• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    We Choose To Climb

    Bring on the mountain: Adversity-fighting Houston women set their sights onscaling Kilimanjaro

    Shana Ross
    Jul 6, 2011 | 3:52 pm
    • Mount Kilimanjaro
    • The start of a 12.6-mile training trek.
    • Becky Pope working hard to get ready.
    • Venita Ray, from left, Sheri Dawson, Jackie Doval, Becky Pope, Pam Hilmes andDeb Sanders with Shana Ross (kneeling)

    This September, I will lead a group of seven Houston women, all of whom faced or are facing serious challenges in their lives, to Tanzania, where we will climb Mount Kilimanjaro. These are professional women from varied backgrounds. They are married, single, gay, straight, mothers, daughters, sisters.

    What each of them has in common is the drive and determination to not let adversity, illness, injury, obesity or life-altering events stand in the way of living life to its fullest.

    Everyone meets obstacles. Life happens. That’s a given. The interesting part, the variable in the given, is how the human spirit deals with those obstacles. Some take a decidedly positive approach, an “Is that all you got?” attitude. Others never seem to get past the roadblock. Many people muddle through, but lose something of themselves along the way.

    I see these scenarios played out time and again in my practice — and no, I’m not a therapist. I’m a fitness/healthy lifestyle transformation coach specializing in baby boomers (and younger) in general and menopausal women in particular.

    By the time a person has reached mid-40s or so, life has happened. And that’s usually how people end up in my studio. They need help figuring out just what the hell did happen, how they can change it, whether or not it’s too late to feel good again. Even after doing this work for 15 years, I’m still intrigued by how some people begin transforming almost immediately while others just can’t pull it together.

    But these women — the “Super Seven,” I call them — are exceptional in how they meet life with hands-on-their hips, chin-up attitudes. They’ve all had their struggles too. But they have transformed their lives in so many ways.

    Climbing Kili was inspired by one of my long-time clients Becky Pope. In 2006, she and her partner Pam hired me as their coach. They wanted to lose weight, learn better nutrition habits and improve their fitness to better enjoy their hobbies —biking and hiking. We got to work; they both saw results and embarked on several hiking trips, and multi-day bike rides. They worked with me for a couple of years, learned a great deal, and went out on their own to continue living healthier lives.

    This is not a Hollywood story and there is no fairytale ending. This is life, as real as it gets.

    In early 2009, I got a phone call from Becky. She asked if I had some time to meet; she had a major health challenge and wanted to talk. My heart skipped a beat when Becky walked into my studio a few days later and I saw the bald head and much thinner form in front of me. The words, “stage 3 ovarian cancer” hit me hard. We both shed a few uncharacteristic tears, but she wanted to know if I could help her in her recovery. She was 12 weeks out from her hysterectomy and her doctor had given her the go ahead to begin light exercise.

    So we began. Her determination was an awesome thing to behold. She finished her chemotherapy and onward we marched. Each check up was approached with optimism and she became stronger each month.

    In late 2010, about 18 months after she had been declared cancer free, Becky’s blood counts went haywire. PET scans showed “hot spots." An MRI confirmed the diagnosis: The cancer had returned.

    The holidays for Becky brought a new round of chemo treatments. Incredibly, she continued her workouts, missing very few days. She also continued working and living life with optimism, humor and zest. Once again, Becky’s been given the “all clear” sign. Her workouts are progressing, and her outlook on life is phenomenal.

    The Next Mountain

    In early spring, Becky asked if I would help her train for her next adventure. I said, “Sure, what are you gonna do this time?” She looked at me with a little smile. “Well, Pam and I are going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.”

    I was stunned. She had just finished chemotherapy, was as bald as Mr. Clean, and sported a boot cast on one foot because of a tendon issue. I knew then that there was a story here to be told.

    I’d been working on a book idea for awhile. I took a few days to think things over and then I approached Becky and told her my thoughts: if we were to write her story along with stories of other women who had dealt with adversity, we could craft an inspiring tale with the potential to help so many facing challenges — their own Kilimanjaros. Becky, of course, was gung-ho and responded with her usual “Let’s do it” approach.

