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Contributed by: Mark Sheedy on 6/23/2008

A top Denver firm will step out of character Aug. 22-23 when its company partners ascend Washington's Mt. Rainier in an effort called "Climbing For A Cause," an arduous fundraiser for a Denver area non-profit called Family Tree.

As the sponsoring company behind "Climbing For a Cause", Denver-based Associates Group of Companies hopes to raise $50,000, with each member of AGC's hand-picked team of mountain climbers asking for corporate and individual donor-sponsors.

Facing Mt. Rainier's 14,410-foot summit, the August, 2008, climb begins at a base elevation of 2,000 feet and ascends 12,410 feet up the extensively glaciated and volcanic face of Rainier, a challenge considered the most difficult ascent in the lower 48 states. On the North American continent, only the ascent of Mt. McKinley in Alaska's Denali National Park tops Mt. Rainier.

Men's Health magazine recently dubbed the Rainier challenge "something to do before you die, unless you die doing it." Rainier claims the life of three to five climbers each year.

During the climb, each member of the AGC team will shoulder a 50-pound backpack full of survival gear. Braced for an assault against, in some areas, near-vertical 60 degree slopes of sheer ice, AGC partners Mark Sheedy and Shawn Tracy hope to avoid the kind of harrowing mishap that left a team member pinned to the mountain side two years ago. When a team member broke his leg on the way up, "we had to stake him to the mountain so he wouldn't blow away," Tracy says, "then we had to keep going." Due to inclement conditions, half the team turned back at a mid-way point while Sheedy and the rest kept on to reach the summit.

All donations go directly to Family Tree, a Denver-area non-profit providing services and shelter to families and youth to help overcome child abuse, domestic violence and homelessness. Each team member will personally foot the estimated $5,000-per-person cost of the expedition, which includes equipment, travel, food and lodging expenses.

"With corporate donations down, non-profits are struggling," Tracy adds, "so this is a great way to give back and truly make a difference in our community."

AGC's "Climbing for a Cause" will be an annual event and next year, 2009, Tracy and Sheedy will be scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. "Our future fundraising goals are bigger mountains for bigger money," Tracy notes, adding that he and Sheedy took up the challenge of extreme technical climbing only three years ago.

"It was the same then," Sheedy adds, "as the moment we started the company - set a goal and just do it."

Corporate and individual donations may be made payable to: Family Tree and be mailed to: "Climbing For A Cause" c/o Associates Group of Companies, 8400 E. Prentice Avenue, Suite 300, Greenwood Village, CO, 80111, OR or online at Family TreeFor information on sponsorships, contact Mark Sheedy or Shawn Tracy directly at 303-793-3385 or go to www.AGCclimb.com.

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