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Climbing Mountains: Boyne's John Kircher Awaits Transplant

By Craig Altschul
February 28, 2008

But he's fighting back primary sclerosing cholangitis. That's a disease that attacks the liver's bile ducts. The only cure is a transplant from a donor. His brother-in-law, Harold Burton, could be a match.

Kircher, a member of the pioneering Kircher family and son of Boyne's legendary patriarch Everett Kircher, is trying hard not to slow down. His courageous efforts were chronicled in a well-written feature by Craig Hill in the Tacoma, Wash. News Tribune, referring to Kircher as "the most influential man in Washington's ski industry."

It hasn't been easy. Hill says Kircher has had to make numerous trips to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota since last spring for treatment and has beaten back cancer and staph infections. His wife, Kim, told the newspaper, "he's always been in good shape, and that probably saved his life."

Kircher told Hill that the illness is always there. "It's like having a permanent case of the flu. I'm about 75-80 percent of normal enough to get by. But you have to have energy to be creative and have ideas. That's tough." Hill referred to the story response in his Adventure Guys blog as "amazing." He said he's written hundreds of stories about interesting people and received all kinds of feedback from readers in his 12 years at the newspaper, "but I've never seen reaction like what followed this.¦" He wrote "two readers, neither of whom have ever met Kircher, called me to say they'd like to donate a portion of their liver to Kircher."

All of us in the mountain resort industry - we think you will allow us to speak for you this time - hold out hope for a successful transplant and recovery. There are more mountains to climb.

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