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September 2025 | Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Climb4Freedom

A daring 2,000′ vertical climb to raise awareness for and fight to end human trafficking.

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The Scenic Cruise | Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Climb4Freedom
A daring 2,000′ vertical climb to raise awareness for and fight to end human trafficking.

Learn More

When I’m high on   a rock face, focused on each careful movement, I feel truly alive and free.   But across the world, 50 million people have been  Young woman smoking an ecigarette stripped of their most basic freedoms.

A personal challenge for a global cause

This September, I have set a goal to climb the tallest vertical wall in Colorado–2,000 feet of granite in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Even just stating this goal publicly scares me a bit. But I’m training harder than I ever have before. Will you join me in this Climb4Freedom?
2000
Of Technical Climbing
50
Lives Impacted for Freedom
50000
Raised to fight trafficking
Why human trafficking?
As a young volunteer in rural West Africa years ago, I struggled to explain to my friend Souley why I liked rock climbing. “Just to come down again?” he would ask. The language and cultural barrier made it difficult to translate the concept of a “hobby.” I told him that climbing for me was like music for him— something that made me feel fully present and free.
Yet, throughout the years that I spent working across Africa and eventually in Asia and Latin America, I came face-to-face with people who were anything but “present and free”. I saw it in the eyes of a 15-year-old “given away” as a third wife to a man nearly 4 times her age. I heard it in the voice of a father whose son was being held for ransom by traffickers. I recognized it in the story of a young woman lured by a false job promise, only to have all her freedoms taken away upon arrival. And yes, human trafficking happens right here in the US.
Four years ago, I started working with The Exodus Road which is based in Colorado. I rediscovered the freedom I feel while climbing and decided to set an audacious goal…to raise $50,000 for freedom! While I freely choose to push my limits in the mountains, 50 million people worldwide are in modern slavery.
At The Exodus Road’s Freedom Home, 17-year-old Jitra* recently wrote about the joy of having hobbies again—going to the beach, listening to music—after three years of exploitation by traffickers who denied her even basic choices, the rehabilitation program asked her to dream about her future, an experience she described as deeply emotional. “It had been so long since anyone had asked what I wanted to do.”

support freedom 

Every dollar raised goes 100% directly to the frontlines of the fight against human trafficking through The Exodus Road’s global programming. Funds raised will support:
  • Victim identification and rescue operations
  • Investigative support to build cases against traffickers
  • Victim advocacy through the justice process
  • Restoration programs that help survivors reclaim their freedom
I’m seeking a small group of Summit Level sponsors to donate $5,000 each which will directly identify, rescue, and restore freedom for five unique individuals.