Andrew Reamer, Michael Higdon, Jay Cordes, Cassandra Loomis, Liz Bridgforth, Todd Phillips, Beth Schriner, Chris Dominick, Billie and Travis Hubbs, Jim Printz, Steve Clark, Christine Burton, Rob Kossowsky, & Thomas Heffernan

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Thomas Heffernan
Thomas D. Heffernan, age 41, has a passion for adventure and the outdoors, especially rock climbing and mountaineering. Tom has been climbing since his early twenties, having climbed big walls such as El Capitan in Yosemite and Looking Glass Rock as well as alpine rock climbs such as Grand Teton in Wyoming and numerous other famous crags. In recent years, Tom has focused on mountaineering having climbed Mt. Elbrus, Mt. Whitney, and Mt. Washington (winter ascent) with The Last Well. Tom became a Christ follower in his early thirties after concluding that this world is empty without God at the center. Struggling with a foot in two worlds for many years, Tom fully devoted his life to Christ in 2007 after returning from a mission trip to India and feels blessed to have been introduced to The Last Well which combines his love of Christ with his love of the outdoors. Professionally, Tom is the founder of Business Shapers, a firm providing accounting and financial management services to businesses under $10 million in size. Tom is also an accomplished serial entrepreneur having founded, built, developed, and grown numerous multi-million dollar businesses across multiple industries since 1993. Tom continues to serve on the board of two multi-million dollar businesses. In addition to his wide breadth of corporate experience, Mr. Heffernan honourably served his country in the early 1990’s as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Tom also currently serves on the board The Last Well. Tom and his wife Arielle have one child, Shiloh, and reside in northern Virginia.

Michael Higdon
Having reached the Whitney summit last spring, Michael is taking on his second domestic peak with Last Well. Originally from California, Michael and his wife Jamie live on Capitol Hill where they attend multi-site National Community Church. Michael has worked in politics for 11 years, although it feels like it has been about three lifetimes. He enjoys backpacking, travel, snow skiing, getting his jeep wrangler dirty, and spending time with friends. While scaling Whitney was a 2009 highlight, a three day wedding festival in the Carolina mountains with family and friends definitely takes the cake. Defying their parents better judgment, the Higdons put on a wedding day 5K Run, “Tying the Knot Charity Trot” (Thanks Jay!) and raised $5000 to support Christian AIDS Hospice work in South Africa.

Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips is the teaching pastor of Frontline (www.frontlinedc.com), a generational church-within-a-church at McLean Bible Church near Washington D.C. with over three thousand young adults attending weekly at seven campuses. Frontline has been called the “first mega-church within a mega-church in the country.” Todd’s primary passion is reaching ‘pre-Christians’ with the life saving message of Jesus Christ. He reflects that passion in his book, “Spiritual CPR: Reviving a Flat-lined Generation,” (www.toddphillips.net) which is available in book stores everywhere. Before his arrival at Frontline, Todd served as pastor for three generationally targeted evangelistic ministries in Texas: Austin Metro, San Antonio Metro, and The Soul Café in Kerrville. These three ministries combined reached over twenty thousand young adults with the Gospel. He is now focused on reaching young adults in the nation’s capital, believing passionately that if the church can change young adults in D.C. with the Gospel, we can change the world. In his latest effort to empower young adults to change the world in the name of Christ, he has written a study titled, “Get Uncomfortable: Serve the Poor. Stop Injustice. Change the World…In Jesus’ Name.” (www.threadsmedia.com). In addition, Todd is the President and Founder of The Last Well (www.thelastwell.org), a non-profit organization which aims to provide safe, affordable drinking water to the entire nation of Liberia and preach the Message of Jesus Christ to those they serve. Todd holds a BBA from Concordia University, a Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is a May 2010 candidate for graduation with his Doctorate of Ministry from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife Julie live in Sterling, Virginia with their three children: Parker, Katherine, and Raney Grace.

