Rookie climber Angela Lieb from Shrewsbury, Missouri set an ambitious goal to climb two of North America's highest peaks in Mexico to raise money for Easter Seals as part of her company's charity expedition. With no prior climbing experience, Lieb spent two exhausting days summiting 17,160-foot Mount Iztaccíhuatl but suffered from exhaustion, toe pain, and neck spasms. She considered quitting before the next peak, 18,491-foot Pico de Orizaba, but pushed on and completed the climb, gaining an extreme lesson in high altitude endurance.

1. Rookie climber from
Shrewsbury sets lofty
goals for Easter Seals
1 1 HOURS AGO • BY PAUL HAMPEL
PHAMPEL@POST-DISPATCH.COM 3 1 4 -7 2 7 -6 2 3 4
SHREWSBURY • Angela Lieb left for
Mexico the day after Thanksgiving hoping
that four months of intense training had
prepared her to conquer two of North
America’s highest peaks.
The flatlander from Shrewsbury had
never climbed a mountain. But she was
determined to hold up her end of the
bargain in a climb with six co-workers
from Century 21 — all men, most with
mountaineering experience — in an
expedition to raise money for Easter
Seals.
Lieb, 45, was in for an exhausting lesson
in “extreme elevation gain.”
The single mother of four spent the better
part of two days, including one night in a
tent, to reach the first summit, 17,160-
foot Mount Iztaccíhuatl.
A more experienced climber in the party
turned back with altitude sickness. Lieb

2. made it to the top of the dormant volcano,
but the slog had left her thoroughly
exhausted and suffering from excruciating
pain in her toes and severe neck spasms
from wearing an ill-fitting backpack.
“It was miserable,” she said last week in
the dining room of her recently rehabbed,
115-year-old frame home. “The closest
correlation to it was childbirth.”
On the way to the next objective, 18,491-
foot Pico de Orizaba, Lieb felt her resolve
slipping.
“I started crying in the van. I told the
guys that I didn’t want to disappoint
them, but I wasn’t sure I could climb
another mountain.”
The whole adventure had started with a
conversation at a dinner meeting in July
attended by Lieb’s boss, Rick Davidson,
CEO of Century 21.
Davidson has been climbing for 15 years.
He had established an annual charity
expedition called Rick’s Climb for Kids,
which benefited the Easter Seals.
Davidson offered Lieb a spot on this year’s
trip.
Lieb was intrigued. But the trip would be
expensive — about $4,500, including gear,
air fare, and room, board and guide fees in
Mexico.
“The hardest part as a mom is to
sometimes say, ‘I need to do something
for me,’” Lieb said. “There are a lot of
things I could do with that money. Pay off
car and student loans. I wasn’t sure that I
could justify spending it on a trip like
this.”
In early August, a friend’s advice sealed
the deal: “She told me, ‘If the CEO asks
you to go, you go,’” Lieb said.
Lieb had always been physically active.
And for the last three years, she had been