    My first concern was the date set for the climb — September 2011. I asked if the trip might be postponed to have more time to pull the project together. But alas, that option wasn’t available as Becky has other trips planned and postponing Kilimanjaro now would mean not having the opportunity again for three years. Becky is determined to live every moment to its fullest; the fact that she had other trips already planned didn’t surprise me.

    So, as “they” say, there’s no time like the present. The team is assembled. We’re training and raising funds. We’re making this happen.

    As I said earlier, we are women from varied backgrounds with all kinds of challenges. But each woman, at some point, faced the fact that she wasn’t living the life she could be living. And what each did right was to attack the problem instead of to look for an easy way out or try to find something to blame. They took hard looks at themselves and have put in the work to change their physical lives, and in many cases, their emotional well-being.

    My book (working title We Choose To Climb) will chronicle the lives of each of these women and reveal how they have persevered through illness, obesity, addiction, injury, low self-esteem, life changes. Their stories are inspirational, poignant, funny, revealing — but most of all — real. This is not a Hollywood story and there is no fairytale ending. This is life, as real as it gets.

    And now, these women (average age 52) are banding together to conquer the challenge of climbing the world’s tallest free-standing mountain with the message to other women and men that no matter the challenge, no matter the age, we are all capable of setting goals and reaching them. Over the next few months, I’ll keep you updated on our progress through this column. Until the next time, “Live Life Like You Mean It.”

    Bring on the mountain. We choose to climb.

    Editor's note: This is the first part in a regular series that Houston's Shana Ross will write for CultureMap on the climb, detailing everything from the preparations to the push up Kilimanjaro. Next up, Meet the “Super Seven."

    unspecified
    news/city-life

    most read posts

    Intimate Houston cocktail lounge adds European-inspired outdoor patio

    2 Houston suburbs rank among fastest-growing affordable cities in U.S.

    Award-winning Houston cocktail bar diverts to new home in Montrose

    This Week's Hot Headlines

    Houston billionaire ranks among top U.S. landowners and more popular stories

    CultureMap Staff
    Jun 14, 2025 | 11:01 am
    HMNS Great Outdoors Gala 2022 Russell and Glenda Gordy and Red FJ Cruiser
    Photo by Jenny Antill
    undefined

    Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston news of the week, including a look at one of America's top landowners. Plus, the sad closure of a pioneering steakhouse and a popular pizzeria makes plans for Houston. Get the details on our most popular stories below, then head here to plan your weekend.

    1. Houston oil-and-gas billionaire ranks among America's top 100 landowners. About one-fourth of the country’s mega-owners of private land have ties to Texas, either living here, owning land here, or both. The highest-ranked Houston-based landowner is oil-and-gas billionaire Russell Gordy.

    2. Houston's pioneering South American steakhouse will soon shutter in River Oaks. Sad news for inner loopers who are fans of plantain chips, wood-grilled steaks, and Houston’s best tres leches. The River Oaks location of South American steakhouse Churrascos will close Monday, June 16.

    3. Texas Monthly's BBQ Snob dishes on the magazine's new top 50 list. On this episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss the magazine’s new list of the 50 best barbecue joints in Texas.

    4. 'Famous' Bronx-based pizza chain fires up 3 Houston locations. A New York-based pizza chain has big plans for Houston. Called Singas Famous Pizza, the restaurant will soon open three locations in the area.

    Singas PizzaSingas Pizza is coming to Houston.Photo courtesy of Singas

    5. Texas slides down the list of best U.S. state economies for 2025. Texas' robust economy may be showing some cracks. Texas now ranks as the state with the eighth best economy, four spots lower than one year ago, according to a new report.

    most popular storiesbillionairesrankingsreportsclosingstexas monthlybbqpizzaopeningsreal estatehot-headlines
    news/city-life
    Loading...