Chris Dominick
In 2007 the Lord lead Chris on his first mission trip to Africa where he learned first hand how fundamental clean water was to health, prosperity and even life in Zambia and had his heart captured by the people of Africa. Then while waiting to return home he read a detailed article about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and was fascinated. Upon returning home he put up a big picture of the mountain over his desk. The next year the Last Well Ministry was formed and 3 of the climbers on the first trip were members of his bible study and good friends, intriguing him even more. Then in 2009 God provided him the opportunity of a lifetime. Longing to return to Africa he learned that two of his great friends would be leading a mission trip to Tanzania in a unique endeavor that would combine mission work for 9 days with Global Impact (McLean Bible Church’s mission arm) and the Last Well and would end with an attempt to climb Kilimanjaro! Talk about clear guidance. He threw himself into training for 6 months dropping 85 lbs on the way and in the end summited “Kili” with all 23 members of his team as they raised a substantial amount of funds for the people of Liberia. The Last Well is now Chris’s favorite and primary mission focus and he will be participating in the spring climb of Mt. Rainier and Lord willing many future climbs for the sake of the people of Liberia and the glory of Christ.
Chris is a longtime resident of Northern Virginia and has been a real estate broker for many years. He is a graduate of Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!). His other ministry activities include Access Ministry, which is McLean Bible Church’s ministry for children with developmental disabilities. This ministry speaks to his heart and is obedient to God’s calling in life to stretch in service. He is also a counselor in the Crown Financial Ministry which helps instruct people on biblical financial stewardship and takes advantage of his business and finance background. He also enjoys working with the Love Your Neighbor ministry which helps local elderly homeowners without means to repair their homes, making use of his meager skills with tools. Chris is also an ardent patriot and is the resident “old school” member of the team.

Jim Printz
Jim Printz has been passionately involved with The Last Well since its inception. Through TLW he has been blessed on many levels to be a part of solving the water crisis for the nation of Liberia and its wonderful people. He has had many valuable learning experiences along the road of that exciting journey. Jim runs a residential custom building and remodeling company, North Shore Design which serves the Virginia-Metro area since 2002. He is blessed to have his wonderful and supportive wife Jensina and their sweet five month old Rachel Lee. Along with the Lord they are everything. He actively attends McLean Bible Church, has been involved in various missions related activities over the years and has a deep passion for travel, making friends and extending the Kingdom along the way.

Andrew Reamer
Andrew was born in Saginaw, MI and lived there until age six. He then moved to Brentwood, TN, where he spent most of his life. Andrew was heavy into travel soccer, and later went on to play soccer for a few years for Virginia Tech. He also enjoys wakeboarding, snowboarding, playing and writing music, and most recently mountaineering. At VT he studied Engineering, but finished with a degree in Interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in Business and English. After college he moved up to Northern Virginia to work in Real Estate and now is a principal in one of the most progressive real estate management firms in the D.C. area. The firm helps fight the war on foreclosures nationwide, protecting homeowners’ credit and decreasing their financial liability through many facets of loss mitigation.
Andrew’s Christian journey began his sophomore year in High School through Young Life at Frontier Ranch in Colorado. He found his Christian passion through fellowship amongst exciting adventures such as hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains and sailing from Miami to Nassau with a crew of 18 his Senior Year. Andrew’s biggest influences are his parents, his brother, Coach Ron Pratt, Young Life Leader Jason Swain, and Tom Heffernan. Andrew now lives in Fairfax, VA. He hopes to be an integral part of The Last Well movement and the return of the United States economy.

Jay Cordes
Jay Cordes is a Christ-follower who routinely attends Frontline Arlington. He loves any athletic adventure and is always excited to listen and share his perspectives on life and faith. Growing up in NJ, Jay got a taste of the outdoors while finishing his degree in Sociology and Psychology at a small state school in NH. Jay, 25, for the past few years has been giving back to the community by running before and after-school programs for elementary school students. Last year Jay successfully summitted Mt. Whitney with fellow Last Well climbers and he is eagerly awaiting the challenges that Mt. Rainier has to offer, Jay is very excited to see what God will teach him on the mountain this time and bring living water to the nation of Liberia.

Cassandra Loomis (picture only)
Cassandra Loomis, 28, is a Christian, non-starving Artist with wandering feet. She grew up in a Christian home in Virginia and has enjoyed the excitement and surprise that comes from allowing God to plan her life. In 2003, she graduated from VCU with a degree in Illustration. Currently, Cassandra works for Trader Joe’s as a sign artist, painting murals in the back of the Washington D.C. grocery store. She has also moonlighted painting portraits and restaurant murals to help fund many adventures.
As a bibliophile who has been inspired to seek out adventure from reading one too many exploration books, she’s an avid traveler. Each new place she travels to brings an even stronger curiosity to see more. Most recently she visited her 6th continent – Antarctica – this past year and found what will be a life long passion for the ‘South.’
She’s a small group leader for McLean Bible Church and has a heart for missions. Some of her mission trips have included: painting murals in a rehab hospital in Romania with CTL (Children To Love), painting locally in a DC middle school, and helping to build a house in Mexico. This past October, she walked in the Susan G. Komen 60 mile walk for the cure, to honor family members who have battled breast cancer.
Mount Rainier will be her first climb, and she is looking forward to both the preparation and experience. The ultimate satisfaction will come from knowing that we are coming closer to providing clean drinking water for all the people of Liberia.

