EverestNews.com
Good Causes (Funds) for 2002
If
you have followed EverestNews.com for a while, you
know we like good causes. We are trying to give just
a little back
for all the good things we have in our lives. As you
know there are so many people in the world in need.
The need is so great.
But if we all try to do just a
little, we can make a difference. For
the Year 2002 we have decided to promote two good
causes on EverestNews.com and our network of web
sites. You, our readers of EverestNews.com, have
helped to build two schools in Nepal. We would like to
continue this traditional by help a friend of ours to build a school in the Tribal
region of the Philippines (amount needed is around
$10,000 US). We also like to help out in the Pakistan
region in ways that we are still determining. Last,
but certainly not least, we would like some of Anatoli Boukreev's
dreams come true!
The
Anatoli Boukreev Memorial Fund
Their
goals are: To promote mutual understanding and
friendship across cultures through a shared love of
mountains and mountaineering. To
support the styles of high-altitude training,
ascent, and environmental sensitivity that Anatoli
exemplified.
Anatoli
Boukreev shared his love of the high mountains with
a passion that transcended national divisions. He
combined his early training in the former Soviet
Union with his extensive Himalayan experience to
achieve new levels of physical and psychological
endurance. Between 1988 and 1997, Anatoli climbed to
summits of eleven of the fourteen 8000 meter peaks
without oxygen-four in a single ninety day
period-establishing difficult technical routes as
well as speed records.
Friendship with his fellow
mountaineers from around the world was as important
to Anatoli as testing his abilities in the
mountains. Even after his death in an avalanche on
Annapurna on December 25, 1997, his example as a
mountaineer and a person has remained an inspiration
to people around the world.
Anatoli’s
Dream! - a personal message from Kevin Cooney
After
Toli’s first trip to the states in 1989, he began
to spend time re-charging between expeditions each
year in Boulder, usually on his way back to
Kazaghstan and then on to the Himalaya. He sometimes
labored as a landscaper for Patrick Healy, saving
valuable American dollars for the next trip. Or
he’d run, ski or climb with Patrick, Beth Wald, me
or other new friends basically anytime we were free.
On winter days Toli would often hang out up at my
house in the hills west of Boulder, diligently
studying his English/Russian dictionary, while
I was off toiling at the office. When I’d
arrive home, he had invariably built a nice fire in
the woodstove, baked bread, and was ready to inquire
about proper usage of the new words he’d learned
that day.
Anatoli
was constantly amazed at the range of modern
equipment we Americans all seemed to have. He
would describe the tattered gear the kids at the
Sports Club in Almaty were using, and some of us
had seen firsthand the Soviet era relics still
seeing hard use when we’d had the opportunity to
visit Russia. Along with help from Gary
Neptune and others (like Lorraine Moller, NZ Olympian
who donated a huge box of ‘extra’ running shoes
from sponsors), Beth and I were able to load Toli up
with extra gear for Toli and the kids he ski coached
back home. Club members were always
appreciative of any modern clothing or equipment.
During Soviet times, what gear there was came
through centrally planned sports programs, and this
pipeline no longer exists. Now, even the best young
athletes often have archaic gear, and yet they
develop strong skills and a love for the mountains
through the club programs.
While
Anatoli had a number of dreams; including
developing graduated-method high-altitude
training camps in America, Europe, and Asia and completing all the
8000 meter peaks. Strong among
these dreams was to help others from his region
experience the mountains and friendships he enjoyed
during his travels. After Anatoli’s death on
Annapurna, I accompanied Linda Wylie to Almaty to
help take care of his belongings, meet his siblings,
and interact with the Sports Club in an effort to
establish an exchange program between Kazak and
Western climbers. We met with the kids (ranging in
age from 9 to early 20s), went for hikes from club
facilities above the city, and were continually
impressed with the strength and ingenuity we saw
from the group of motivated young people. We then
joined a number of the students and their coaches
for a portion of their summer training program in
the Tien Shan range. Through day after day of
rains and snows so thick the big Soviet choppers
would not fly, the campers kept after it, bagging
the slippery 4000m summits rising out of the valley,
cranking up the wood-fired sauna, or cooking up
mounds of fresh mushrooms gathered in the woods.
When the weather finally cleared, the most
experienced club members were off to the North
Innylchek glacier to tackle Khan Tengri (7010m), one
of the world’s most beautiful peaks.
I
was amazed at the respect the kids showed their
coaches. Ludmilla, an Everest veteran who coached
teenagers, had only to nod her head, and one of the
boys would assure teacups were full – or packs
properly prepared for the next day’s outing.
The Boukreev Memorial set up a Fund that provides
opportunities for the Sports Club members to
travel internationally to climb, it assists the Club
in obtaining equipment, and supports an exchange
program between US and Kazak climbers. Anatoli
would like it! He always liked to broaden his
experience through the personal bonding that happens
with partners in the mountains. We believe
when people from different cultures learn to rely on
one another in the mountains, the connections
created will build cultural understanding – one
human at a time.
Anatoli
was a role model for many of the young athletes now
emerging from deep behind the iron curtain.
Not only was he the strongest high altitude climber
of his generation, he had learned to function in
both western and post-Soviet cultures and developed
friendships around the globe. I hope that, in some
small way, we can help others expand their horizons
in their own ways. Kevin Cooney
Kevin
Cooney was one of Anatoli’s
best friends. Let's all try to make Anatoli’s
Dream come true, the way YOU have helped Babu's
dream come true!
The
Anatoli Boukreev Memorial Fund is a 501C3 Not for
Profit Organization. Your gift is tax deductable.
Please let us know if you need a receipt. We do not
sell, or give away names. The
Anatoli Boukreev Memorial Fund have agreed to collect the funds for
these good causes in 2002. The fund donations
here (with these links) will be split 50% to Anatoli
Boukreev 's dream of funding Kazak climbers dreams
and 50% for the relief efforts in the Philippines
and Pakistan as noted above.
To
make a donation send your check to: Anatoli Boukreev
Memorial Fund PO Box 1170 Sandia Park New Mexico
87047 or
make a donation using your
credit card or your checking
account on-line
using Pay-pal here:
When
giving $25 or more by check or by pay-pal for a limited
time only
receive an Anatoli Boukreev T-shirt: Sizes are Small
- Medium - Large - (X large SOLD OUT).
The
shirt is short sleeve, 100% Organic Cotton from
Patagonia. The front of the shirt has a small
oval graphic inside it. The back of the shirt
features the photo of Anatoli that is the signature
photo of our website and the words "Anatoli
Boukreev Memorial Fund"
Do
you have a web site or publication and would like to
help out ?
e-mail
us at everestnews2004@adelphia.net
Past
EverestNews.com funds are here.
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