By Dan England
dengland@greeleytribune.com
Standing on the summit on
The 14,255-foot mountain was bad enough, tossing thin air, strong winds and
scrambled sections in the way to the summit. And his battle with multiple
sclerosis was bad enough as well, a disease that, at times since he was
diagnosed in 2000, left him with shaky balance and the kind of wearing fatigue
that left him feeling like he was in a punching match with a heavyweight boxer
from the moment he got out of bed until he would collapse back in.
Perhaps the biggest challenge, however, was overcoming the doubts of so many
who told him not to do it.
His neurologist was less than pleased when Rud,
50, of
And that's when the first thought came to him, a thought that turned into a
burning flame as he stared at a framed poster of all of
He would climb all 54 of the state's 14ers for those who can't.
Before he started hiking, Rud figured it
wouldn't be long before he'd join that group himself. Whenever he saw someone
using a wheelchair, he studied how they worked it, preparing for the
inevitable, he thought. His health was deteriorating since 2000, when his right
shoulder went numb and tests showed lesions on his brain typical of those with
multiple sclerosis. And those attacks, which hit about every six months, were
awful, like he had the flu coming on for months at a time, until steroids
calmed the symptoms.
But in May last year, Rud was recovering from
a divorce.
He was 50, alone and tired of his poor health. He blamed that partly on
the disease, but he also blamed it on his medications. So, in May 2005, he decided
to start hiking and stop taking the pills. He took it easy at first and
continued to go higher and higher in Rocky Mountain National Park until he
finally thought he would bag a goal literally staring him in the face since he
was young in Wyoming and his mother used to rave about seeing Longs Peak from
Interstate 25. He lived in a house with a good view of Longs not far from his
front porch.
"You stare at it long enough," Rud
said of Longs, "and it's in the back of your mind forever."
Rud understood why so many told him not to
climb the mountain. They were trying to protect him from the attacks that left
him so miserable and tired. But he found the advice to be counterproductive. In
fact, his balance started to come back to him the more he hiked. And he began
to feel better than he had in years.
"All that coddling isn't good for your body or your mind," Rud
said.
But a goal, and a difficult one at that (about 1,200 have registered with the
Colorado Mountain Club to say they've climbed them all), is both good for body
and mind, Rud said. He's lost 35 pounds during the winter and has trained hard.
He hasn't had an attack for a while, and if one comes, he believes he may be
able to work through it rather than take the steroids. He almost thinks he can
will it away.
After all, he knows now what it's like to use all your will. He remembers the
slow jaunt up the trough, Longs' long, gut-busting gully that leads to the
narrows close to the top. He stopped every 50 feet for a small break and told
his partner he may just stop for good during one of those breaks. He never did.
He had Taco Bell for dinner, one of the best meals he's ever eaten.
"One of the best things," Purman said and laughed, "was to see
them get out of the truck that night."
Yes, but the exhaustion he felt that night was good, a much better feeling than
what he used to battle after those attacks. He wants to climb all those 14ers
in the next three years, hoping to raise money along the way for the MS
Society. At a kickoff party, four of his mountain photos netted $500 for the
society.
But more than the money, Rud wants to inspire others facing a similar
situation, whether they have multiple sclerosis, another disability or just
people telling them they shouldn't do those things.
"Even if it's walking to the end of your driveway, you can do it,"
Rud said. "I just want to get the word out. Set a goal. It doesn't have to
be a mountain."
A goal, even if it was a mountain and, now, many mountains, gave Rud his life
back. He doesn't think of himself as disabled, but he believes he was headed
there. He also knows he may be headed there again. Multiple sclerosis is
unpredictable. Even if he is feeling better than he has in many years, it might
strike back hard. That's one reason why he wants to finish in the next three
years. He doesn't know how much time he has left.
The mountain doesn't care who you are, he said. It treats everyone the same.
That common thought in mountaineering is, of course, a warning.
But Rud has learned in the past year that it's also encouraging.
"You almost lose confidence in yourself after everyone tells you not to do
something," Rud said. "But now, in my mind,
I've already climbed them."
Dan England
Adventure Editor and Entertainment reporter for the Greeley Tribune