Rob Hill just completed an amazing feat, climbing more than 16,000 feet to the peak of Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia , one of the Seven Summits, or the tallest peak on every continent. Not only is Rob an incredible athlete, but he is hoping to become the fist person living with an ostomy to climb the Seven Summits. By completing his recent climb, Rob now has only Mt. Everest left in his quest. Climbing the Seven Summits is difficult on anyone, especially someone without their large intestine, the organ that is primarily responsible for absorbing water and nutrients into the body. Rob is just back in the states and joins us live to talk about his incredible journey and the price he has had to pay to realize his dreams. More about Rob Hill: by Don Hauka. Rob Hill needed a big stage to communicate his big idea. So the Vancouver resident is climbing onto the roof of the world to get his message out. The mountaineer, tri-athlete and Crohn’s disease sufferer is scaling the seven highest peaks in the world to show that having chronic intestinal problems shouldn’t prevent people from reaching their goals. “By my taking it to the extreme, I hope to show other people like me that they can still live a full life,” says Hill. A natural athlete, Hill was just eight years old when he ran his first marathon. In 1994, he was 23 and in wonderful condition. But he suffered a sudden onset of daily diarrhea and unrelenting abdominal cramps. He was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an extremely painful inflammation in the small intestine. In the next 18 months, he lost 80 pounds before having his colon removed during an ostomy procedure. Hill refused to look at his condition as a life-limiting handicap. He was inspired by the examples of Terry Fox and Rick Hansen, two British Columbians who overcame physical challenges and raised public awareness through athleticism. “Crohn’s disease can be very debilitating and there’s a social stigma attached to it,” says Hill. “I wanted to overcome that and I wanted to give other people going through what I went through a good role model. I wanted to make a difference.” To make that difference, Hill created a campaign to climb the highest peaks on each of the seven continents called the “No Guts – Know Glory! Seven Summits campaign.” His goal is to become the first Crohn’s patient and ostomate to climb the seven summits. Hill has already climbed Europe’s Mount Elbrus (in Russia ), South America’s Aconcagua, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, North America’s Denali and Antarctica’s Vinson Massif . He plans to scale Oceania’s Carstensz Pyramid next March and the biggest one of them all, Mount Everest on the Asian continent, in 2008. Hills climbing concept came out of a Communications course he took at Capilano College in 2003. It was a single course that changed his entire life. “I realized that instead of just simply completing the course and getting a grade, I could take what I was learning and apply it to the things that I’m passionate about,” says Hill. “The next thing I knew, I was climbing in Russia .” Capilano College is offering a new program this fall that will give students the tools to take on communications projects like Hill’s or prepare for a career in journalism, public, community or government affairs. The Communication Studies Diploma (CSD) program will also appeal to people looking for work in radio or television, audiovisual programming, publishing, and writing and editing. Students graduating from the 60-credit program will have the tools to start their careers or pursue an undergraduate degree at post-secondary institution like Simon Fraser University . Capilano College has worked closely with the SFU School of Communication in developing the CSD program. “The Communication Studies Diploma allows graduates to either go into the workforce after two years or they can transfer to SFU and complete their Bachelor of Arts,” says Gary McCarron, Graduate Chair of SFU’s School of Communication . “It gives you options: in a communications obsessed world, there’s an incredibly exciting variety of job possibilities. It’s an eclectic mix – it really runs the gamut.” The CSD program will also appeal to people in the workforce who want to add some new tools to their skill set to either take their current careers further or open the door to a whole new vocation. Honing his communications skills certainly took Hill to new heights in his chosen field. “Everything I’ve achieved rolls out of being able to communicate clearly and effectively,” he says. “The Communication Studies Diploma is great for the College and students. I wish I had more time – I’d go back and take it myself.” http://www.greatcomebacks.com/”>http://www.greatcomebacks.com/