Liz Bridgforth (picture only)
Lyz Bridgforth, 24, is happiest when she is on an adventure, building friendships, experiencing different cultures and being in the great outdoors.
Lyz currently works at the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries as an advertising coordinator. At the galleries she promotes the arts and culture of Asia, where she studied and began her relationship with Christ. She is passionate about her hobbies, which include modern dance, choreographing, and learning Mandarin.
Lyz, a native of Danville, VA and graduate of the College of William and Mary, moved to Washington D.C. after a seven month stint working on a cruise ship which traveled throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
Lyz is incredibly thankful for McClean Bible Church and the community she has been able to build within it. She has been attending Frontline, Arlington for two years and actively participates in a bible study and frequently volunteers with community outreach initiatives.

Beth Schriner
Beth Schriner, originally from the flatlands of Ohio, moved to Virginia and decided to start hiking when she saw the far more varied terrain of the Shenandoahs. She has been actively involved in church as long as she can remember and has been very blessed by opportunities she has had to serve both in the U.S. and abroad. The Last Well offers her a chance to do a few things she loves – be outside in God’s awesome creation and raise money to help solve a country’s clean water crisis. She climbed with the Last Well team on Mt. Whitney in California. She also did Mt. Washington in New Hampshire after Christmas with her 3 brothers (who are also outdoor enthusiasts). While she’s not out hiking, you can most likely find her teaching high school Spanish, an ESOL class, or at an art museum.

Billie and Travis Hubbs
Travis loves Jesus and enjoys trekking around in his creation. He was exposed to hiking at the age of 3 in the Smoky Mountains, and has been doing it ever since. In 2004, he went with a Christian mission organization to the Yunnan Province of China, and backpacked through the mountains to search for an unreached people group that had never heard the gospel. Billie grew up on a farm in south Alabama, the youngest of seven girls. She is an avid horseback rider and overall water person – surfing, scuba diving, and skiing. She met Travis in 2001 and was introduced to the mountains – hiking, biking, and a new kind of skiing. Their hiking trips have included the Appalachian Trail, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain NP, Olympic NP, Yosemite NP, Acadia NP, and areas in Montana and Alaska. After graduation from Auburn Unversity in 2005, they married and moved to the DC metro area for Travis’ job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a Regulatory Investigator/Mediator. Billie is currently employed with an information technology firm doing capital planning.
Their mutual passion for the Lord and the outdoors has led them to serve alongside the Last Well. They have attended McLean Bible Church for the last 3.5 years, and are involved with a bible study as well as various other ministries. This is their first trip with the Last Well.

Steve Clark
Steve Clark, 29, is a Christian adventure seeker who was born and raised just down the road in Winchester, Virginia. In 2004 Steve graduated from George Mason University with a degree in Management Information Systems and currently works as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. He discovered McLean Bible Church while attending GMU and has enjoyed being involved in several ministries, including The Last Well. In February 2009, Steve was fortunate to climb Mt. Washington, one the tallest and most formidable mountains on the east coast, with fifteen believers from the The Last Well. Steve is excited to see God work through The Last Well to spread the gospel and provide clean water to the entire nation of Liberia. He is married to Mallory Clark and they live in Sterling, Virginia.

Christine Burton
Christine grew up in a military family and as an Army brat was provided the opportunity to live in numerous states and overseas in Germany as well as to travel to various foreign countries. This life cultivated a desire to experience new situations and undertake exciting adventures. Christine graduated from Western Kentucky University with a degree in Business Management. She moved to the DC area several years ago after a local internship had peaked her interest in the area and she sought employment in the region. She currently works as an Operations Analyst. Christine is fluent in German and is an avid caver and board member of the Potomac Speleological Club. Mountaineering was on the list of activities to try when Christine, a Christian, began praying for an opportunity to do God’s work in a way she could become passionate about. Enter an announcement at MBC about The Last Well’s climbs to promote the cause of clean water shortage and contamination in Liberia to both seek financial support to combat this crisis and spread the message of Jesus. God had again opened a door.

