Meet five inspiring individuals from the Southeast who left a 

lasting impression on the outdoor world in 2007.
SEAN SWARNER

CLIMBING OVER CANCER

On June 19 Sean Swarner climbed to the top of Mount McKinley. Tears welled up in his eyes and began to fog his glacier glasses as he reached the 20,320-foot summit. In conquering North America’s biggest mountain he had completed climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents. But for Swarner this feat finished an even bigger journey. 

When Swarner was 13, doctors discovered that he had stage four Hodgkin’s Disease, and he was only given a few months to live. Despite the odds, he responded to treatment and his health steadily improved. Then came a second devastating blow: A few years later a deadly golf ball-sized tumor attacked his right lung. Given an even grimmer prognosis of less than two weeks to live, Swarner defiantly beat the odds again.

Despite only having partial use of his right lung, Swarner decided no mountain was too high for him to climb. So in 2002 he became the first cancer survivor to summit Mount Everest. Since then, the Ohio native, who grew up exploring the western side of the Appalachians, has become the first survivor to plant a flag on the highest peaks on all seven continents.

“I wanted to give some hope and inspiration to people,” says Swarner. “I thought what better platform to exclaim the potential of the human body and spirit than the highest mountains in the world.”

In a time when cancer incidences are rising (along with pollution and carcinogen levels) while federal funding for research and environmental protection is declining, cancer patients need real life heroes like Swarner. But he doesn’t just want to be an example for others with seemingly insurmountable situations. He is working to help other patients beat the odds. In 2001 he founded the CancerClimber Association, a nonprofit that helps those affected by cancer reach perceivably unattainable goals. CancerClimber sponsors Adventure Support Grants that fund outdoor adventures for patients. In return, grant recipients are asked to share their story of cancer survival with other cancer patients by visiting hospitals, sharing hope, and inspiring them to never give up.

“We want to help cancer survivors that have a goal in mind,” he says. “We recently sent someone to the top of Mount Whitney. The only thing we want from them in return is to share their survivorship stories with other patients to provide the same hope and inspiration.”

In the next few years Swarner plans to continue his own journey of survivorship, as he looks to complete the Adventure Grand Slam, which consists of trekking to both the North and South Poles in addition to finishing the seven summits. 

“Having cancer doesn’t define me or make me who I am, but it definitely has become a part of my life,” says Swarner. “I am who I am because of what I have been through. That’s why I want to give people the inspiration I didn’t have.” -Jedd Ferris




REBEKAH TRITTIPOE 

MOTHER, CAREER WOMAN, RUNNER

Rebekah Trittipoe juggles a busy life as a wife, a mother of two teenage boys, and a successful travel-heavy career in cardiac perfusion. But she just can’t seem to shake her addiction to adventure. This year the Bedford, Va., resident turned 50, so she decided to celebrate in style. Her big bash: a solo run of the entire 300-mile 

Allegheny Trail. 

Trittipoe is a seasoned ultra-runner, who occasionally competes in regional races. But this was her first multi-day endeavor since 2003 when she ran through the Brazilian Amazon jungle, an adventure she chronicled in a book entitled Under an Equatorial Sky.

“Because of my busy schedule, and the little amount I was able to train, I shouldn’t have been able to do this,” says Trittipoe of the Allegheny run. “But I was determined to get through it.”

While covering 300 miles in a week is itself a feat, the poor conditions of the almost forgotten West Virginia footpath, which runs from Bruceton Mills to the top of Peters Mountain, where it intersects with the Appalachian Trail near the border in Pearisburg, Va., created more of an adventure than Trittipoe ever imagined. In recent years, cash-strapped, shorthanded hiking groups have been unable to give the trail much attention. As a result, Trippitoe often was rambling through rugged Mountain State brush searching for yellow blazes that often wouldn’t be found for tens of miles. 

