Some climb Mount Rainier because it’s there, but West Seattle’s David Town has another, more personal, reason to make the hike. His wife of two years, Lisa, is a recent breast cancer survivor. The Town’s are raising money for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center through its 13 year-old “Climb to Fight Breast Cancer” program.

David, an avid hiker and scrambler, attended a seminar at REI about the hike, co-sponsored by Alpine Ascents International. He also belongs to the Seattle chapter of Mountaineers.

In addition to the July 22-24 trek, the fund-raising aspect is also an uphill battle because of the challenging economy. To participate in this climb, the Towns must raise $2,500 by April 1, then another $2,500 by June 1. They have raised just over $2,200 so far and will throw a fundraiser at Talarico’s Pizzeria Tuesday, March 23, 6pm-9pm to try to climb toward the top.

Lisa’s employer, Liberty Bell Printing’s Michael Hoffman is one of the sponsors and has been a huge help, she said. Bruce Savadow, a fine art photographer on the Mountaineers Photography Committee, and other photographers are also on board.

David is an engineer and does CAD drawings for a custom woodworking company. While the Hutchinson climbs take adventure-seekers to Denali, Kilimanjaro, and other exotic peaks in Mexico and Russia, David said he is happy to do the 14,411-foot hometown hike.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “Since I started hiking I always wanted to climb Mount Rainier.” This will be his first hike being roped up and sporting a climbing harness. Alpine Ascents will provide volunteer guides to accompany David’s group of about 20.

The Towns participated in the Susan G. Koman 5-K walk last year, and Lisa raised money for the Wish List Foundation, a Pearl Jam nonprofit organization. She is also involved with the Seattle chapter of Gilda’s Club, a cancer support community named in honor of comedian Gilda Radner who died of breast cancer in 1989.

Lisa is most passionate about the Seattle chapter of Young Survival Coalition.

“It’s national, and we offer some comfort to women under 40 dealing with breast cancer,” she said. “Their day to day life situation is different than those in their 50’s and 60’s.”

“I got the best of what could possibly have been really bad,” said Lisa of her diagnosis, DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ. She pointed out an irony in modern medicine.

“They’re getting so good at finding different types of breast cancers, and are far, far ahead in that area than how to individually treat them,” she said. She received a bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction a year ago February, and needed no chemotherapy or radiation.

“I had clear margins and there were no findings in my lymph nodes.” She said.

“Clear margins” refers to the distance between a tumor and the edge of the surrounding (cancer-free) tissue that's removed along with it.

In the living room of the Town’s Admiral home hangs a cluster of a thousand, multi-colored origami cranes. This display is a Japanese tradition, and David’s mother was Japanese-born. A friend of hers made them the cranes.

“The person folding the cranes is also thinking of your needs, and she was thinking about good health,” Lisa explained.