Rob Kossowsky
Rob Kossowsky, 27, was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and is the second of four children. He attended the University of Rochester (NY) where he earned degrees in Economics and Political Science. Rob currently attends McLean Bible Church and serves on leadership teams within the Frontline Athletics and Small Groups ministries. Rob’s most recent endeavor was a Global Impact missions trip to Peru where his team helped with reconstruction efforts on a children’s center that was destroyed during a 2007 earthquake. His passion for adventure and growing compassion for struggling people around the world led him to The Last Well. Having lived in the Seattle area for a short spell, Rob is excited about the prospect of raising awareness and support for the clean water crisis in Liberia while attempting to conquer “the mountain” that he became enamored with as a child.

Mount Rainier is a special mountain.  A dormant stratovolcano located 54 miles southeast of Seattle, at over 14,000 feet, Rainier towers over the skyline and is the highest mountain in Washington and the Cascade Range.  Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states with 26 major glaciers and miles of permanent snowfields.  The three-day ascent up the Ingraham Glacier/Disappointment Cleaver is the most popular climb on the mountain. After a 4800 foot ascent, our first night is spent in a private hut at Camp Muir (10,080 feet). Our second night is in a remote tent camp at 11,000 feet granting better acclimatization, training time, a shorter summit day, and a wilderness experience.

To participate, please download and complete the attached application by January 17, 2010.  If you’re still not sure, please attend a Last Well interest meeting on January 17, 2010 immediately following the Frontline service.

View the Flyer! Last_Well_Rainier_Flyer_Final

And the Application 2010_Application_with_2_trips_Rainier

What an amazing accomplishment of God through The Last Well!

Please check back as the web team creates a map with showing completed and ongoing water well projects in the country of Liberia.

View the full reports here!  lwi-liberia-rehab-23-short-reports-second-batch-may-2009

…and here! LWI Liberia rehab 23 short reports- May 2009

As of January 2009 The Last Well is an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit. A special thanks to those who made this happen.

February 26 – March 1, 2009 The Last Well will be taking a team to do a Winter Summit of Mt. Washington, NH. This time the team is made up of new and veteran members of the Mt. Elbrus expedition. For being a rather short mountain at just 6,288ft, Mt Washington is home to some of the world’s most extreme weather. During winter months it is not atypical to see temperatures in the -20 degree farenheit range with wind chill. It is also noted that Mt Washington holds the worlds fastest recorded wind gust at 261mph. Bundle up team! We’ll pray God keeps you warm and safe!

In April 2009 The Last Well be doing another stateside climb. We’ll be traveling to California’s Inyo National Forest to attempt to summit Mt. Whitney – the Highest peak in the lower 48 United States. Mt. Whitney is 14,505ft and is positioned in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. An interesting fact is Mt. Whitney, the highest point, is only 2 hours away from the lowest point in the United States – Badwater (Death Valley), CA. Pray for their safety – that’s bear country!

The most exciting news to announce is the partnership of Global Impact, the world missions arm of Frontline, and The Last Well. In June of this year two teams totaling 26 members will be traveling to Africa for two weeks. Week one will be spent with Manna doing outreach work in Arusha, Tanzania. Week two the teams will attempt a summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro – the Highest point in Africa and one of the fabled Seven Summits. This is an amazing oppurtunity for all organizations involved and a chance to continue sharing our faith while pursuing our passions.

Please check back for more information as the details for each one of these trips develop.

The Last Well

*tentatively scheduled for 2011

In Vail, Colorado on October 19, 2000, I started my very first “Life’s 100,” which Jack Nicholson’s PR agency has since instructed me to call a “Bucket List.”  Never mind the fact that I couldn’t think of 100 items right off the bat.  The very first strokes of the pen jotted the aspiration of climbing Mt. McKinley, as part of a larger goal of climbing the Seven Summits.  I had become aware of the first-time feat achieved by Dick Bass through a recent article.

I have to admit mountaineering may not have qualified as a true passion at the time – let alone my life’s purpose.  If it were, I would have prioritized climbing 14ers in my spare time, wracked up tons of experience, and built an impressive resume of summits.  Perhaps I might even have pursued it as a way to earn a living.  Instead it remained my favorite daydream, and felt like a promise waiting to be filled.

