When the Range of Motion Project (ROMP) held its annual fundraising climb in 2021, Lacey Henderson was a late addition to the team. With little time to get into shape, she barely reached the 19,347-foot summit of Cotopaxi.
“ROMP uses the summit as a metaphor for overcoming life’s challenges,” she later wrote. “But nobody can get to the top of that mountain in solitude. When you get pushed down, someone extends a hand to pull you back up. And then you do the same thing for somebody else. We rise by lifting others.”
That’s always been the driving spirit of Climbing for ROMP, which marks its tenth iteration later this month. In the first nine years, 170 climbers have ascended Cotopaxi and/or Cayambe (18,996 feet) to raise money for ROMP’s prosthetic clinics in Ecuador, Guatemala, and the United States. In addition, more than 2,000 amputees have made “solidarity climbs” in 47 states and 35 countries through ROMP’s #What’sYourMountain initiative.
For the tenth annual event, ROMP has assembled an all-star lineup to tackle Ecuador’s three highest peaks—Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Cayambe. You can support the cause by donating and/or by climbing your own mountain to raise funds. Get more information at rompglobal.org.
To give you an idea of Climbing for ROMP’s impact, we gathered some stats, year-by-year highlights, and reflections from climbing alumni.
STEVE CRAWFORD
Once you get your mobility back, it empowers you in so many ways. The whole reason I’ve been able to do the things I do is because I have access to good prosthetics, good follow-up care, and all of that. A lot of people don’t have access to that. I’m stoked to be able to give other people the ability to start their journey to mobility and live their life the way they want to and do the things they want to do.
ARIEL RIGNEY
I can’t change the whole world, but I can change one person’s life. There’s an amputee somewhere right now who’s stuck in their bed because they don’t have a leg. All they want to do is make a cup of coffee and carry it to the kitchen table, but they can’t. If there’s something I can do to make that possible for one person, that’s more power than I could imagine wielding almost anywhere else in my life.
CAITLIN CONNER
A lot of [the challenge] for me was accepting that it’s okay to fail—it’s not always going to go right the first time. Sometimes, even if you suck at whatever you’re attempting, just the fact that you fell down and got back up again does amazing things for your brain and your well-being.
NINE YEARS OF CLIMBING FOR ROMP
2015: Cotopaxi erupts two weeks before the climb. ROMP’s team ascends Cayambe instead but encounters bad weather.
2016: With Cotopaxi still closed due to volcanic activity, the team takes on Cayambe again. This time, the weather holds.
2017: The team takes another run at Cayambe, but nasty weather gets in the way once again.
2018: Cotopaxi finally reopens, and the team lucks out with clear skies and solid snowpack.
2019: New year, new team, same great weather on Cotopaxi.
2020: COVID-19 prohibits travel, so eight US teams climb a combined 19,347 feet (the equivalent of one Cotopaxi climb).
2021: ROMP sends two teams up Cotopaxi, a week apart.
2022: For the first time ever, the entire climb team summits Cotopaxi. The volcano erupts two weeks later.
2023: With Cotopaxi still closed, ROMP returns to Cayambe for the first time in five year
