By Mitch Davis
Special to The PREVIEW
This summer, a group of Fort Lewis College students and alumni are banding together to climb every 14,000-foot peak in Colorado to raise awareness of mental health issues.
The team created the Climb Out of the Darkness expedition and has invited the public to join them for a number of their ascents, including Handies Peak on July 7 and Pikes Peak on Aug. 7. Anyone interested in joining the climbs can email the team at cotd2015@gmail.com.
More information about the expedition and its members can be found at http://cotdexpedition.wix.com/cotd.
“I’m doing some hard research for classes right now on mental health, specifically in Colorado. Even after we’d chosen [mental health as the expedition’s theme], we keep learning about how much of an issue — a challenge — it is for Colorado and the Intermountain West,” explained FLC environmental studies senior and expedition leader Anthony Reinert.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of Coloradoans seek treatment for severe mental health issues such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and major depression.
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