At that point, I already knew that I was moving the following autumn to Washington DC to finish college at American University.  Nonetheless, I began to research the Seven Summits task and started attempting to recruit friends to join me in the quest.  I priced permits and gear for McKinley, evaluated the possibility of every summer, and took a spring break in Chile to visit Aconcagua’s Andes.  My planning was going nowhere.  Worse still, I had sharply departed from Christ and his teachings over the course of those years.

By the time late 2005 rolled around, I finally realized that I needed a serious course correction.  I joined a Bible Study and recommitted myself to following my Savior.  Late last year, I went on my first mission trip since high school, to India.  Every step of the way, God flawlessly illuminates more of His truth – and then patiently renews my heart to implement it.  Just as He was revealing that I could do more to meet the material and spiritual needs around me, the Elbrus Expedition presented itself as the opportunity.

When I say I cannot recall ever thinking about Mt. Elbrus, much less planning for it, I am quite serious.  But God has given me a direction and then provided a completely unforeseen path of His own in my life before.  The challenge is usually to remember his abiding faithfulness and take heart from it.  I’m sure I’ll be reminding myself of these words soon enough.

And so I found myself at 13,000′ with a team of men that I didn’t know a year prior, preparing for a summit more than 4,000′ higher than I’d ever been.  The night before our summit attempt, I woke up and could not nod off again.  A couple of hours went by and I turned to God to find comfort in conversation.  My prayer was a simple question for confirmation of what lay ahead.  “Lord, is this my idea - or Yours? Because if it’s Yours, I need Your strength and faithfulness to carry it out.”  Of course, I also asked for a bit of rest – “please, just two hours.”  The plan was to wake up at 1:30am, gear up, and be heading up the mountain by 3am.  I only had been sleeping for 1.5 hours when I awoke in the first place.  11:30 came and anxiety began to rise.  11:32 and my spirits began to fall.  I peeked again at 11:36, made a mental comment about how encouraging it would have been to get the two hours, and within minutes I was asleep at last.  Our wake-up call came late… at 1:40.

My usually overactive brain was placid – literally fixated only on the next step, and the next breath.  As our guide, Tap, explained: mountaineering is about being as efficient as possible.  Oh, that we were so dedicated with the rest of our efforts in life!

I find it hard to define or explain the profound affection I have for these other guys who I was roped to on that mountain, but I feel it is important to try.  The fellowship that gives God glory is the one that hopes in Him, and remains committed to each other.  So I am not surprised that it was right to push on in camaraderie and entrust the top to each other.  In this way, every exhausted step taken by your brother in front of you – from the saddle to the summit – was a step just as much for you as for himself.

That unbounded thankfulness expressed itself in euphoric tears as we approached the final few yards.  By that time, my focus was no longer the apex – but turning around to share my excitement with Zach behind me.  My smile sought to explode through my weeping as we scurried up to sprawl out together on top of Europe, and unrolled our banner reason for being there…  THE LAST WELL.

I am exuberant about the future.  The future of providing water and the Word to Liberia.  The future time spent with you and others who will hear of this movement and be stirred.  Yes, future mountains, too.  The point is not that God promised me the summits of seven peaks, but that His salvation and faithfulness are perfect even when I am unfaithful and heartless.  He is ceaselessly reminding me of His desire to be relied on in our relationship.  And a list is the least of the ways that He will work through our lives and show His Glory.

Andrew Good

I went into this expedition knowing I have suffered from altitude sickness in the past. Anytime I’ve approached 13,000ft and higher I got sick. I prayed that it would not affect me this time or that I would be able to take medicine to mitigate any affects even though I dislike any medicine dependencies.

We moved onto the mountain on Monday to live and acclimatize at 13,000ft in our base camp hut. The valley we had been staying was at 7,000ft. Upon arriving to the hut I instantly starting feeling the affects of the 6,000ft ascent. The symptoms were all too common as I’ve had them before…nausea, headache, loss of appetite, general malaise. It seemed that every minute I was feeling worse and worse. I began to worry if I would even be able to summit in just a day and a half. Our guide, Tap Richards, had already gained my respect and trust given his experience and interaction with our group. I decided not to take the altitude meds and go naturally. He confidently explained that what I was feeling was normal for some and he wasn’t concerned yet. I felt completely miserable though. Through the night and for the next 12 or so hours I was suffering from being at this altitude. At times, some symptoms would let up and I would feel encouraged only to have them reappear later.

