My name is Matt Hardy, and myself and a good friend of mine (Elliott Bates) are rock climbers from Boulder, Colorado. We have been personally touched by Colon Cancer, through the loss of two loved ones. My father died of colon cancer in 2007 and a best friend and climbing partner of Elliott and I succomed to stomach and colon cancer in October 2009. We don't want anyone else to become a statistic so we have started Climb for Colon Cancer. We are an organization dedicated to raising awareness for the need for colonoscopies, and funding for colon cancer research, by climbing the worlds tallest peaks. Colon cancer is unique because if detected early by a colonoscopy the cancer is very treatable and the survival rate is high. Thinking of a colonoscopy makes people very uncomfortable and thus, only half of the population that should be getting screened does. We aim to transform ourselves from what we are now- pure rock climbers- into competent high altitude mountaineers. To do this, we will climb 5 mountains, of progressively higher elevation and difficulty. Longs peak, Mt. Rainier, Aconcagua, Cho Oyu, and Finally Everest. This process of becoming proficient in climbing huge peaks will be uncomfortable and extremely difficult. Getting a colonoscopy is also uncomfortable, but if we can do something as difficult as climbing the highest mountain in the world, anybody can take time to get a screening, which could save their life. Our overall goal is to get 100,000 people to get a colon cancer screening. We use this number because the combined elevations of our 5 mountains add up to just over 100,000ft. 1 person for every foot we climb. The potential to save thousands of lives is as huge as the mountains we will climb. The process begins now. We are working with one of the top alpinists in the world, Fabrizio Zangrilli, to train and prepare for our climbs. As our guide, he will help us to become strong and competent enough to succeed on Everest in 2012.