Marmot Athlete Sean Swarner Tackles North Pole on ‘Mission of Hope’ Expedition

Rohnert Park, CA – Sean Swarner, a two-time cancer survivor and one of Marmot’s most inspiring athletes, will embark early next month on his ‘Mission of Hope’ expedition to the North Pole. The expedition will be a seminal moment for Swarner as a mountaineer, but the adventure is also built as a crowd funding campaign to bring hope for those who have been touched by cancer with a lofty goal to raise over half a million dollars for cancer institutions world-wide. In addition, Swarner will carry a Mission of Hope flag on his journey with the names of at least 100,000 people touched by cancer, which he will unfurl once he reaches the North Pole.

“You can go 30 days without food, you can live three days without water, but you can’t go 30 seconds without hope. Because without hope, we truly have nothing,” explains Swarner, who will set out on April 1 with a team of six that will ski, snowshoe, and climb to reach the North Pole. In addition to expedition’s crowd funding goals, Swarner wants to drive home his message of healing and hope with cancer patients around the world.

Sean Swarner at the South Pole (2015)

Swarner’s personal triumph over cancer is truly remarkable. At the age of 13, he was given three months to live when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Remarkably, and against all odds, he made a full recovery. When Swarner was 16 years old, he was told he had Askin’s Sarcoma (another rare form of cancer) and was given just 14 days to live. Swarner, once again, proved the doctors wrong and made a full recovery.

Swarner has since gone on to climb the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on the seven continents and in doing so became the first cancer survivor to reach the top of Everest. He’s also competed in the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, and reached the South Pole. If Swarner reaches the North Pole, he’ll be the first cancer survivor to have completed the ‘Explorer’s Grand Slam’ – all Seven Summits, and both of the Earth’s poles.

“Sean is one of the most inspirational people we’ve ever been able to work with—not only with what he’s personally overcome, but in how he has dedicated his life to bring hope to others,” explains Andy Meyer, Marmot’s Senior Marketing Manager, who has sponsored Marmot’s athletes and expeditions for years.

Meyer is supplying Swarner and the team with Marmot’s technical outdoor apparel—designed for the rigors of expedition life—along with 8000-meter down jackets. Swarner and his expedition will rely on all of it, experiencing extreme cold temperatures, endless glaciers, crevasses and high winds, crossing through dangerous polar bear country.

“While Sean’s expedition represents an incredible achievement, it’s really a bigger journey about bringing hope to those touched by cancer, or anyone who needs some kind of inspiration in their life. We are so proud to support this inspiring Mission of Hope journey,” Meyer adds.

To learn more about to Sean Swarner’s Mission of Hope campaign or to make a donation, please visit: www.seanswarner.com/missionofhope

About Marmot Mountain, LLC

Marmot is an award-winning, globally distributed brand of high-performance, technical clothing, apparel and equipment. Since 1974, Marmot products have been worn by climbers, skiers, mountaineers and adventurers world-wide. Marmot works with professional mountain guides, world-class athletes and expeditions—pushing the limits of product innovation and technology—pioneering what is possible in the most extreme environments on earth. For more information about Marmot please visit www.marmot.com.

About Newell Brands

Newell Brands (NYSE: NWL) is a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Paper Mate®, Sharpie®, Dymo®, EXPO®, Parker®, Elmer’s®, Coleman®, Jostens®, Marmot®, Rawlings®, Oster®, Sunbeam®, FoodSaver®, Mr. Coffee®, Rubbermaid Commercial Products®, Graco®, Baby Jogger®, NUK®, Calphalon®, Rubbermaid®, Contigo®, First Alert®, Waddington and Yankee Candle®. For hundreds of millions of consumers, Newell Brands makes life better every day, where they live, learn, work and play. This press release and additional information about Newell Brands are available on the company’s website, www.newellbrands.com.

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