When you lie awake at night sick, on the side of a mountain, in a foreign country listening to 20 knot winds batter your cage – your faith is forced to a test. I was finally out of my comfort zone. My earthly strength was zapped, and I was as far away from home as I’ve ever been participating in what some would say isn’t the safest sport. I had to give my safety and the entire outcome of this trip to God and come to terms with the fact I may not summit. I actually convinced myself that night that I wouldn’t be able to make it to the 18,510ft peak. I prayed that God would be clear to me as to which point to turn back if that was His will but I was still going to attempt to summit Elbrus.

Our summit day came in the early hours of Wednesday morning. We all woke and prepared for this momentous day. I still felt sick but slowly was improving – I was at a solid 85%. We started our ascent at 3:00am. I know the adrenaline and anxiety masked some of my symptoms that morning. Just two hours into the ascent I found myself on all fours throwing up on the side of the mountain at about 14,500ft. I was scared, worried, disappointed…  I called for Tap, our guide, and his response was “I’ve seen plenty of guys throw up and still summit. Try to make it through at least one more leg.”

Was God telling me to stop here or reminding me to rely on him?

I continued on.

The next few hours can only be described as an answer to prayer and God pouring out his infinite grace on a submissive heart…yet again. While I was still tired and becoming more exhausted the effects of the altitude were lessening the higher I went. I didn’t understand. Several of us just barely made it into the saddle of Mt. Elbrus due to the altitude and fatigue our bodies were feeling. At our rest stop in the saddle I saw and felt strength come over our team that could only be described as supernatural. What a humbling time. We all decided here that we go to the top as a team and celebrate the summit together or not at all.

An hour and half later we celebrated. The Last Well Team sat on top of the highest peak in the European continent 18,510ft into the sky. This meant 40,000 Liberians would soon have access to clean water!

All Glory to God.

Zach Casper 

I’d also like to share a little from my dicey moments on the mountain to illustrate the importance of a great team! On Tuesday morning around 10am we had reached the saddle of Mt. Elbrus.  The saddle is the ridge between the East and West peaks of Mt. Elbrus and this is the last break before the final 1.5 hour push to the East Summit of Elbrus.  At this point we had been climbing for about 7 hours and over 4,500 vertical feet.  When I reached the saddle I put my backpack down and tried to get out my water and some food but I kept stumbling and was having some trouble seeing.  Our guide, Tap gathered our team together and said, “This is it guys, the last push.  If you don’t think you have the energy to get to the summit and back down to summit camp, don’t go because either we all make it or none of us make it.”  Gulp!  Todd Phillips and I looked at each other, doubting whether we should jeopardize the whole team if we couldn’t make the summit.  Several times we changed our minds but then finally decided to stay back so that the stronger climbers could make the summit. 

But then Andrew Good spoke up and said, “We’re doing this as a team.  Either we all make it or none of us makes it!”  That was the vote of confidence we all needed.  We made our way up the summit and all 8 of us made it to the top….together. 

On the way down, my dizziness and lethargy started to really kick in, as well as a complete white out due to a rough snowstorm.  What I didn’t know at the time is that I had cerebral edema, an altitude disorder due to lack of oxygen that causes the brain to swell, a loss of motor functions, and blackouts.  The only cure is to get down to a lower altitude ASAP!  About 45 minutes into our descent I completely blacked out…

I woke up on the mountain at about 14,000 ft still hiking downward toward our summit camp.  When we finally arrived at camp my team began to tell me what they did to get me down safely.  Tom Heffernan, Rob Newton and Zach Casper each played a huge part in helping me down the mountain to safety.  Of the whole team, not one guy complained or left me, but each one went above and beyond what he had left in the tank to make sure we got down safely.  It is not an exaggeration to say that these guys saved my life.

This is what a great team is all about.  Helping each other even when it’s inconvenient, carrying each other’s burdens, sacrificing our own interests for the interests of others, an all-in attitude.  I’m still processing through the impact each of these guys made in my life, but the lessons I’ve learned about teamwork will be with me forever. 

Thank God for these guys!
Nate Keeler

I’m going to ask each climber to post a blog in the next few days so you can read about our adventure from the perspective of each man on the team.

We are all spending time with family and unpacking today and I’ll be in the Frontline office bright and early Monday morning.  God has truly displayed His majesty in the grandeur of His creation as well as the intimacy of friendship.  Thanks be to God for who he is!

Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips