ML - Aspen Peak

Aspen Peak - 2015 - Issue 2 - Winter - Lift Off

Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak

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photography by Shawn o'Connor continued on page 92 During his bid to climb all 54 of Colorado's peaks over 14,000 feet in one calen dar year, Internet entrepreneur Tony Caine was hiking along the saddle between Tabeguache Peak and Mount Shavano a few hundred feet below the summit when he became dizzy and lightheaded. As he continued on, his condition worsened; he began to experience vertigo and eventually couldn't walk or stand. He had a cell phone signal and called for help. He was evacuated by helicopter six hours later. Caine, now fully recovered from his trek, recalls sitting in an Aspen barbershop six years ago, when he was struck by inspiration to tackle the 14er project. But for him, it was about much more than climbing all those mountains. "I picked up Chris Davenport's book [Ski the 14ers ], and I thought, Maybe I should get off my butt and do something," says Caine, 58. "I decided I would attempt to hike all the 14ers and use that as an impetus to launch Summit 54"—a nonproft investing in Colorado education. Caine and his wife, Terri, 55, launched Summit 54 in 2010 and hosted the frst offcial fundraiser this past July at their Wildwood Lane home a few miles up Inde pendence Pass. When they started the program, they donated $400,000 of their own money, which was matched dollar for dollar with a grant from the United Way Social Innovation Fund. They've since received grants from the Aspen Community Foundation and The Thrift Shop of Aspen. "We also received a few generous multi year pledges from people we know personally who are also very passionate about education," Terri says. "Doing all the 14ers in one year, but breaking it down to one peak at a time, felt like the perfect analogy for working with students [for whom] college may seem like an insurmountable goal," Tony says. For Tony, dedicating himself to creating more opportunities in education for un derprivileged students was a cause close to his heart. Raised in bluecollar Pittsburgh as the son of a bus driver who had dropped out of the 10th grade to support his single mother, Tony put himself through Carnegie Mellon University before going on to work for HewlettPackard and Apple and eventually founding three tech startups (including Spyglass, the frst Internet browser, acquired in a $2.5 billion stock ex change acquisition in 2000). He went on to found LJM Partners, the Chicagobased fnancial investment frm he still works with today. Summit 54 has sponsored four established evidencebased programs that are aligned with its mission: PreCollegiate, which funds college scholarships for students in the Roaring Fork Valley; Summer Advantage USA, a fiveweek aca demic and lifeenrichment summer program for students grades K–4 in Basalt, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs (where budget cuts eliminated funding for The SummiT in SighT Terri and Tony Caine's summit 54 is making sure every valley sTudenT Can reaCh for The Top. by ali margo Always climbing: With college-track programs, summer programs, and sponsored scholarships, Summit 54's Tony and Terri Caine, photographed here at their home on Wildwood Lane, have dedicated themselves to advancing education in the Roaring Fork Valley. 90  aspenpeak-magazine.com CULTURE Spirit of Generosity

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