The trail has gone largely unnoticed in the South. Only a handful of hikers have trekked the entire length—a distance that has really yet to be determined. Over the course of her run, Trittipoe never saw another person on the trail as she bushwhacked through chest-deep swaths of stinging nettle, hurdled blowdown debris, and dodged black bears. At one point she crested a ridge, and as she started to descend, she noticed that the three upcoming mountains had been clear cut, leaving her with no trail markings to follow. 

“This trail has great potential. But it became disconcerting at many points,” she says. “It got so bad at some points that I was rummaging through brush looking for yellow paint chips. At many points, I thought I would have no choice but to stop, because I had no idea where to go. But I always miraculously found my way.”

Despite the obstacles, with a little luck and more than a few backtracks and detours, Trittipoe finished the trail in seven days, never running less than 36 miles a day. 

While taking on most of the trail by herself, along the way Trittipoe was joined by a handful of friends, including ultra-running legend David Horton. Her most important companion, though, was her 16-year-old son Seth. 

“I was fortunate that he was there, so I could show him that even when things look bad, you can get through them,” she says. “At some points I looked over at him and could tell he was concerned, but when we finished, it turned out to be a great lesson.” -Jedd Ferris 



GEORGE MCFADDEN 

ECO-CYCLIST

George McFadden just earned his diploma, but before he joins the workforce, he’s going to serve his country. 

McFadden, who hails from Charlottesville, Va., calls himself an Eco-Patriot. In September he and three friends set off on a 3,800-mile cross-county cycling trip to educate Americans on the growing air pollution endemic that continues to spread throughout the country. McFadden and the group left from Virginia Beach and plan to finish in San Francisco some time in November. The bike route will follow a combination of the Transamerica and Western Express cross-country routes; in total it will cover nine states before reaching the Pacific. The goal of the journey is to raise $30,000 for the Clean Air Conservancy, and along the way talk to anyone who will listen about the increasing air quality crisis in America. 

“We’re trying to make a literal difference with emissions in America,” says McFadden. 

A recent graduate of the University of Virginia, McFadden earned his degree in Environmental Science. He became particularly concerned with how pollution and acid rain were harming watersheds in the region. It bothers him that per capita, the United States is the leader in carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions. He currently works as a researcher at the university’s environmental sciences department studying nitrate concentrations in Virginia’s ground and surface waters.

“It’s ridiculous that America is usually a leader in technology and general advancements in civilization, but we’re so far behind other countries that are reducing their footprints,” he says. “We have the capacity to be a global leader in environmental change.” 

McFadden and the Eco-Patriots plan to speak at schools and talk to residents in the estimated 120 towns that they will pedal through along the way. The goal is to not only raise funds but also educate people on the potential devastating effects of the country’s current emissions path. The group will have no support along the way and will pull all of their own gear on trailers. McFadden admits that although everyone in the group is a casual rider, no one is a hardcore cyclist. Therefore they are expected to cover short miles in the early days as they get used to the saddle. But the spirit of adventure and the importance of the eco-mission are providing the pedal power. 

“This is an opportunity to give back, instead of taking away, which I have been doing for 23 years.” -Jedd Ferris

DAN BRUCE 

WINGFOOT’S LAST STAND

Every Appalachian Trail (A.T.) hiker owes a debt of gratitude to Dan Bruce. For the past 25 years, Bruce has given everything he has to the trail. 

The seven-time thru-hiker, who goes by the trail name Wingfoot, has given more than 60,000 hours of volunteer service to the A.T. community, sometimes working 20 hours a day to provide dependable information and services to A.T. hikers. Over the years he has become an icon on the trail for being available to help hikers and their families 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, he has put more than $450,000 of his own money into the trail, and he has funded trail protection efforts that are directly responsible for preserving many miles of the A.T.

But this year Wingfoot is hanging up his boots to follow a different path. 

“For years I’ve told people if doing a thru-hike is not the most important thing to you at the moment, then stop doing it and go do what is,” he says. “I’ve done just about everything I could do that is achievable for the A.T. by one person. It’s now time to move on to new venues.” 

