Professional Mountain Climbing is the most dangerous sport in the world. Knowing a friend in the sport that has lost their life due to the mountain isn't uncommon.

Photo taken by Tommy Danger (@adudeandhiscamera)

So why do I do it?

Well there are a couple of reasons but one of the main reasons is because I have thousands of friends and over 70,000 people stuck on a mountain known as Mount CF (Cystic Fibrosis).

Photo taken by John Burkett (@redtideproductions)

When I climb a mountain I get to usually summit and then come down off of the summit to a lower elevation with more oxygen and eventually getting to base camp and finally home with my wife breathing easy.

When you are born with Cystic Fibrosis though you don't get the choice of when you descend to a lower elevation where the oxygen is more rich than the air above. Eventually through life CFers climb this mountain gaining elevation and with that gain is loss in oxygen. I'm relating this to the progression of CF when it leads to loss of lung function.

Except CFers can't come down.......Currently there is no cure for Cystic Fibrosis so this means my friends are stuck at altitude waiting to be rescued as the ability to breathe becomes harder each step/day forward.

I climb because I want one day for the CFers around the world to come back to base camp and eventually come home where the oxygen flows like the rivers through the Grand Canyon.

I hope through climbing we are able to create awareness and funds that lead to research which turns into a cure so we can show up with the helicopter for an emergency rescue.

Currently all we can do is support them as much as we can until the altitude becomes too much that a simple breath of air isn't possible.

I truly believe with the efforts of thousands around the world that one day Mount CF will no longer exist and we can party like its 1999......or something like that.......