Aconcagua Expedition #2 Is Ready to Go!!

After our successful climb of Aconcagua in December we have recovered and are now geared up for our second expedition for this season.  SMI guides Kurt Wedberg and April Mayhew from Aconcagua #1 will be joined  Chris Werner and Lindsay Fixmer to lead a very special group when we meet up in Mendoza as a group on December 28.

The members of this next expedition are a group of 11 motivated individuals from The Last Well.  This Washington DC based organization is dedicated to bringing clean water to the people of Liberia and beyond.  Why is this so important?

1.1 BILLION PEOPLE LACK CLEAN WATER (1 IN 6 PEOPLE)

1 CHILD DIES FROM LACK OF CLEAN WATER EVERY FIFTEEN (15) SECONDS

PREVENTABLE, WATER-RELATED DISEASES KILL NEARLY FOURTEEN THOUSAND (14,000) PEOPLE DAILY

Yes you read those statistics correctly.  Pastor Todd Phillips of Mclean Bible Church in Washington DC saw those statistics too.  He decided to do something about it and The Last Well was formed.  The almost 4 million citizens of the country of Liberia have been hard hit by the lack of clean drinking water.  The mission of The Last Well is to build water wells throughout Liberia so every citizen has access to clean drinking water so vital for healthy living.  They are currently about half way through with this project and they don’t plan on stopping until “The Last Well” is built.

The Last Well first came to SMI in the spring of 2008 with a group of climbers and through a climb of Mt. Whitney (14,508′, 4422m) raised money and awareness for their cause.  They have since been to Kilimanjaro and are now ready to tackle the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere to raise more money and awareness for this very worthy cause.  These 11 motivated individuals have raised over $100,000 for The Last Well from this climb alone!!

We invite you all to follow our progress through this blog, with your positive energy, and prayers of support.  Feel free to explore the links above to learn more about this worthy cause and the people behind it.  If you feel led to get involved with The Last Well there is information on their web page about how to do so.

The climbing team with SMI guide Kurt Wedberg at a gala fundraiser in Washington DC for The Last Well in October.

Pastor Todd Phillips speaking at the October gala fundraiser for The Last Well.

Kurt Wedberg inspecting the expedition's dining/kitchen tent.

This Mountain Hardwear 18' dome tent will serve as a comfortable place for the team to eat meals and enjoy team fellowship on our way into Base Camp.

SMI guide April Mayhew just stood on the summit of Aconcagua on December 15 and is psyched and ready to go again.

SMI guide Chris Werner at 15,000' on Aconcagua January 2010.

SMI guides Kurt Wedberg and April Mayhew at 19,300' on Aconcagua Dec 14, 2010.

One comment on “Aconcagua Expedition #2 Is Ready to Go!!

  1. Liz Mayhew on

    All of you are in my thoughts and prayers. I am hoping the second expedition is going well. I am looking forward to your blogs on the progress.

    Liz Mayhew

    Reply

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