Rebecca Boehm has done about 15 hikes since December, often with her dad, Brian, and dog, Mylie. (Photo by Brian Boehm)

Rebecca Boehm has done about 15 hikes since December, often with her dad, Brian, and dog, Mylie. (Photo by Brian Boehm)

Climbing with compassion: 14,410 feet to fight poverty

Maybe you’ve seen Rebecca Boehm at the gym.

She’s that human Energizer Bunny on the StairMaster — with a backpack full of dumbbells weighing 40 pounds.

“Sweat is dripping everywhere and my lungs burn. When I want to stop, I tell myself ‘I can and I will!’ I also tell myself, ‘I am going to stand on top of the most glaciated mountain in the continental U.S.’ ”

Boehm, 22, is training to climb Mount Rainier in June with a guide. It’s her college graduation gift — not to herself, but to a cause.

She is using the climb to raise money for Compassion International, a Christian humanitarian aid organization for children in poverty.

“I set a goal of $1,441 — or 10 cents for every foot of Mount Rainier’s 14,410-foot elevation. That’s just a minimum goal,” she said.

Boehm said she wasn’t athletic before setting this goal. “I have changed my whole life for this. I quit my job and took summer classes and rearranged my school schedule so I would have more time to train.”

She is counting the days. “Sometimes on a sunny day I see Mount Rainier and am still shocked that I am going to try to stand on top of it. But I am more excited than ever. Training for Mount Rainier is one of the most challenging things I’ve done so far, but it’s nothing compared to the challenge of living in poverty that so many people face. I’m almost done with my education and I really want others who wouldn’t have that chance to be able to get their education.”

Boehm lives in Lake Stevens with her parents, Cindy and Brian, and a black lab mix named Mylie. She went to Running Start at Everett Community College, then transferred to Washington State University, North Puget Sound Everett, where she is majoring in integrated strategic communication.

Talk about what inspired this trek.

In January 2015, I went on a volunteer trip to Telangana, India, where I spent a week distributing shoes to two children’s homes, an HIV clinic and a rural village. We were connecting shoes that big companies had donated to people who really needed them.

When I got home, I felt useless. I hadn’t made any sort of difference in anyone’s lives all week. I was relaxing and praying about what to do next. Suddenly, I sat straight up and said out loud, “I’m going to climb Mount Rainier as a fundraiser for children in poverty.”

I was shocked to hear myself say that. I was flooded with questions and leapt up to grab my laptop and start researching. I learned that people can climb Mount Rainier with various guides, and that they have to sign up months in advance. They also train for months, which sounded intimidating because I have never been athletic.

In the next few months, I thought about Mount Rainier more and more. I prayed if this is where I’m supposed to go, that my passion for it would grow. Now I get butterflies in my stomach when I am driving on I-5 and come around a bend and the mountain is out.

I also started working out. Not being athletic, I knew I needed to build up a base of fitness before I signed up. Slowly and nervously I started telling my friends and family about Mount Rainier. I was nervous to tell them because once I said it out loud, that meant I was committed. I also wrote down my goal and made a painting of Mount Rainier to remind me of my goal every time I looked at it.

I decided if I wanted to do this, I had to give 100 percent. It felt like a now-or-never opportunity. If I waited until I was too far out of school, I might get too settled into a career and never go for it. By spring of 2016, I was mentally committed to signing up to climb Mount Rainier.

I signed up to climb Mount Rainier with Alpine Ascents on June 17 to 19. Alpine Ascents is a Seattle-based mountaineering guide service.

After I signed up I felt a wave of relief. I am going to do this. No backing out. No more worrying, “Am I really going to try this?”

How did you select the charity?

Compassion International works in many countries to alleviate poverty as well as other humanitarian goals. I have sponsored children in their programs since I was 13 or so and used babysitting money to pay for the sponsorship. For $38 a month you can provide nutrition, clean water, access to education, healthcare and a safe place after school. The idea is if you can provide the things kids need to stay in school (food, clothes, books) and the opportunity to get an education, that will break the cycle of poverty for that family. You can also exchange letters and pictures with the kids you sponsor.

Talk about your training.

For training, cardio, endurance and strength are all important. Increasing lung capacity is crucial for your lungs to adjust properly to serious hiking at a high altitude. A main reason the success rate of guided Mount Rainier climbs is only 60 percent is altitude sickness. On top of Mount Rainier, there is only two-thirds the amount of oxygen as sea level. The best way to train for a climb such as Rainier is to spend as much time hiking as possible. My dad, who is an avid hiker, started hiking every Friday with me. He is coaching me and teaching me about hiking.

We started doing 4- or 5-mile hikes with 15 pounds in my backpack and are increasing hike length, pack weight, elevation gain or pace every week. Rain, wind or snow is not a reason to cancel a hike. My dad has taught me that you need to train for mental toughness as much as physical strength, and hiking in bad weather flexes that mental toughness muscle. We have done 15 hikes since December.

I spend 60 to 90 minutes on a StairMaster with a weighted pack at Fitness Evolution in Everett four times a week. Eventually I will work up to two hours with 50 pounds.

In the weights area I usually have my backpack with me and get some comments like, “Oh, I’ve seen you around, always on the StairMaster. You’re crazy.”

Biggest fear: Not making it to the top. I would be very upset if there was a storm that kept us away, but I would be completely devastated if I didn’t make it because of me not training hard enough.

People would be shocked to know: That before I signed up for Mount Rainier I refused to even try to run the mile in high school. I really did not enjoy exercise before this project.

Three things in your fridge: Avocado. Adams Creamy Peanut Butter. Pasta.

Pet peeve: Slow drivers and trestle traffic in the morning.

If you could have a drink with anyone dead or alive: It would just be my friends and family. I haven’t been able to spend as much time with them as I like to while I’m in school and training for Rainier.

Guilty pleasure: Watching “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.”

Do you know someone we should get to know better? Send suggestions to abrown@herald net.com or call 425-339-3443.

For more, go to www.actforcompassion.com/14-410-for-poverty or www.facebook.com/rebeccaclimbsrainier.

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