Alan Arnette

Alan Arnette, once an everyday technology executive and occasional outdoorsman, says the tragedy of his mother’s death from Alzheimer’s disease is driving him to tackle the world’s seven highest summits.

Mountain climbing to raise awareness of the disease, Alan also seeks to raise $1 million for Alzheimer’s research and care as part of his upcoming campaign 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer's: Memories are
Everything.

Alan, 54, of Fort Collins, Colo., who is married with a grown daughter, discovered his passion for mountaineering at the age of 38. At the time he was a technology executive at a Hewlett-Packard (HP) branch in Geneva, Switzerland, interested in the looming mountains he saw from his home. After his first taste of a serious climbing expedition on Mont Blanc, Alan was hooked.

Alan took early retirement from HP about three years ago to care for his mom, Ida Arnette. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and ultimately died from it in August 2009, at the age of 84. The experience transformed Alan into a champion for the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, and he now devotes his life to raising money for research through mountaineering.

No amateur climber, Alan has completed 20 major expeditions around the world, including climbing Mt. Everest, and regularly writes about his adventures in Outside magazine. Most recently, Alan became one of the few to climb all 54 “14ers” (summits over 14,000 feet) in Colorado. Still, the “7 Summits” challenge is the first time he is tackling all seven summits. Alan’s motto is “mountains are for everyone,” and he has encouraged people of all ages to discover the adrenaline and challenges that go hand-in-hand with climbing.

Alan’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2007 but started showing signs of the disease more than a decade earlier. As her caregiver, Alan learned firsthand about Alzheimer’s, including its staggering financial costs to families and to society. He also discovered that NIH research funding for and awareness of Alzheimer’s disease lags significantly behind other devastating diseases, including cancer and diabetes.

Over the past several years, Alan has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Alzheimer’s disease through his climbing efforts. Now he has upped the ante on himself with a new challenge: Climb the 7 highest summits of the world to raise awareness of and funding for Alzheimer’s disease. To Alan, the mental and physical challenge of climbing the world’s highest peaks is a fitting metaphor for the trials faced daily by those living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers.

An aging baby boomer himself, Alan is acutely aware of the impending tsunami of Alzheimer’s cases and the urgent need for effective treatments for this disease. He is also driven by the desire to preserve the identities, memories and lives of individuals that Alzheimer’s disease will ultimately take. Alan explains, “What are our life experiences and adventures about if not to create lifelong memories that we can share and embellish year after year with friends and family? Memories are everything.”

For more information about Alan’s climbing expeditions, and to donate to Alzheimer’s research, please visit www.Climb4AD.com.