Hiker's Challenge
by Dick Healy

The leaves are turning brown, orange and red as fall season quickly approaches New England’s mountains which means skiing/snowboarding can’t be far off. Yet well in advance of snow on slopes and XC trails at Whiteface Mountain, NY, Mt Manadnock, NH and Mount Mansfield, VT, hikers are out in force scaling the summits.

Cathy Terwilliger, sales and marketing director for COINS USA, a construction solutions software company, says she’s in charge for the second year in a row of an event called the COINS 3 Peaks Challenge.

“ We bring together teams from firms involved in the construction industry to raise money for a charitable fundraising challenge/climb on all three mentioned mountains,” says Terwilliger. “Fifteen teams participated last year and, that has now increased to 20 teams for this year’s challenge.”

The first mountain challenge will start at the base of Whiteface from the Atmospheric Science Research Center at 1:20 p.m. with teams consisting of four hikers and two support crew members to drive hikers between the designated mountains.
Terwilliger emphasizes that there will be a series of five briefings to check equipment and receive communication radios and other gear. Hiking teams will be staggered in their ascent, climbing the Hazleton Trial to the summit.

Following Whiteface the teams will drive to a checkpoint in Brattelboro, VT, stay over and get a pre-dawn start Sunday for the Manadnock challenge, that will be followed the same day to challenge Mt. Mansfield.

All in all, Terwilliger figures the 24-hour time is made up of 10-hours fixed driving and 14-hours of hiking time. COINS works with a company called Grand Dynamics on safety for the 3-Peaks event. And with any undertaking of this nature, permission by the proper authorities was approved in advance from all three locations.
Each team has a fundraising target of $5,000.