About the Climber:

The Carolina beaches are not exactly where you would expect to find a mountaineer and aspiring Seven Summiteer, but that’s where Barrett Whitten has spent a great deal of his life. He was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, spent part of his teen years on Kiawah Island, near Charleston, South Carolina, and now happily makes his home in Folly Beach, also near Charleston. While the allure of the ocean has been a constant part of his life, Barrett also has always enjoyed the many opportunities and activities the mountains offer. He had the advantage of spending time in the mountains of North Carolina throughout his childhood, and he quickly developed a love for the outdoors — a love that has only intensified as an adult. After many years of hiking and backpacking experience in multiple regions of the world, he decided that a stronger background in technical climbing would be necessary if he wanted to achieve many of his goals.

After conducting extensive research, Barrett enlisted expert instruction through several sources and has continued to build on that education and experience. His ideal training grounds for the Seven Summits quest have been the Cascades in Washington. His preparation and training includes technical ice, snow, and glacier travel, crevasse rescue, navigation, medical, and expedition-style climbing.

He started his campaign to summit the highest peaks of all the world’s continents with the successful summit of Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet/5,895 meters), Africa’s highest peak and the world’s highest freestanding mountain, on September 16, 2013. The thrill of summiting these mountains are secondary to Barrett’s true purpose as an aspiring Seven Summiteer, though. He began this endeavor to raise awareness of cancer and to generate resources for its treatment. He approached Duke Cancer Institute with the objective of creating Summit for Cancer, and now that the nonprofit organization has been established, your support can help him continue his work.