vision will lead to a multitude of other positive outcomes like helping people heal from trauma, helping people find purpose and passion, and cultivating a community of people who are passionate about helping to solve the mental health crisis.
Follow the journey at https://www.instagram.com/7reasonsproject/