St. Albert’s Dean Anderson has now biked up Mount Everest three times, or the equivalent distance thereof, at least. It’s called Everesting, which means he bikes wherever he can, and the mileage adds up to the height of the world’s tallest mountain: 8,849 metres.
He recently took to Wolf Willow Hill near the Fort Edmonton footbridge to continue his adventures in Everesting and help a major local charity at the same time. In the last few years, he went up and down (and up and down again several more times) Signal Mountain and subsequently the Jasper SkyTram mountain — The Whistlers.
“I wanted to do [a ride] locally. One of the big reasons was I wanted to support a local charity. When I did one of the ones in Jasper, I supported the St. Albert Food Bank. I have always wanted to do one in the area close to home. ... The Edmonton Food Bank seemed like the logical choice,” he explained.
The Wolf Willow trail was 370 metres long, (with a nice and steady 10-per-cent climbing grade, he noted) though the melt/freeze cycles of the past weeks did provide some challenges to him staying on two wheels. He kept his tire pressure really low to maximize the engagement of all of the studs.
“The lower the pressure, the more attraction you have, but overriding it 140 times actually broke the ice up; I created little pathways in the ice.”
He rode for 27 hours and 43 minutes continuously — a total of 253 times without sleep — and ended up with 9,014 metres of climbed distance.
Everyone knows no one rides alone, so helping him out was his wife, Kristin, who was there for the duration both for encouragement and the occasional refreshing beverage.
“She actually stayed outside at the top of the hill that whole time as well just sitting in a lawn chair by our little table the whole time giving me drinks. Since a lap is so short — it was five or six minutes a lap — I’d see her every five or six minutes the whole time. I loved it. I admire her for being willing to sit there in the lawn chair for that long and just take care of me. I definitely couldn't have done it without her. She's integral to this whole thing.”
It was a huge success as well. His CanadaHelps fundraiser is still active, even though it has already passed its peak of $1,500, with a running total of nearly $2,500 as of Feb. 16. Winter Everest 2.0 Up the Bank in Edmonton runs until Feb. 28 on the crowdfunding platform. People can also catch up with the duo’s adventures on wheels on their blog at andersonsoutside.blogspot.com.
Virtual walk helps real people
The coldest night of the year may still be ahead of us, for real, but the Coldest Night of the Year is guaranteed to be virtual and will last all this month.
The Mustard Seed is hosting its 11th annual event to raise funds to end homelessness. Participants will walk either two or five kilometres anywhere outside on Sat., Feb. 26 (or any day in February that works best for each person) to raise money for the organization's services and programs to benefit Edmonton's most vulnerable citizens.
Registration is free and all donations and pledges go to help reach the Mustard Seed's goal of $140,000.
For more information on the event or to register, visit TheSeed.ca/cnoy. The Mustard Seed is a Christian non-profit organization that has cared for individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty since 1984. Operating in Edmonton, and five other cities across Alberta and B.C., The Mustard Seed is a supportive haven where people can have their physical, mental, and spiritual needs met and grow toward greater health and independence.
CHEW helps unhoused youths
The CHEW Project (Community Health Empowerment and Wellness) has requested donations of new or gently used items to help some of the most at-risk members of the metro Edmonton area. It posted on social media requesting clothing and personal care items, including socks, winter coats, and hygiene items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, razors, and shaving cream. It's also accepting non-perishable food, personal electronics (including laptops), art supplies, books, and games.
Items can be taken to its drop-off location at 11725 118 St. in Edmonton, Mondays to Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m.
It also operates the CHEW OutPost, a safe space at 11725 Jasper Ave. for all non-heterosexual-identifying youths aged 14 to 29. Now in its third year, it operates in a way that other harm-reduction centre or crisis centres don't, and has created families out of strangers at the same time.
