Lehman will 'Fight for Air' on Alaska's Denali

When Jonathan Lehman was told he had asthma, he said he wouldn't stand for it. So he's getting ready to climb the highest peak in North America to bring awareness to respiratory issues and education.

As a Chattanooga firefighter working at the station in St. Elmo, he said he knows the importance of having clean air and the ability to breathe it.

"I figured there's got to be some significant effort happening prior to the initiative to give it some momentum and put a face with the cause. That's when I decided to go to Alaska to climb Denali," he said. "The higher up you go the thinner the air gets, the harder it is to breathe. That to me is parallel to respiratory issues."

photo Jonathan Lehman, Miguel Morales, Shirley Cudabac and Ed Harrison, from left, are partnering together to bring awareness and education about respiratory issues to Chattanooga. Lehman is preparing to climb Mt. Denali to kick off the local Fight for Air campaign. Morales hosted a recent fundraising dinner at his Carrabba's restaurant at Hamilton Place. Cudabac and Harrison are involved with American Lung Association.

When Lehman returns from his May trip, he plans to launch a campaign with the American Lung Association and Chattanooga Allergy Clinic to educate the public about what are very real threats in Chattanooga. The city ranks No. 3 on the Top 10 Worst Cities to Live for Asthmatics, as published by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America.

"The goal to me is to get home safe, No. 1," said the Jefferson Heights husband and father of two, "and to have great pictures, because the ultimate reason why I'm going is to make something happen here locally that has a positive outcome."

The city's first-ever Fight for Air Climb will take place at McKenzie Arena after his return.

"This is a pretty new signature event for the Lung Association itself," said organizer and ALA board member Ed Harrison. "There are so many different events coming about - adventure races. We need something like that for Chattanooga."

Individuals or teams can register until May 17 and find more information online at climbchattanooga.org. Several levels of awards for gender and age groups will be presented after the timed 40-flight (20 up and 20 down) climb in order to encourage annual attendance and goals.

But Harrison assured there is no need to cross-train like Lehman. There will also be an untimed half-climb.

Lehman continues to climb toward his fitness goal through regular workouts at Get Built CrossFit in St. Elmo. He also attended a mid-March Denali prep session on Mt. Rainier in Washington state.

"The weather definitely cooperated," he said of the recent training workshop. "We got over three feet of snow and it was negative 15 [degrees]. I've been on big mountains before ... [but] nothing this tall. The highest I've been until this May, hopefully, is 16,000 [feet] and [some] change; this will be 20,000 [feet] and [some] change."

He used to be a wilderness guide, "until [he] gave it up for a girl, which was a great decision." Though he's only been seriously training to climb Denali for three months, he said he's "really nerdy about fitness" and tries to keep himself in good shape regardless.

The climb should take about three weeks "if the weather cooperates," he said. His eight years of carrying heavy packs into burning buildings will come in handy, as he will have to personally haul all his climbing gear and supplies each step of the way.

But making it to the top is not the crowning achievement of this project, he said. Even though a later second opinion has since cleared Lehman of his asthma diagnosis, he still wants to play a part in surmounting the disease and others like it.

"If it spawns a good project and good education, I don't think the fact of whether I have asthma or not matters," he said.

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