Bruce did his first thru-hike in 1985. Near the end he stopped off the trail for a quick shower in a small town in Maine. Upon exiting the shower he stepped on a lapel pin that was inscribed with the words, “What Do You Do for an Encore?” 

“I stuck it on my pack, and it ended up setting the tone for my life.”

Bruce was responsible for the creation of the world famous Trail Days hiking festival in Damascus, Va., which he started to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the completion of the trail in 1987. He updated his Thru-Hikers Handbook every year, since he first wrote it in 1991. As a result, it has become the most popular published resource for aspiring hikers. For nearly a decade Bruce lived just off the trail in Hot Springs, N.C. During those years in the sleepy mountain town he kept his house open year-round to thru-hikers. 

“It was an open-door policy,” he says. “I always wanted to be very accessible. It was all one continuous journey. I’ve never gotten off the trail mentally.”

Bruce is moving on to address a higher calling, as he will be writing a book called Season of Change that explores the prophecies of the Books of Daniel and Ezekiel. 

“I’ve communicated with a lot of good people," he says. “But I am ready for a break.” -Jedd Ferris
JOE MORNINI 

RIVER REHABILITATOR 

Learning to roll a kayak is a life-changing event for any whitewater kayaker. Combined with the myriad of other skills necessary to negotiate a turbulent river, it is the single most important skill a boater can use to run difficult rapids and really enjoy the sport of whitewater kayaking. However, for most of the people Joe Mornini works with on a regular basis, learning to roll a kayak changes their lives in an entirely different way.

Mornini is the founder and president of Team River Runner, a Washington D.C. based organization that helps wounded veterans learn to kayak as part of a physical rehabilitation program. These veterans are each dealing with their own personal injuries and trauma, but kayaking has provided them with a level playing field.

“A lot of people have this idea in their heads that kayaking is this extreme sport that only certain people can participate in,” Mornini says. “But really, it’s for everybody.”

And he means everybody. Team River Runner has outfitted boats and prosthetic limbs in such a way that even those with limb loss can participate.

Soldiers with the loss of a leg can use kayaks with a cone of plastic fitted into the cockpit (cut from a trash can) to provide them with the stability required to maneuver a kayak. Team River Runner uses prosthetic arms designed to grip a paddle in the exact same way a hand does to allow anyone with enough of their upper arm to attach the prosthetic the opportunity to enjoy the experience of kayaking.

Since kayaking is an excellent core body workout and has been made so easily accessible, it has provided a perfect style of physical rehabilitation for soldiers affected by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It provides people who would otherwise have difficulty exercising a workout and a sense of mobility that they might otherwise be lacking.

The process of teaching these soldiers to kayak begins every Tuesday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s rehab pool. Team River Runner holds year-round roll clinics to teach basic skills. From there, paddlers step up to moving water and basic whitewater techniques. Paddlers who are ready for it can participate in Monday night whitewater kayak lessons on the Potomac River below Great Falls. In the spring and fall they do once a month overnight trips to the lower Youghiogheny, and they lead fall trips to the Gauley River.

Many of the injuries that Mornini’s volunteers at Team River Runner work with are beyond physical limb loss. A good deal of the soldiers involved in the program are suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI), which occurs when the head receives a violent blow that damages the brain. Mornini says that kayaking is uniquely suited to veterans suffering from TBI. The symptoms of TBI are varied and include headaches, dizziness, and trouble with memory and concentration.

“Since kayaking is such a balance-related sport, it really helps these individuals in particular,” Mornini says.

Veteran Mike Walsh is one of many who have benefited from Mornini’s efforts. Walsh was involved in 11 separate explosions during tours in the Middle East and now suffers from TBI. Since his involvement with Team River Runner and other rehab programs, Walsh has regained much of his balance and now lives a relatively normal life.

“When I sit in this boat I feel so balanced,” Walsh says. “It has really challenged me for the better.”•
 -Nick Ianniello
