EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — Ross Herr, a Vail Valley local and manager of Alpine Quest Sports, has a dream of shattering the illusion that people with cancer are fragile.

This summer, he and his girlfriend, Brianne Horton, hope to raise $50,000 to send 50 young adults with cancer to First Descents, a week-long camp that uses kayaking and other outdoor activities to help empower young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer, are undergoing treatment or are currently in remission.

“It's a great way to combine our loves for helping others and kayaking,” Horton said. “It's definitely something we're passionate about and want to do.”

Herr is raising money by kayaking 50,000 vertical feet throughout Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, California and Utah. He is calling it the 50/50 Vertical Challenge. He began his journey May 1 and will continue through September or October. So far, he has kayaked approximately 8,500 feet and has raised $575.

Throughout their trip, the couple will be setting up booths and selling raffle tickets at small kayak events, as well as spreading information about the cause through word of mouth, Facebook, Herr's website and Horton's blog.

First Descents camps focus on kayaking as a tool to prove to campers that cancer, no matter how aggressive, dormant, advanced or invasive, will never be stronger than they are.

“It's a good tool because kayaking is both mentally and physically challenging,” Herr said. “It encourages campers to overcome obstacles.”

Based on his expereince in kayaking, he said the key to getting through rapids is to stay relaxed. If you go into a rapid scared and without confidence, he said, you won't have a good experience.

“But if you go into it with a positive outlook, you'll get a positive result in return,” he said.

While working as the manager of Alpine Quest, Herr was a kayak instructor for a First Descents camp in the Vail area.

“I feel very lucky to have been a volunteer for First Descents in the Vail Valley,” he said.

Horton also volunteered with Herr for the camp, but was wary about it at first because of her past experience with cancer.

“I'm personally touched by it because my mother and grandmoter both had breast cancer at the same time,” she said. “When I first started working with (the campers), I was hesitant and scared.”

But she said it turned out to be one of the best things she has ever done.

“Once I met these campers, I could get past my fear of cancer and realize there is life after cancer,” she said. “I ended up falling in love with the program.”

Courtney Riley is an intern at the Vail Daily. Email comments to criley@vaildaily.com.