Suzanne Venuta has been on Outward Bound trips before, but for the next one she鈥檚 aspiring to new heights 鈥� literally.

This September she will be taking part in a 12-day trek in the Alps to raise funds for the program through the Reaching New Heights campaign. The Comox resident currently has a webpage set up to take donations for Outward Bound in connection to the adventure through the Alps. Next month, she will be among a dozen other trekkers, also Outward Bound alumni, hiking the Alps in France, Italy and Switzerland.

鈥淲e鈥檙e starting in France and we鈥檙e going counter-clockwise,鈥� she says.

Over the 12 days, they expect to get up as high as 7,500 feet and cover 170 km on the Tour Du Mont Blanc trail, which circles Mont Blanc.

鈥淚t鈥檒l be up and down, up and down, up and down,鈥� she says.

The trekkers will end each day at a hut with dinner prepared and a shower rather than have to pitch any tents.

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Beyond the experience itself, Venuta wants to raise funds to support Outward Bounds charitable programs, such as the Women of Courage program in which she took part. This supports women who have undergone abuse or trauma at some point in their lives. Other Outward Programs support Indigenous youth, Indigenous women, under-served youth and veterans.

鈥淚t all goes into the same pot,鈥� she says.

To get ready for the event, Venuta is working on her cardio, strength and balance, as well as researching the area. During the interview, she has a Mont Blanc guidebook at hand, ready to plumb its pages for information about the region.

For Venuta, it鈥檚 an easy choice to support Outward Bound.

鈥淭herapy was fine, but I needed something else,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 know I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am without Outward Bound.鈥�

The program helped her get her life back. She took part in one adventure with other women who had suffered trauma or abuse. No simple escape to the woods, it was a retreat in the truest sense of the word. Without other distractions around, she and others had to work through their past and take part in exercises aimed at building trust and confidence. She has since gone on several other adventures through the program.

These days she writes blogs about mental health and can get up in public as a motivational speaker to talk about her experiences as well as help raise funds for the cause. She has been recognized as the 2018 Coast Mental Health Courage to Come Back winner for her work.

All of the money she raises for the trek will go to Outward Bound, as her trip is being covered by sponsors and scholarship money. This way, donors know every dollar supports the programming. Venuta鈥檚 goal is to raise $5,000, and she was just over the midway point by the end of July. For more information or a link to her fundraising page for Reaching New Heights campaign, go to https://www.suzannevenuta.com/