Ryan Carter loves climbing, and he loves helping kids get a chance to see the wilderness.

Carter, 31, grew up in Orange County and has lived in Oregon, Washington and various parts of California throughout his life. The El Dorado Hills and Folsom area has been his home for about four and a half years.

Over the last four years Carter has become an avid mountain climber.

“I started just as an escape, I wanted to get exercise, and I was tired of the gym,” Carter said. “I just kind of found that hiking wasn’t really satisfying to me, just going from point A to point B, and so I decided to start climbing mountains because it kind of gave the hikes more meaning, more of a destination. I just fell in love with it, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Carter has climbed a total of 34 peaks, 13 of those just in 2009, including Mount Shasta in Siskiyou County, Mount Hood in Oregon, Mount Tamalpais in Marin County and Mount Tallac in El Dorado County.

“There’s a sense of accomplishment knowing that you’re doing something not a lot of people do, and just mentally challenging yourself and having that payoff where you know you were successful and you achieved your goal — I find that appealing,” he said. “It really adds a lot of interest to the sport for me.”

Andrea Hoppe, Carter’s girlfriend and sometimes fellow climber, said Carter’s skill as climber is obvious.

“He’s good on his own — just kicking it, nailing it and getting home earlier than you’d ever imagine,” Hoppe said. “What Lance Armstrong is to biking, I call him that to mountain climbing; there’s a passion inside (him).”

Carter has worked at Folsom Prison as a correctional officer for the past five and a half years and said he enjoys the camaraderie that exists between him and his fellow officers.

“I started off wanting to be a street cop and it kind of evolved into a correctional officer,” Carter said. “I like the people I work with. There’s a brotherhood or a sense of community between the officers — I really enjoy working with them. That’s what really makes it worth it to me. There’s really not a whole lot else besides my partners that makes it worth going to work everyday.”

On Aug. 19 Carter is teaming up with the Denver-based charitable organization Big City Mountaineers to help bring wilderness education to inner city youth. As part of Summit for Someone, a fundraising program owned by Big City Mountaineers, Carter will be climbing Mount Rainier, a 14,410 foot peak located about 50 miles from downtown Seattle. As part of the climb, Carter is required to raise $4,000 from anyone who wants to donate to the cause.

Funds raised go toward summer programs that benefit inner city youth who might not otherwise get the chance to experience the wilderness, said Brendan Leonard, climb coordinator for Big City Mountaineers.

“It’s a fundraiser for our summer programs,” Leonard said. “We take at-risk urban teens out on hikes to change their perspective. We give them a week with positive role models, and (an experience) they’re not used to. This (fundraiser) is where we get most of our operating income for the year.”

Big City Mountaineers will be hosting 41 trips this year, with five teens participating in each trip, Leonard said.

Other climbs benefiting Summit for Someone will take place on peaks such as Mount Shasta, Gannett Peak, Mount Olympus, Mount Moran, Mount Hood and more. There are a total of 17 peaks involved in the program.

Carter said his father was very influential in getting him outdoors when he was growing up in an urban environment, and he wants to provide that opportunity to other kids.

“I grew up in Orange County,” he said. “It was a very nice neighborhood, but it was a very urban environment, and my dad used to take me hiking and backpacking and camping a lot when I was a child, and I looked forward to those opportunities all year long. It was informative in my youth, so I hope I can try and share that with some other kids and show them there’s more to life then just their neighborhoods. There’s a whole world out there to explore.”

Carter said because the program benefits at-risk youth in particular, there’s a deep connection between the fundraiser and his job as a correctional officer.

“As a correctional officer, this climb gives me the unique opportunity to serve underprivileged youth before they end up behind the walls of the prison I work in every day,” he said. “(This program is used to) try to introduce them to new environments and new people who are more positive. It gives (teens) an outlet for their energy and their curiosity — a positive outlet.”

Anyone interested in donating or gaining more information about Carter’s upcoming climb is encouraged to visit his Summit for Someone web page.

Carter has been interested in climbing Mount Rainier for about ten years, and said he’s looking at it as a new way to challenge himself as a climber.

“I want to grow as a mountaineer,” he said. “Mount Rainier presents a larger challenge than I’ve ever tried before. This gives me an opportunity to challenge myself and grow as a mountaineer. I’m really excited about climbing it.”

When Carter isn’t working or climbing mountains, he rides bikes and spends as much time as he can with Hoppe and his 10-year-old son, Zachary.

Hoppe said Carter makes time for every aspect of his life and always conquers the goals set for him.

“(He’s) devoted in all senses of the word — as a person and a partner and even to a mountain,” she said. “If you put something out there to conquer and he’s devoted, it will become his. You don’t question that with him.”

How to donate

Web site:

www.summitforsomeone.org,

click on donate and search

for Ryan Carter

Checks or money order donations: make payable to Big City Mountaineers. In the memo line of the check write “SFS-Ryan Carter” Mail checks to: Big City Mountaineers, Attn: Summit for Someone, 1667 Vine St.,

Denver, CO 80206

Bridget Jones can be reached at bridgetj@goldcountrymedia.com.