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Airmen climb 4th of seven summits for charity

The Air Force’s unofficial mountaineering team has started its ascent of another of the world’s tallest peaks.

The members of the Seven Summits Challenge are airmen seeking to climb the highest mountain on each continent for adventure and charity. The group raises money with its efforts for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides college scholarships to the children of fallen spec ops troops.

The team is led by Capt. Mark Uberuaga and Capt. Rob Marshall, who founded the group while stationed together at RAF Mildenhall, England, in 2005. In March of that year, an MC-130H Combat Talon called Wrath 11 crashed in Albania, killing all nine special operations airmen aboard. Marshall and Uberuaga decided to climb Europe’s tallest mountain, Mt. Elbrus in Russia, in remembrance of those airmen, and the project grew from there.

All airmen are welcome to join up with the group for each climb, but must participate in group training at their own expense. So far, the group has conquered Mount Elbrus, at 18, 510 feet; Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa, at 19,340 feet; and Mount Aconcagua, South America, at 22, 834 feet.

Multimedia

Video: A montage of the first three climbs

Photos: Great moments on the mountains

On May 28, seven airmen started the monthlong ascent of Mount McKinley, Alaska, according to an Air Force press release. The group hopes to raise $30,000 with this climb on top of the $20,000 it has already raised with its three previous climbs.

The airmen participating in this climb are Uberuaga with the 55th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.; 2nd Lt. Timothy Gannon with the 354th Civil Engineering Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; Capt. Tavis McDevitt with the 33rd Rescue Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Japan; Capt. Erin Van Osten with the 40th Airlift Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas; Airman 1st Class Christopher LaBerge with the 97th Security Forces Squadron at Altus Air Force Base, Okla.; and Capt. Graydon Muller and 1st Lt. Andrew Ackles, both with the 40th Helicopter Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.

The remaining mountains are Mount Kosciuszko, Australia, at 7,310 feet; Vinson Massif, Antarctica, at 16,067 feet; and Mount Everest, Asia, at 29,035 feet.

The climbs are always difficult, but “there’s no other feeling like it,” Marshall told Air Force Times in 2007. “You climb Mount Kilimanjaro for the first time, and you go, ‘My God, that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.’”