Registration Opens for HERA Climb4Life

TUESDAY, 29 JULY 2008

Carbondale, CO - Registration is now open for the HERA Women's Cancer Foundation's 7th annual Climb4Life in Salt Lake City on September 18-21, 2008, hosted by locally-based international climbing company Black Diamond. The organization - which strives to save the lives of mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, and girlfriends through ovarian cancer research and awareness initiatives - ties climbing with fundraising to bring women and men together to help find a cure. Both experienced climbers and newcomers are welcome (including men and kids), and pro athletes will join volunteers, Exum guides, and hundreds of participants to climb for a cause. It is a weekend of learn-to-climb clinics, multi-media presentations by Jason Kehl and Joe Kinder, parties, massage, yoga, and more.

HERA Ups the Ante
Ovarian cancer is not a silent killer. A consensus statement released in August of 2007 by three major cancer groups agreed that ovarian cancer has symptoms, even in the early stage of the disease. The symptoms are bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full fast, and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency). Other symptoms can include indigestion, back pain, bowel problems, abnormal bleeding, or unusual fatigue. Last year, the 6th annual SLC Climb4Life raised more than $100,000. Eighty-five percent that HERA raises goes to fund cutting-edge research on ovarian cancer, and to raise awareness and support local community outreach programs through the HERA Community Grants. This year, HERA hopes to up the ante and reach new heights.

Local Support
Where does the money raised go? A portion of the funds raised at the 2008 SLC Climb4Life event goes to support the local Women-to-Women support group. Funds also go toward a Utah Ovarian Cancer Initiative, which aims to get women to the right surgeons for ovarian cancer surgery. In SLC, less that half of ovarian cancer patients get to a GYN oncologist for ovarian cancer surgery, and outside the greater SLC area, it's less than 30 percent. The key to greater survival rates is directly related to receiving the proper surgical care. "In this day and age, it is surprising that women are not being given the right information to make good decisions about their health while our male counterparts get the right information to get to the right surgeons for prostate cancer surgery even if that means traveling for the best care," says Sean Patrick, Founder of HERA. "It is time for this inequity in care to stop!"

Getting Involved is Easy
The HERA Foundation Climb4Life offers easy fundraising tools to participants, like personal web pages and donation emails to send out to friends and family, spreading awareness of ovarian cancer.

For more information, please visit www.herafoundation.org. To register online, go to: www.climb4lifeslc08.kintera.org.

About the HERA Foundation
The HERA Foundation is a registered 501 (c)3, whose mission is to stop the loss of mothers, daughter, wives, sisters, partners, and girlfriends from ovarian cancer by empowering women to take control of their health, empowering the medical community to find new directions in ovarian cancer research, and empowering communities to provide support. For more information, visit www.herafoundation.org. To schedule an interview with HERA Foundation founder Sean Patrick, please call 513.304.5835.

Seven Summit Circle Sponsors: Black Diamond, BlueWater Ropes, Climbing Magazine, Colorado Mountain School, Evolv, Exum Utah, Forte Creative Media, Fox River, Impact Group, Liberty Heights Fresh, MadRock, Montrail*, Mountain Hardwear, Patagonia, REI, SIGG, Stonewear Designs, The North Face, Timbuk2 Designs, Inc., Urban Climber, Williamson Printing Corporation, and Women's Adventure Magazine.
*Montrail is HERA's first 7 Summits Vision Partner