Jason Taylor will climb Mt. Rainier to help people breathe.

The snow capped peak of Mount Rainier is always in sight for Bainbridge resident Jason Taylor.

It’s visible from his home on Murden Cove where he lives with his wife Penny and two young children, it’s in the background when he goes for his daily run and it’s in sight when he drives to his job in Gig Harbor where he works for the Threshold Group as a investment advisor for foundations and wealthy families.

The mountain can even be seen from his office, as the building is located right next to the water and has a dock where he can get an even closer look if he so desires.

“You just walk on that dock and it’s right there,” he said. “It beckons you.

“You can’t escape it. It’s everywhere you look. It dominates.”

So he’s taking on the mountain, but for a charitable cause.

Taylor will climb Mt. Rainier tomorrow through Friday to raise money for the American Lung Association’s Climb for Clean Air program.

The climb, which started last weekend and goes through this weekend, is a fundraiser to help raise money to fight lung cancer, ensure clean air for everyone to breathe and raise awareness for lung cancer.

Taylor, a native of Kent County, England who made his way over to Philadelphia fifteen years ago after he met Penny at a university in Germany, got into mountain climbing thanks to his boss, George Russell, who is a well-known climber himself and has summited Rainier a few times.

“We have such an awesome mountain range over here,” he said. “(Mt. Rainier) is a draw for me. It’s sort of coaxing me to do something.

“Within my work there’s a climbing subcommunity,” Taylor continued. “We have pictures at work of mountain gear” around the office.

Taylor said with the culture at his workplace, “we’re encouraged to do things that are good for the environment and appreciative to the environment and achieve goals like this.”

His involvement with the American Lung Association fundraiser came when he felt he needed to do something to benefit the community.

“I just felt like I couldn’t justify doing it for myself,” Taylor said. “I needed to find something to align myself with, and when I found out about the Clean Air Climb, that was the perfect opportunity to help people in something I believe in.”

But this isn’t Taylor’s first trip up the mountain.

Last year, he went up Rainier Memorial Day Weekend as part of a group of several dads from the Madrona School, where his children attend, but were shut down by bad weather in their route to the summit.

This time, he’ll be part of a group of 18 led by Lou Whitaker, a world famous mountain climber and several guides from Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.

Taylor is contributing financially by raising $11,000 in just three months – over three times the amount of what was needed.

“A lot of people wanted to support what I was doing,” he said. “I was totally blown away. I thought I would raise just half that.”

While he’s aware of the danger, the whole experience has motivated Taylor to do more to help out.

“I would love to continue doing (things like) this for charity,” he said. “It seems like a great way to do what you love, plus helping others at the same time.”

For more info or to donate to the Climb for Clean Air, visit http://www.cleanairadventures.org/climb_for_clean_air.

To contribute to Taylor’s climb, click on “Sponsor a Climber” and type in Taylor’s name.

Take some time for LAX

For those who are interested in learning about lacrosse, several camps are running to teach people about the game and refine their skills to help them improve.

The Bainbridge Island Girls Youth Camp, put on by the Bainbridge lacrosse program, is next week.

The beginner camp is open to those in kindergarten through second grade July 23-25 and takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Commdore Middle School.

The camp is $75 for beginning players and those who haven’t played on a team.

Campers will be taught the basic skills of the game in a light and joyful environment.

The advanced camp is for third through eighth graders July 23-26 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Commodore.

The camp is $130 and is for advanced players to refine their play and for new players as well.

Players will be divided into groups based on their skill level, experience and age.

Bainbridge girls lacrosse head coach Tami Tommila is the camp director and she’ll get help from current and former players from the Bainbridge girls lacrosse team.

Also of note are several camps being put on by the Parks and Recreation District.

There are two camps for boys and girls in kindergarten through third grade August 6-10 and August 20-24 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

The camp is designed to teach beginners about the game.

There are also two camps for boys and girls in fourth through sixth grade from July 30-August 3 and August 13-17 from 9 a.m to 10:30 a.m.

The camp is designed to provide a foundation for those playing lacrosse.

For boys and girls in seventh and eighth grade, there are two camps from July 30-August 3 and August 20-24 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. This camp will help design better stick stills and game play.

For more information or to register, visit www.biparks.org.

Local teams battle for wins

Several island teams are still playing on the diamond to bring home a trophy.

The Bainbridge Little League 10-11 All-Star softball team won the first two games of their state tournament in Battle Ground.

In their first game, they blew out Central Vancouver 18-2 in five innings Saturday.

Pitchers Katie Raben, Faith Campbell and Erin Kinney combined for a two-hitter, striking out seven.

Bainbridge knocked around the Vancouver pitchers for 19 hits and scored in every inning.

Two came in the first off of a triple by Campbell and a single by Caitlin Maguire.

In the second they scored five runs on five base hits and put eight across the plate in the fifth.

Campbell had a double to finish with a 4 for 4 day while Kinney had a two RBI triple and Maddy Stevenson had a two RBI single.

On Sunday, Bainbridge defeated the host team in Battle Ground 14-4.

Campbell and Maguire had RBI singles in the first inning, then scored five more runs, all on two outs, with base hits by Maureen McCormick, Emily Schneider, Raben, Kinney and Campbell.

Maguire earned a walk while Stevenson doubled.

Bainbridge then put eight across the board in the fourth inning on seven hits, with Leah Nordberg, Lauren Sheehan and Kyra Easley getting key hits.

Bainbridge played Steel Lake from Federal Way yesterday.

Meanwhile, all of the Bainbridge Little League All-Star teams were eliminated last week in district play.

The Bainbridge 9- and 10-year-old American All-Stars came the closest to a district title before losing to the eventual champion in South Kitsap Western in the semifinal round.

They were eliminated by Gig Harbor National 13-3.

Four teams were eliminated by Gig Harbor teams.