As Rocky’s sister and someone who has met many people in his orbit, I cannot help but feel we all feel inspired to Live a little bit more Like Rocky. Rocky was a champion not just for himself, but for others. He championed me when I experienced my amputation to get to this very moment of making a summit attempt on Cotopaxi come October 3, 2024. It is a summit he made three years earlier in 2021 for the Range of Motion Project, which is an organization that has become near and dear to our hearts as we have witnessed the impact it has made on others who have not had the easiest road to accessing mobility in the wake of their experiences with limb loss and limb difference.
On summiting Cotopaxi with ROMP, Rocky said this:
"Making it to the summit of Cotopaxi is by far the biggest mountain I’ve climbed and maybe the most impactful summit, besides my first summit of Mt. Hood. What made this summit so significant for me was not because it was the tallest mountain I’ve climbed or because it is so beautiful, the most difficult, or its sure magnitude. What made this summit so significant for me was the amazing people I had the incredible opportunity to share this experience with. I mean what a crew of some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Their stories, their abilities, their reasons, all coming from across the nation to come take on this mountain. The laughs, the cries, the anxiety all building up to this one moment of taking on the mountain. Not all of us made it to the summit, but I know without a doubt that we all gave it everything we had. The team camaraderie was incredible. I had never been so overcome with emotion when I set foot on that summit and then when I saw each team member come over the ridge and make it to the summit, I couldn’t help the tears from coming down. It really was one of the most amazing things I have witnessed. Despite disabilities, limitations, or obstacles, the human spirit can always triumph."
Thank you all for joining the team and supporting ROMP. Now let’s all get out there, Live Like Rocky, and Dominate!