"We still climb!" reads this year's motto of the Range of Motion Project (ROMP). It's adaptive team is to climb 19,347 feet in 48-hours to help amputee patients in need of prosthetic care.

A group of diverse athletes both able-bodied and adaptive from across the United States and Ecuador will join forces on September 25-27 on behalf of the non-profit Range of Motion Project (ROMP) to provide prosthetic care to amputees who do not have access. While the team’s original goal was to summit Ecuador’s 19,347-foot volcano, the trip was postponed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As they await their opportunity to climb Cotopaxi, the group has teamed up to collectively climb a total of 19,347 vertical feet in seven locations during a 48-hour climb-a-thon September 25-27

“Humanity is experiencing a global loss of mobility due to extreme isolation, quarantine and social distancing. Now, more than ever before, we need access to our mobility! Prosthetic care is a necessary service and therefore, we still climb,” said ROMP’s Director of Development Lauren Panasewicz. “This climb symbolizes the transfer of mobility directly from our team to ROMP’s patients - vertical feet for prosthetic feet.”

Spanning from Ecuador, the West Coast, the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, the Midwest, Texas, and the East Coast, the teams will each climb an average of six hours and 3,300 vertical feet passing a metaphorical “baton” to the next team, ending in Ecuador where one of ROMP’s clinics is based. Climbing speed record holder Karl Egloff (Denali, Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Elbrus) will participate in the final leg in Ecuador with the ROMP team.

The climbing team has raised over $47,000 so far for ROMP patients, with the goal to raise $100,000. Over the past six years of Climbing for ROMP, ROMP staff, volunteers, and supporters have climbed more than 200 mountains worldwide to benefit amputee patients and to commemorate the anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).

“We are in a unique position to leverage our own mobility to help amputees receive prosthetic treatment and technology that they need to redefine their potential,” said Founder and Executive Director Dave Krupa. “Even though our Cotopaxi climb is not happening this year, we still climb and will continue to climb for our patients. This is our mission.”

ROMP is dedicated to providing prosthetic care to amputees who do not have access. ROMP has conducted over 10,000 patient visits, delivered more than 3,800 prosthetic devices, and raised more than $11 million in fundraising and value of in-kind donations since 2005. For more info, visit www.rompglobal.org and follow us on social @rompglobal (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok). 

Climbing for ROMP is supported by College Park, Dave Rotter Prosthetics, Clif Bar Family Foundation, Ability P&O, Osprey Packs, Agile Orthotics, Fillauer, ST&G Corporation, The Kirstie Ennis Foundation, Cumbre Tours, and Silverline Films.