On Saturday, June 26th, 2010, a small group of police officers, friends and family from around the United States will embark on a journey to the summit of 14, 411' Mt. Rainier; Washington State's highest peak, and the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. This journey up Mt. Rainier will be part of an annual nationwide event, named the "Cops on Top Summit for Heroes", in which officers, police survivors, volunteers, friends and family, from as many states as possible, will attempt to summit each state's highest point on the same day. This is to honor the law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty the previous year. These journeys to the United States highest peaks are organized by members of the website Copsontop.com, which is a group from the law enforcement and public service community, who undertake mountain climbing expeditions to honor the memories of those heroes who have lost their lives in the line of duty while protecting others.

The State of Washington tragically lost seven police officers in the line of duty during 2009. Included in these losses was the brutal shooting deaths of four Lakewood, Wa. police officers, who were sitting in a coffee shop while working on their laptop computers and preparing for their upcoming shift, when a suspect entered the coffee shop and pretended to be a customer, but then turned and opened fire on the officers, killing all four.

To honor the seven fallen Washington State officers, our group of climbers will be arriving in Mt. Rainier State Park a few days in advance to begin their climb and acclimatization, with the goal of reaching the summit on June 26th to coincide with the annual Cops on Top Summit for Heroes event.

Each of these seven fallen officers left behind loving family, many of them young children. These families have been subjected to an indescribable amount of grief, and their journey to rebuilding their shattered lives will most likely be a long and painful one. Fortunately, organizations exist that will help these families during their journey, which is why our group of climbers would like to bring attention to a non-profit organization, Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), which provides resources to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of surviving families and the affected co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. C.O.P.S. also provides training to law enforcement agencies on survivor victimization issues and educates the public of the need to support the law enforcement profession and its survivors. Organizations such as C.O.P.S. are vitally important to the law enforcement community because they continue to support the surviving families with rebuilding their lives. Our climbing team is proud of organizations like C.O.P.S. and recognizes that supporting them will help them to continue to assist the families of officers who fall in the line of duty. Please visit their web page at http://www.nationalcops.org/

Our team has begun fund raising efforts in support of C.O.P.S., but we need your help. If you would like to show your support, please click on the "Donate" button to the right; the link will take you to the C.O.P.S. secure donation site. In the comment section of the donate form, please put "Cops on Top Mt. Rainier Expedition".

Our team has also designed a Mt. Rainier memorial climb tee shirt, which will soon be available for sale, with 100% of the proceeds going to C.O.P.S. The tee shirt design can be seen on the right side of this page; please click on the image to take you to the tee shirt page for a larger image.

We would also like to team up with businesses to "sponsor" us during our climb. This is not the typical sponsorship though, in that our team's journey to the summit is totally self funded. Rather, businesses interested in making a minimum $150 donation to C.O.P.S. will have their company logo displayed on a banner during the climb. After the climb your company will be provided with photos of our team displaying your company logo. Please contact team organizer, Ryan, at Washingtonfallenheroes@gmail.com for additional information.

For additional information about Cops on Top, please visit their web site at www.copsontop.com, or visit them on their Facebook page (here).