We're looking for volunteers for Cancer to 14K. Cancer to 14K is a 5- or 10-week hiking-based conditioning program for cancer survivors and their caregivers. Cancer to 14K includes weekly group hikes, and recommendations and encouragement for exercising on your own during the week. The hikes get harder each week. You do NOT need to be able to attend all the hikes to volunteer for this program. If you can only come on one or two, that still helps.
This year, we are offering three live, in-person tracks of Cancer to 14K: the DIFFICULT (Grays Peak) track, the MODERATE (Blue Lake) track, and an EASY track. People in the DIFFICULT track will train to climb Grays Peak, a 14,270' high mountain, in Week 10. The Grays Peak hike is about 7.5 miles long, with 3,000 feet of elevation gain.
The MODERATE track is less difficult, but still challenging. Instead of climbing a 14,000' high peak, people in this group will train to complete a 14,000 step long hike -- about 5 and a half miles. We will hike to Blue Lake in the Indian Peaks wilderness. Blue Lake sits at 11,360'. The hike has about 850 feet of elevation gain. The EASY track is a 5-week course. People train to complete a 14,000' long hike -- about 2.7 miles. Most of these hikes will be fairly level, and several will be on paved surfaces.
Each track begins with easy hikes, and gradually builds up to their respective goals. Hikes are held on Saturdays, beginning May 21, skip the July 4 weekend, and end July 30. Sundays will be used as rain dates. There's one exception to the Saturday rule -- BECAUSE OF HEAVY CROWDS ON COLORADO'S 14'ERS, WE WILL CLIMB GRAYS PEAK ON FRIDAY, JULY 29. We will be screening applications to ensure the groups are well-matched in terms of fitness. The MODERATE and DIFFICULT tracks are limited to 12 participants, and the EASY track is limited to 16 participants.
What Covid precautions are being taken? Exercising outdoors is a relatively safe activity, even during Covid. We will use the following precautions to further minimize risk. 1. All participants, hike leaders and volunteers must be fully vaccinated prior to the first hike. 2. Unless some nasty new variant comes along, masks are optional.
3. Participants and volunteers must submit a symptom checklist prior to each hike, and may not attend a hike if exhibiting Covid symptoms. What do I need to do to register? We require a self-certification medical clearance forms for every volunteer in the MODERATE and DIFFICULT tracks. D ownload the form during the registration process. You must submit this form to us at least 1 week before the first date you plan to volunteer. You must also provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination at least 1 week before the first date you plan to volunteer. No form is needed for the EASY track.
To volunteer for the Cancer to 14K conditioning program, click the "I want to volunteer!" button, and follow the prompts. After you register, we'll send you a link to a spreadsheet or app where you can see what hikes occur when, and register for particular hikes.
