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Jesse Acosta ’09MBA: A wounded warrior climbs Denali.

By the staff | 12:18pm June 14 2012

Summer is near, but Friday’s forecast at Denali is for a high of 10 degrees Fahrenheit—until you reach the 17,000-foot level, where the high is 10 below. That’s where Jesse Acosta ’09MBA is spending his summer vacation.

Acosta, a 34-year-old retired Army captain and investment banker at JP Morgan Chase, is part of a team of “Wounded Warriors” who are climbing Denali, aka Alaska’s Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. Their slogan: “5 Wounded Warriors. 4 Good Legs. 3 Wars. 2 Generations. 1 Mountain.”

Two of those “good legs” belong to Acosta—but that just means he’s not one of the team’s amputees. He suffered permanent leg, hip, and back injuries in Iraq in 2003 and was awarded the Purple Heart. Acosta and his companions, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam, say their goal is to “test their limits while raising awareness of the abilities of our nation’s wounded warriors.” The trek began on June 10; they hope to reach Denali’s 20,320-foot summit on June 25.

 

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