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Throwback Thursday: A mountainous achievement

4/8/2020
The Sept. 9, 1991 issue of National Home Center News, the forerunner of HBSDealer reported on “The Climb,” an annual, charitable, two-day hike up Mount Rainier, Wash.

Under the headline “Ernst’s Smith lends support to local charity,” the article describes the participation of Ernst Home and Nursery’s President Hal Smith in the effort to help raise money for children with Asthma.

Smith reached the top of the 14,411-foot peak in 1991.

Smith said an attempt five years earlier was cut short by a case of high-altitude sickness. But in 1991, Smith and most of his expedition organized by the American Lung Association reached the 14,411-foot peak.

He described preparation and perseverance as the keys to his success on the mountain. “You have to mentally concentrate on what your goal is and that the climb is for a good cause,” Smith said. “It isn’t easy for anybody. No matter how cold it is, how hard the wind blows, how nauseous you feel. You just have to keep moving, keep climbing. That’s why it’s so rewarding.”

At its peak, Seattle-based Ernst operated 95 stores in the Western U.S. It liquidated in 1996.
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