ROXBOROUGH PARK - From the sunlit, crystal clear, blue sky summit 18,490 feet above the Mexican gulf waters of Vera Cruz, Roxborough Park resident Theresa Daus-Weber savored the achievement of her first high-altitude peak.

Orizaba was the culmination of a five-day, three-volcanoes climbing adventure.

"I am happy and very grateful to have had such a successful first climb on these high peaks. The climbs were as beautiful and memorable as they were challenging and difficult," said the 52-year-old Daus-Weber.

The adventure began on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2006, when the climbing team of five Americans and the Mexican volcanoes guide, Cristabol Corona, did an acclimation climb on Nevado de Toluca, Mexico's fourth highest mountain to the west of Mexico City.

The team of four male climbers all experienced climbing high peaks around the world, meet at the Mexico City airport traveling from their homes around the US the night before climbing Toluca.

At 15,390 feet Toluca was a half-day acclimating hike only 1,000 feet higher than the fourteeners that Daus-Weber trains on in Colorado.

Colorado claims 54 14ers and Daus-Weber has climbed 29 of them. She has summited several 14ers that are within an hour drive of her Roxborough Park home multiple times.

As a retired competitive ultrarunner, Daus-Weber has begun mountaineering to take her to foreign venues like those she used to travel to as a member of the US national 100-kilometer (62-mile) running team.

As an ultrarunner, she specialized in high-altitude trail races so mountaineering was a natural alternative sport to keep her outdoors and at high altitudes.

Two days following the acclimating climb of Toluca, the team climbed Iztaccihuatl, nicknamed Izta, the third highest mountain in Mexico and the seventh highest in North America at 17,159 feet.

Izta was accessed from the Mexican city of Amecameca where views of the long mountain's profile appear as the sleeping lady described in Aztec folklore.

The climb began at 10,000 feet at 2 am on Oct. 24 and the team returned to the trailhead 10 hours later. The Orizaba summit came five days from the start of the climb that included two days to prepare gear and travel to the volcanoes southeast of Mexico City.

The trip was organized by Marshall Ulrich who in 2005 completed the Seven Summits when he climbed the highest point on each continent including Mount Everest.

Ulrich then combined his mountaineering success that was built on 20 years of ultrarunning and 10 years of adventure racing to organize climbs of big mountains around the world and adventure travel to fundraise for his charity, The Religious Teachers Filippini.

The Religious Teachers is an order of Catholic nuns whose motto is to "Go and Teach." They improve the lives of women and children through education.

The Sisters' schools and programs are supported only through donations and grants, which are distributed to mission sites and schools in 10 countries in Europe, South America, Africa, and the US. One hundred percent of all donations go directly to the mission work implemented by 900 dedicated Sisters.

Sister Virginia, mission director in Eritrea, described their work as "the real work of peace and justice." With only 11 Sisters in the country, they provide an education to children and women in two villages and run the only health center in the Muslim village of Hamelmalo.

Daus-Weber is an 11-time finisher of the Leadville Trail 100-mile running race that starts at 10,125 feet in the mountain mining town of Leadville and climbs to 12,600 foot Hope Pass twice on the 50-mile out and back course.

She was a three-time member of the US 100K (62-mile) team competing at 100K World Cup races around the world.

In April 2006 Daus-Weber published a book Death Valley Ultras: The Complete Crewing Guide www.lulu.com/DVultraguideon planning the logistics and crewing ultrarunning events in Death Valley where she has crewed and paced runners 11 times.

Together with her co-author, Californian Denise Jones, a three-time finisher of the 148-mile Death Valley race from the lowest point in the US at the Badwater salt pond (228 feet below sea level) to the summit of Mt Whitney (14,496 feet), the highest point in the continental US, the authors have crewed and paced the event a combined 24 times.

For information about Ulrich's adventure travel and his public speaking about his world-class sports achievements that supports the Religious Teachers, visit http://www.marshallulrich.com/index.html.

To contribute to Marshall Ulrich's adventure travel charity, send donations to: Religious Teachers Filippini Mission Fund, Reference: Marshall Ulrich, 455 Western Ave, Morristown, NJ 07960.

For information about climbing these Mexican volcanoes read Climbing the Mexican Volcanoes by RJ Secor.