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Climb Against the Odds

Chatting with climber Gilberto Arriaga

Gilberto Arriaga, 62, of Davis, California, is a farmer and also one of the 29 climbers participating in this year's Climb Against the Odds. We caught up with him on a Sunday evening to talk a bit about his decision to join the climb, his personal experience with cancer, and how much he loves his new Klean Kanteen™.

It's a big commitment to do this climb. Not only do you have to raise $6,000, but you train for months to make sure you're ready. What made you decide to do it?

Back 1997, my three brothers and I, and a good friend of ours hiked to the top of Mount Whitney, which is 14,464 feet high, highest mountain in the continental United States. I immensely enjoyed the experience and what I took away from it was this sense that the mountain had life. If you're not prepared to deal with the struggles and challenges that life throws at you, well, the mountain is the same thing. If you're not prepared to hike the mountain, it's not going to let you get to the top.

I've always wanted to do something similar to that and do it for a cause.

My mother died at a very young age, 48 years old, of some kind of blood cancer. I had never been involved in going out and raising money, it's not really my personality. But I decided it was important to me. So in 2004, my wife and I got involved in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I ran in the marathon. It was an incredible experience and I dedicated it, the race and the training, to my mother.

Then, last winter I was having dinner with my sister in law, who was involved with Climb Against the Odds in 2007. I asked her a lot of questions about it. A few weeks later we talked again and she said, ‘If you do this, I'll do it with you.' And I said, ‘You're on.”

All the climbers started training last winter for the climb. How's it going? Are you nervous at all now that it's just around the corner?

I am. I was in the military in the ‘60s and I learned that there are certain things you can't control. I might get altitude sickness, or something else I can't foresee.

Also, the peak of the mountain is in the snow. I've never experienced that kind of a hike. I'm apprehensive because I want to get to the top and I don't want anything to prevent me from doing that.

So I'm getting to the top, for all these people who supported me. I've been training my butt off here for the last 5 months—I'm in the best shape I've been in in years.

Have you had any experiences preparing for this climb that you want to share? Anything you've learned?

As part of this, we went to a seminar called “Strong Voices.” And there I am, the the only 62-year-old man in a group of 35 women. I felt just like anyone else in terms of where I was coming from. I felt I had a good sense of the struggles of what women go through. I see other people who are challenged as a result of these illnesses, these diseases. I've learned how fragile life is.

This whole experience has allowed me to have more of an informational connection to more people and that's made me a better person.

I feel like this is a start for me, the beginning on an adventure for the Breast Cancer Fund. If there's anything I can do for them, I will. It's motivated me to take advantage of the health I have.

The folks at the Breast Cancer Fund tell me that you're very enthusiastic about the Klean Kanteen bottles that were donated to all the climbers.

It's a 40oz bottle, just stainless steel. That fits my personality more than the colored ones. There have been times when I'm hiking and I leave it half full in my backpack, and go back a week later and I don't have to even dump out the old water…I just fill it up. I don't use my Nalgene anymore.

Plus it's really easy to carry around, there's the gap on the neck so it's easy to hold, or I just loop my finger through the top.

I can't live without it! I carry it all over, even on the back of the tractor.

To learn more about the Breast Cancer Fund, The Climb Against the Odds or to make a donation directly to a climber, click here.