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Mount Everest
  Over the course of a decade, Alan was a member of three expeditions to Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, at 29,035 feet. On his first two trips, he approached Everest from its northern side through Tibet. On his third, he approached the mountain from its southern side through Nepal. Collectively, these three expeditions pushed Alan’s fundraising, sales, organizational, logistical and leadership abilities even more than his body.
1st Expedition
Alan’s first expedition, which took seven years to finance and organize, missed the summit by 3,000 vertical feet when his team’s high camp was ripped off the mountain in a vicious storm. Fortunately, the camp was not occupied at the time, but Alan and his teammates were forced to return to base camp with the realization that they would not make it to the top. They returned to North America to judgments that their expedition had failed. They may have failed to reach the top, but they had not failed to learn from their experience. The biggest lesson Alan took home from his expedition to Everest in 1991 was that:
2nd Expedition
  Undaunted, Alan was back on Everest three years later with half the budget, half the personnel of his first expedition and no bottled oxygen. This time, his team missed the summit by an excruciatingly disappointing two city blocks when the expedition’s lead climber, John McIsaac, developed life-threatening high altitude sickness just 180 yards from triumph. Rather than continue blindly for the goal, Alan and his teammates decided to mount a daring high altitude rescue to try to save John's life. The effort took a grueling 33 hours, but in the end, they saved John's life. Although the accomplishment was a huge victory for the team, it cost them the summit. Incredibly, Alan again returned to North America to allegations that he and his team had failed. His greatest lesson from his 1994 trip was that:
3rd Expedition
  Three years after his second trip, and after ten expeditions to high altitude, on May 23, 1997, Alan finally realized his greatest childhood dream. As he stood in the rarefied air at 29,035 feet and looked out from his frozen perch, he could see the horizon bending in his peripheral vision. Tears of joy froze to his face. “Half the dream is done,” he radioed triumphantly down to base camp as his voice cracked with emotion. Although elated, he knew that the team’s victory would only count if everyone returned safely to base camp. When, days later, everyone did, he rejoiced in relief and celebration. It was more than a glorious moment. It showed Alan that:
His Next Expedition
Three times may be a charm, but three times to Everest is also enough. Alan will not be going back to the mountain – at least not to climb her. He may trek to Everest base camp with and a small group of his closest friends, including some of the healthcare professionals who helped save his life. Today, he is one of less than a dozen people ever to achieve an elite level of fitness after a blood transplant for acute leukemia. He has regained 100 percent of the fitness he had prior to his last Everest expedition and has been cancer-free for over five years. He is now officially considered medically cured.
“Thanks to my illness, I now see life from a completely new perspective,” he says. “My ‘Inner Everest’ has dwarfed my outer one…"
Alan’s next expedition is the one he is currently on – to continue his miraculous climb back from cancer and help as many others as possible do the same. His latest book, Climb Back from Cancer, which he co-authored with Cecilia, chronicles their epic adventure on “The Everest of Illnesses.” It also pinpoints The 10 Tools of Triumph™ for survivors and caregivers – what Alan and Cecilia consider are the 10 key psychological skills necessary to survive life-threatening illness and thrive beyond it. A portion of the revenues from the his speaking presentations is to be contributed to The Climb Back from Cancer Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to help cancer patients, survivors and caregivers climb back to better lives. It is helping to pioneer the development of The Climb Back from Cancer Protocol™, a unique new physical activity program that is enabling cancer survivors to overcome their biggest single challenge – chronic fatigue. The results have been dramatic . Survivors have been able to return to the energy levels of the normal adult population. They have also been able to reduce their anxiety, anger and depression by 65 percent. These results are unprecedented in the history of cancer recovery research as it pertains to blood cell and bone marrow transplant patients. And, they offer great hope for survivors of all other types of cancer and cancer treatment as well.
Climb Back from Cancer Foundation and The Climb Back from Cancer Protocol™
  Alan and Cecilia have also established The Climb Back from Cancer Foundation to help patients, survivors and caregivers climb back to better lives. A portion of the revenue from Alan’s speaking presentations is to be donated to the foundation. These funds are to be used to continue to help finance the ground-breaking medical study that is developing The Climb Back from Cancer Protocol™. The protocol uses mild cardiovascular physical activity to help cancer survivors reduce chronic fatigue, the biggest single challenge they face. The study’s pilot produced some dramatic results and Phase II of the study is now planned. It is to include 100 survivors of colorectal cancer and is to determine if The Climb Back from Cancer Protocol™ is as effective as more general physical activity guidelines currently in use.
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