Climber strives for new heights

Corbett’s Lynn Lippert looks to climbing for a cure to cancer

By David Ball

The Gresham Outlook, Aug 7, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

David Ball / The Gresham Outlook

Corbett’s Lynn Lippert displays a banner that includes numerous names of people who have been affected by cancer. She takes the banner with her on climbs and flies it at the summit.

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When you’ve battled back from cancer twice, something like scaling the side of a mountain doesn’t seem nearly as daunting.

Corbett’s Lynn Lippert started climbing in college, but her biggest moment on a mountain didn’t come until after she had overcome breast cancer for a second time.

“I always like to have a carrot to chase, so after my first bout with cancer we planned a trip to Hawaii,” Lippert said. “The second time around that wasn’t going to cut it, so we planned a trip around the world. Cancer has a way of keeping you from putting things off. My prognoses were good both times, but there’s always that element of the unknown.”

After the cancer went into remission, Lippert and her partner Sal Jepson, took off for a year touring through much of Asia and parts of Australia. However, her best memory was sitting atop Mount Kilimanjaro — Africa’s tallest peak.

“We stood on the summit a year to the day after my final chemo treatment,” Lippert said. “After going through chemo I was pretty wiped out, so I had to train really smart to be in condition again for a climb like that. Standing at the top was very emotional — it was a sweet moment. Going the last 1,000 feet, I wanted it to last longer. I wanted to savor it.”

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