By Conner Toffan

YMCA kick-starting Strong Kids campaign by simulating climb of Mount Everest

Feb 3, 2019 | 4:53 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Volunteers at the YMCA will be climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest next Saturday.

The goal for the nine climbers is to help raise $5,000 for the YMCA’s Strong Kids.

YMCA’s Strong Kids campaign provides youth and their families with programs and subsidized memberships when they may not be able to afford it themselves.

Last year the Medicine Hat YMCA subsidized about 417 people according to the Medicine Hat YMCA Philanthropy Director, Helene Nicholson.

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Nicholson believes that to kickstart the Strong Kids campaign this year, it was important to showcase their climbing wall. The climbing wall is the only one in Medicine Hat.

“We’ve never taken the opportunity to showcase our climbing wall within the YMCA, it’s become a very popular activity for all ages to engage in Within the YMCA,” said Nicholson.

As for the YMCA volunteers who will be volunteering, the climb has the potential to be gruelling. For Dylan Look, Medicine Hat YMCA Climbing Wall Instructor, he will draw his inspiration from the kids he instructs.

“So many of my students and adults that climb in here are under the strong kids campaign so why not try to give back to the YMCA and promote the only climbing wall in the city,” said Look, “Mount Everest is 29,029 feet from bottom-to-top. Our wall is only 20 feet from bottom-to-top so that means we’re gonna climb it 1,452 times between our eight and a half climbers.”

Originally their was supposed to be ten climbers, but after a shoulder injury and another climber only being able to stay for the first five hours, things got a little tougher for Look.

“I don’t plan on stopping that day because of the fact that we’re short 1.5 climbers. So I want to try and just continuously climb the whole day and maybe eat on the wall somehow,” said Look.

To reach the summit of Mount Everest, each climber will have to reach the top of the wall about 16 times every hour.

Although they have twelve hours to collectively reach the summit, climber Ian Griffiths, who’s also going on a week long ice-climbing trip the next day, wants to do it in ten.

“Sixteen times every hour, it doesn’t sound like a lot but when progress further into the sixth hour and plus it’s gonna be really, really tiring,” said Griffiths, “It should be good, it’s gonna be really tiring for us all. A lot of sweaty people,” said Griffiths.

While the climbing wall will be closed to the public, Nicholson and the climbers are encouraging people to come out and support them during the event.

Donations can be mailed-in, given in-person or online through the Medicine Hat YMCA website.