Mendham Man Versus Mountain

Some people sell cookies, or magazine subscriptions.

Some get sponsors to donate to marathons or bicycle races.

Mendham native Karl Pettijohn raises money for charity by climbing mountains. And on March 24, he took off to tackle Mt. Everest.

“Climbing Mt. Everest is part of my continued quest to climb the highest summit on each of the seven continents,” Pettijohn said. “Climbing the seven summits is a tangible way for me to live life to the fullest without limitation or regret.”

Pettijohn lived in a home on Stoney Hill Road designed by his father until he was in the fifth grade.

“We moved to Horizon Drive,” Pettijohn said. “I left when I went off to Cornell for college.”

Pettijohn, or Kap as he was known in town, always had an interest in the outdoors.

“I was an Eagle Scout and I loved the camping and hiking trips,” Pettijohn said. “When I visited Seattle and saw Mt. Ranier, I wanted to climb it.”

According to Pettijohn, one thing led to another as his love of the outdoors grew.

“Before I knew it I was on a plane to Antarctica where I climbed Vinson Massif, then Kilimanjaro with my mom,” Pettijohn said. “From there I took on Elberus in the Caucasus region of Russia, the Castensz Pyramid in Papua New Guinea, and finally Aconcagua this Christmas. Now, I’m off to Everest.”

Pettijohn is climbing to benefit Covenant House. Covenant House is the largest privately-funded agency in the United States providing food, shelter, immediate crisis care, and essential services to homeless, throwaway, and runaway kids.

“I’ve been on the board of Covenant House [California] for a year and a half, and I chair the development committee,” Pettijohn said.

But his work with the organization has gone beyond the boardroom.

“I have been on outreach van rides where we reach out to homeless youth living on the street and try to bring them into Covenant House to start getting hold of their lives,” Pettijohn said. “I spoke about my Everest climb to 40 of the youth last week and did a screening of the IMAX Everest film to inspire them to look at the mountains that they need to climb to get their lives together is as challenging as the climb ahead for me.”

Covenant House doesn't stop at offering an immediate safe harbor to homeless youth, as they try to raise those at risk youths to independent adulthood, free from the risk of future homelessness.

Pettijohn has set up a blog where people who are interested in following his story can do so and can get involved in his charitable work.

While he may not live there now, Mendham is never far from his mind. For his part, Pettijohn says he misses the town and tries to get back whenever he can.

“My mom moved to Chatham and when I go home to visit, it’s never complete until we drive out to Mendham, eat at the Pub, check out the old neighborhood and see what changes have occurred,” Pettijohn said.