Climbing one mountain is literally and figuratively a tough thing to accomplish.
But 52 in 52 weeks, in the relatively unfamiliar environs of South America?
That’s what Tim Rann is planning, and for a good cause.
Rann, a 2003 Riverside-Brookfield High School graduate, is attempting to scale mountains within driving distance of his family’s home in Quito, Ecuador for ROMP, which stands for Range of Motion Project. That organization, launched by David Krupa, originally from Forest Park, helps ensure access to high-quality prosthetic care for underserved people there.
As of Monday, Rann has scaled 25 mountains, though he’s quick to point out not 25 individual peaks. Most of them are 16,000 feet or less and so far, he’s raised $4,300 to help more than 10 people receive prosthetics and care, with a stretch goal of $20,000. They carry exotic names like Cotopaxi, Cerro Amarillo, Volcán Rumiñahui and Volcán Rucu Pichincha.
“I’m an accountant by trade, but I just put things out there and work backward,” Rann said via Zoom call from his home in Quito, where his wife, Melissa and their children Sofia and Sebastian live. Melissa Rann is a foreign service officer with the U.S. government.
“I didn’t model my way into this,” he said. “It wouldn’t be assured, but it is something that could be possible. The way I kind of approached it after setting that number (was) I have seven or eight peaks within two hours of Quito. Then I feel like one peak a week on average is the right amount for family obligations and work obligations.”
After high school, Rann attended Notre Dame, where he met his wife and then moved to Asia within days after graduation. It was there that he was able to dive deeply into the adventure lifestyle he now enjoys.
“We would do bike trips from Bangkok to Hanoi and around Cambodia, we and some friends,” he said. “In my late 20s, I got into climbing and then when my wife and I were in Indonesia, we started hiking up volcanos.”
That was about a decade ago and Rann said that wasn’t serious mountaineering. A serious posture didn’t really happen until the family moved to Ecuador last August. He started in earnest after a three-month sort of orientation to climbing that started late last year.
So what’s been the toughest peak to summit so far? Hands down, it’s Cotopaxi, which is about 90 minutes outside of Quito, and is 19,347 feet above sea level, so not only are there altitude challenges, but there are always concerns about weather.
“I felt really strong physically and ready for it,” Rann said. “I had done some glacier training, and I’d been in Quito for months and I was acclimated to the height.”
At Cotopaxi, two things happened. He had to stay overnight at a refuge at 15,000 feet, which understandably is not an easy place to sleep. The trek to the summit began at midnight, and then the fun really began.
“A snowstorm came in and it was challenging to see,” he said. “It was complete whiteout, cold and windy. We had to go very fast and when we reached the summit, we had to go down right away.”
But he did it, and he’s planning on doing it again in October as a member of the ROMP climbing team. He’ll scale the peak again with a group of adaptive athletes and several ROMP patients.
Don’t think Rann doesn’t cherish Riverside, though. He’s coming back this weekend to visit his folks. He remembers his youth vividly, especially walking to Blythe Park Elementary School and attending Hauser Junior High, where he said he “had teachers that advanced my world view.” He remembers fondly riding his bike with his friends to a nearby forest preserve and stopping at Riverside Foods to “get some baguettes and Vienna sausages, which we thought for some reason were delicious.”
RBHS was a turning point in his life, because it got him to Notre Dame.
“(It) had some key teachers and guidance counselors,” he said. “I think I was very driven academically, but I didn’t know what to do with it. RB really helped me understand where I could go next.”
That eventually was the Far East and now Ecuador, doing things that he probably couldn’t have imagined back then.
That ties back to his advice to people, especially youngsters, who want to try something big – maybe not mountain climbing, but something just as big to them.
“I think when I was younger I would have a lot of analysis paralysis,” he said. “Taking that first step is the hardest. Every journey started with one step.
“It’s giving yourself permission to take that first step.”
If you’d like to donate, visit TimothyRann.com