Inside Prevention

New and improved Safe Cosmetics Act could boost green chemistry (Forbes, 6/27/2011)

The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011, federal legislation strongly supported by the Breast Cancer Fund and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (a project of ours), was introduced in the U.S. House on Friday, June 24, 2011.

This is excellent news for consumers left scratching their heads about which shampoo to buy; many cosmetics contain harmful chemicals, a legal practice under current law. But as a new piece on Forbes' blog points out, it's also a boon for cosmetics companies that want to make safe, healthy products but don't currently get all the information they need from ingredient suppliers.

The Breast Cancer Fund's Program and Policy Director Janet Nudelman explains some of the benefits for small businesses, including supplier transparency:

Nudelman says other companies are pleased with this part of the Act as well. "We call this the Producer Right-to-Know, and the companies we're working with are quite pleased with it," she says. "We always talk about consumers' right-to-know, but producers have a right to know as well—they are the ones that will be held liable if a harmful ingredient sneaks into their product." (Read complete article.)

Climb photos, yes we have 'em!

If you've been following the Breast Cancer Fund's Climb Against the Odds 2011 you've probably been waiting since Wednesday for PHOTOS!

It was truly an amazing—and well documented!—climb on Mt. Shasta last week. We'll be posting lots more photos on our Flickr side in the coming days and weeks, but for now please enjoy the slideshow we shared with the climbers and their supporters Friday.

Special thanks to our amazing photographers, Cathy Ann Taylor and Sequoia Pettengell, for providing us such gorgeous images to remember this climb by.

Home again, home again

Family and friends cheered the Climb Against the Odds 2011 team off the mountain at noon today. Welcome back, climbers!

Tonight we'll honor them at a community-wide celebration dinner, but for now we'll leave you with some photos from the trailhead festivities.

Back at base camp

All the climbers are back at base camp at Hidden Valley as of 4 p.m. From the sound of it, they're in good spirits, telling stories and enjoying some well-deserved camaraderie. Great news that all are safe and sound! As Breast Cancer Fund President Jeanne Rizzo says, summiting is optional, but getting down is not.

Down here in town the climbers' families are arriving in anticipation of the team's descent off the mountain tomorrow around noon. Tonight we'll host a sign-making party to help cheer our climbers home.

It's been an incredible day all around.

Video: Top of Misery Hill

Here's another video clip from the climb this morning. This is Steve Heird and Bernadette Green at the top of the aptly named Misery Hill. Looks like a cold and windy morning!

22 on the summit

Word from the mountain: 22 climbers reached the summit today and everyone is headed back down to base camp. Wow!

Here's the comprehensive list of climbers and where they reached their personal summits on Mt. Shasta today:

Carol Anderson—Misery Hill, 13,500 feet
Hester Bennett—West Face, 10,000 feet
Shiera Brady Henderson—Summit
Damon Butler—Summit
Mary Beth Cadwell—Summit
Katie Caygill—Summit
Carly Chomer—West Face, 12,500 feet
Janet Dobson—Summit
Paul Engstrom—West Face, 12,000 feet
Leann Ferry—Summit
Elly Fike—Summit
Sarah Geyer—Summit
Betsy Gordon—Summit Plateau, 14,000 feet
Geoffrey Gray-Cornelius—Summit
Bernadette Green—Summit
Steven Heird—Summit
Diane Henry—Summit
Cadie Jessup—West Face, 10,000 feet
Jessica Lau—Summit
Ann Maechtlen—Summit
Brook McCormick—Summit Plateau, 14,000 feet
Amanda Michaud—West Face, 12,500 feet Top of the West Face, 13,100 feet
Juliet Moran—Summit
Linda Morton—Summit
Kathy Mow—West Face, 11,800 12,000 feet
Betsy Ogden—West Face, 12,500 feet
Gina Setla—Summit
Michael Sevy—Summit
Leta Sharpe—Summit
Cathy Ann Taylor—Summit
Kirsti Tcherkoyan—Summit
Linda Trenholm—West Face, 10,000 feet
Melissa (Lisa) Walthers—Summit
Erin Warren—Summit

We are so proud of each and every one of these climbers! Get safely back to base camp, team, and we can't wait to congratulate you in person tomorrow.

***

Correction note, 6/30/2011: The above summits are the best information we had from the guides via radio as of 6/22/2011, but if you see an error, please contact us and we'd be happy to correct it for the record!

Mostly quiet

We haven't heard much from base camp, so we assume that the rope teams are making progress toward the summit, except for the first team to summit earlier today, which should be headed down to base camp.

We do know that Carol Anderson reached her personal summit at about 13,000 feet after experiencing severe leg cramps. She's on her way to base camp with a guide. Kathy Mow and Paul Engstrom are safely back to base camp.

What does the west face look like?

Here's a glimpse of the slow, steady progress of one of our rope teams as they near the crest of the west face of Mt. Shasta at 12,700 feet. It's hard work! Unfortunately we're not sure who is on this rope team, but we'll update here when we find out.

First summit and all crested west face

The first rope team has reached the summit! The first team out of the gates this morning, the Bay Area crew of Shiera Brady Henderson, Katie Caygill, Diane Henry, Michael Sevy and Melissa (Lisa) Walthers, summited at 10:30. Fourteen thousand one hundred seventy-nine feet!

We also have confirmation that the last rope team has crested the west face. We are so proud of this whole team!

The fog of this morning is history. Right now the mountain is as clear as today is long.

***

For the record: We originally misreported the first team to summit, based on radio communications. The first group on the summit was Damon Butler, Janet Dobson and Sarah Geyer at 10:20 a.m. They were followed by:

Elly Fike and Jessica Lau at 10:42 a.m.
Shiera Brady Henderson, Katie Caygill, Diane Henry, Michael Sevy and Melissa (Lisa) Walthers at 10:50 a.m.
Bernadette Green and Steve Heird at 11:16 a.m.
Mary Beth Cadwell, Juliet Moran and Kirsti Tcherkoyan at 11:45 a.m.
Leann Ferry, Geoff Gray-Cornelius and Gina Setla at 12:02 p.m.
Ann Maechtlen, Linda Morton, Leta Sharpe and Erin Warren at 12:45 p.m.

Apologies for the confusion!

Cresting and crested

Right now three rope teams are a few hundred feet below the crest and still visible on the west face from base camp. The other teams have reached the crest, from which point they'll cross a plateau before heading up Misery Hill, then on to the Summit Plateau and beyond to the summit pinnacle.

Three more climbers are headed down with a guide: Carly Chomer, Amanda Michaud and Betsy Ogden. We know Amanda reached her personal summit at 12,500 feet, and we're waiting for reports on Carly and Betsy's summits.