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Soon after completing her first Boston Marathon in 2000, Wendy Booker heard about a Colorado man who was putting together a team of people with multiple sclerosis to climb Denali. She had been diagnosed with the progressive neurological disease in 1998. "Denali? What is that?" Booker said. "It sounded so hot and tropical."
When she approached one of the trek's sponsors, they asked if she had any climbing experience.
"I named Chocorua and Monadnock," said Booker, 48, which now amuses her greatly, as those New Hampshire peaks don't top 3,500 feet. She learned that "Denali" is what most climbers call Mount McKinley in Alaska, the highest peak in North America (20,320 feet) and located in Denali National Park.
"I told them, `Wait a minute, you may have the wrong person,' " she said.
Ultimately, the Manchester-by-the-Sea resident, a former interior designer, took up the challenge and began a yearlong training program that culminated in three weeks on Denali last May.
The climbing team, organized by Boulder climber Eric Simons, had seven members. Booker was the only woman. The six climbers with MS were each sponsored by the pharmaceutical company that makes the MS drug they use. The group's goal was met, she said, which was "really to change the perception of what people with MS can do."
Her training started in August 2001 with her first high-altitude climb, in Colorado. "My experience was not good," she said. "I got altitude sickness." But after taking courses with International Mountain Climbing School in North Conway, N.H., and climbing in the White Mountains the entire fall, she returned to Colorado in January and fared better.
Her training led up to a Denali prep course with Alpine Ascents International, in the Cascades. "It's as close to McKinley conditions as you can get. We had 9 feet of snow and it snowed the entire eight days."
On the home front, she lifted weights three times a week and ran, receiving much encouragement from her husband, Wayne, and their three sons, Christopher, 24; Jeffrey, 19; and Alex, 13.
The MS has left Booker numb on her left side, "from my toes to my rib cage. It's a funny feeling, but it still holds my weight, though I'm slower than most people."
On last May 13, Booker's group met in Anchorage. (Her experiences are documented at www.climbforthecause.com.) After reaching the town of Talkeetna, they were flown a few at a time by bush plane onto Kahiltna Glacier, at the base of Denali.
"The sheer size of that mountain is staggering. You can't be prepared," she said.
". . . And the altitude, it's like having an elephant on your chest. It was like doing a marathon 21 days in a row."
She was amused to note that "at 14,200 feet, everybody looks and acts like they have MS. They can't walk straight, they're winded, they're tipping over."
Eventually, four men left the team. Remaining with Booker were Clay Roscoe and Mark Savage, both experienced climbers in their early 30s.
Booker made it to 17,000 feet and the men to 17,200. They had to turn back to a base camp at 14,200 to wait for better weather. It never came.
"Would I try it again? Absolutely," Booker said. "I hope I get the chance."
