Climbing a mountain may not be everyone’s idea of a birthday celebration but it’s exactly how Julie Hull wants to commemorate her 50th birthday.
The decision, she said, came after she and her husband, Tom, participated in a Climb to Fight Breast Cancer event last July in honor of their aunts. The Shoreline couple raised more than $15,000 for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and reached the summit of Mount Adams.
“(Mount) Adams was so rewarding to both of us and we raised a lot of money getting to the summit,” she said. “I knew I wanted to do another (climb) and I thought, ‘Well I’m turning 50, this is a great way to give back and stay fit.’”
Following her ascent of Mount Adams, Hull joined a committee of climbers and signed up along with her 16-year-old daughter, Maggie, to climb Mount Rainier. They were each required to raise $5,000 to take part in the climb on July 6-8. Hull’s interest in being part of a pilot climb up two volcanoes in Mexico in late October tacked on an additional $7,500 to their fundraising goal.
Letters to 200 friends, family members, and Maggie’s teachers and classmates explained the pair’s goal in January. Donations helped to meet their minimum fundraising requirement and together, Hull and her daughter exceeded their own expectations by raising $21,930.
In addition to the time they’ve spent fundraising, the pair has been training for their ascent up Mount Rainier in several ways, according to Hull.
“I said part of the stipulation will be you train the way I tell you to train and no whining,” she recalled telling her daughter last December. Maggie agreed and began training during her school year at Proctor Academy in New Hampshire.
Although training is difficult, Maggie said, following a specialized workout plan and playing lacrosse and field hockey helped her to prepare for an average of two hikes and several trips to the gym every week since she arrived home from school in May.
“It kept me fit for most of the spring,” she said. “I feel pretty good because we’ve been training a lot but I can’t really say whether I’m ready or not because I haven’t done it before.”
At first, Maggie said, other people at the gym would wonder about the full packs she and her mother wear while training on the elliptical trainer and the stair stepper.
“A lot of people ask,” she said. “Someone came up to me and said, ‘You forgot to take something off’ and he pointed to my pack.”
The Hulls each carry 30 to 35 pounds of water in their backpacks on day hikes to places including Mount Si and Tiger Mountain. After a slow and steady ascent, the pair pours out about 20 pounds of water for a faster descent. But while they can control the weight of their packs, they couldn’t change the late snow that impeded some of their hikes, according to Hull.
“The weather provided some extra challenges,” she said. “Hikes we would typically do we couldn’t because of the weather,” she said. “Sometimes we’re hiking three miles just to get to the trailhead.”
The climb is Hull’s third and Maggie’s first up Mount Rainier. Both are hopeful the weather doesn’t keep them from reaching the summit.
“I guess you just have to remember the weather is completely out of your control,” Hull said. “The two times I’ve been up there before it’s been crystal clear. I’ve been spoiled.”
If they don’t make it to the summit, Hull said she may be inclined to try again and join another group who is making the same climb in August. Either way she will continue to prepare to climb two volcanoes — Izta and Pico de Orizaba — in Mexico later this year.
“I haven’t been that high before,” she said about the 18,850 foot volcano, Pico de Orizaba. “A lot of the challenge is just seeing how your body reacts to that altitude.”
Hull and her husband also plan to hike from Chamonix, France, to Switzerland in the Alps mountain range in late July with a group of friends. The trip will help her stay prepared to tackle the summits in Mexico, Hull said.
“I think it’s hard. You train, train, train and you just never know if you’re 100 percent ready,” she said.
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