Fellow Climber And Beard Enthusiast’s Climb For Change

Fellow adventure junkie and advocate of beards, Landon Faulkner and his cousin, Andrew Faulker are going to climb the two tallest peaks in Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California, but they won’t be doing it just for their own enjoyment, no, they will be climbing to raise money and awareness for Peak 7 Adventures. Peak 7 Adventures is a non-profit organization out of the Pacific Northwest that has tasked itself with providing outdoor programs for under-served and at-risk teenagers. Peak 7 Adventures hopes to help many urban and inner city teens who may never otherwise have the chance to experience the beauty of the outdoor world.

Landon and Andrew will embark on this journey through the snow clad peaks of Lassen Park on February 21^st and 22^nd and will cover over 30 miles on their feet. They have begun their fundraising efforts through their donation page at www.active.com/donate/climb4change. They hope to surpass their goal of $3,200.  I recently reached out to Landon with a few question about himself, and he was happy to entertain.

1. So tell me Landon, Where are you from? I am originally from the little town of Oroville, California. I went to the University of Utah in SLC, but am back in Northern California since graduating in 2012 and living in Yuba City.

2. How did you get involved in the outdoors, climbing and blogging about it? I have always been involved in the outdoors from the time I was a little kid. I grew up on about 30 acres and spent every free minute tromping around on the property full of oak trees and pines in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. However, it wasn’t until college in Utah that I really developed a love of climbing. The Wasatch Mountains were so close from my downtown apartment I couldn’t help but spend my “study” time on the summits of many awesome peaks on the Wasatch front. Blogging kind of spawned out of my love of writing, my love of the outdoors and my desire to build some sort of outdoor experience portfolio to use when applying for jobs in the outdoor industry.

I grew up on about 30 acres and spent every free minute tromping around on the property full of oak trees and pines in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. – Landon B. Faulkner

3. How did climb for change come about? My climbing partner, Andrew Faulkner, and I climbed Brokeoff Mountain last winter. Brokeoff is a sister peak of Lassen so to speak, and left us with a desire to do both peaks in two days. As I mulled over the details of the trip during the subsequent months, the planning naturally took on an outreach side. We researched a number of different organizations before finally deciding on Peak 7 Adventures. Their program and mission seemed to fit perfectly with what we wanted to accomplish from a charity standpoint with our climb.

4. Tell me more about Peak 7 Adventures and how that came about. Peak 7 Adventures is a non-profit organization that serves “at-risk” and under-served teens in the Pacific Northwest through outdoor adventure activities. Peak 7 offers a number of different trips for these teens such as; whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and alpine climbing, all at an incredibly affordable cost (starting at $35 for a day of whitewater rafting with scholarship programs that can reduce the rate to as little as $5). We wanted to help an organization that works with getting kids outdoors, however, we wanted to find an organization fairly close to us (here in NorCal). We decided on Peak 7 because their mission fit our goals so perfectly, but they also have a strong history of great service and responsible business practices.

We decided on Peak 7 because their mission fit our goals so perfectly, but they also have a strong history of great service and responsible business practices. – Landon B. Faulkner

5. I know you said you climbed Brokeoff before and it inspired you to do Lassen peak and Brokeoff mountain in two days, but why these two mountains? Well, we decided on Lassen and Brokeoff because just doing one peak in a single day just wasn’t big enough or cool enough. Sure, we aren’t climbing K2’s hardest route, but we have decided on a rather aggressive goal to help promote Peak 7 as well as the beauty of Lassen Volcanic National Park; a truly hidden gem of California.

6. What do the wonderful world of beards have to do with this? Beard are ubiquitous in pop culture today, everyone is talking beards from Duck Dynasty to the band “The Beards.” Not only is it a catchy platform, but also we both just happen to be bearded. Not necessarily because we are the hip trendy type, but more out of the practicality of having a warmer face and not having to shave everyday. The beards squeezed their way into the title of our event mostly as a gimmick and as a way of personalizing the event itself. It’s been fun to hear the comments about our beards; both the good and the bad.

So there you have it, a little back tory behind one of the men involved with Climb for Change. I encourage you to check out more over on Landon’s blog, and follow him on Twitter, and Instagram. He really shares some great content, and with that said, I will leave you with some photos Landon provided of previous adventures in Lassen Park.