Chloe Wilson, a senior at The Overlake School in Redmond, climbed to the summit of Mount Rainier on Memorial Day weekend and has raised more than $4,600 for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN).

The courageous endeavor was the Woodinville resident’s senior project and a tribute to her grandmother, who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer in 1998. Chloe’s dad Jim Wilson made the climb with her.

Jim explained in a press release, “Chloe and her grandmother were very close. They would go on walks and see Mount Rainier which Chloe long referred to as ‘Mount Right Near!’ As the oldest of our three daughters, Chloe was hit hardest by her grandma’s passing.”

In a phone interview, Chloe agreed, “My grandma passed away over a decade ago … but she had a huge impact on my life. She was always a very active person and had she still been alive, she would have been right beside me.”

This was Chloe’s first attempt to scale Rainier but she began training several months ago, going to a gym several times a week for cardiovascular and weight training, then doing four-to-five-hour hikes on Mount Si. Her dad reached the summit of Rainier twice before and also climbed Alaska’s Mount Denali in 2004.

Highlights of the trip to the top included working with companions from International Mountain Guides “who had such a positive, upbeat attitude,” said Chloe. “But also I was stunned at how incredible the mountain itself is and the view. We saw Mount St. Helens and Mount Baker … the crevasses, the glaciers, the sheer size of it.”

Chloe plans to study sociology in an honors program at Santa Clara University. When she’s not enjoying the outdoors, she takes voice lessons, plays piano and sings with the Bel Canto choir at First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue.

Jennifer Donahue, media coordinator for the PanCAN — Puget Sound Affiliate, praised Chloe’s “Climb for Hope” as a way to raise awareness and money to stop a silent killer.

“Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., yet receives the least amount of federal funding for research, prevention and cure,” Donahue noted.

According to PanCAN, the survival rate for this form of cancer has not improved substantially over the past 25 years. Seventy-five percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within the first year of diagnosis and only five percent survive more than five years.

There are no early detection methods for pancreatic cancer. Most patients receive the diagnosis when they seek medical attention for jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes). By this time, the disease is often too advanced to be treated successfully.

Risk factors need to be identified and verified before research about prevention methods can begin. Recent research suggests that smoking, a family history of the disease, diabetes and obesity could be among risk factors.

To learn about pancreatic cancer, visit www.pancan.org. For information about Chloe Wilson’s “Climb for Hope,” visit www.firstgiving.org/chloewilson.