Adventurer, 72, scales mountains for a cause

A Williams Island woman is making her sixth mountain climb -- at age 72 -- to raise money for medical research.
BY REBECCA DELLAGLORIA
Iloo Gruder is an ordinary woman -- or so she would have you believe. She shops at Aventura Mall. She dotes on her husband of 52 years.

And, at 72, she's climbing the Himalayas.

Last week, the Williams Island septuagenarian traveled halfway around the world to begin a high-altitude trek through the Himalayan mountain range in Bhutan.

By Wednesday, she had neared the midpoint of her journey, making it 6,000 feet off the ground.

Gruder, small-framed and sporting a chic gray bob, is a woman on a mission.

She uses her mountain-climbing expeditions -- six in all -- to raise money for medical research that is close to her heart.

One of her daughters suffers from multiple sclerosis. Her husband, Robert, is battling Parkinson's disease.

''The biggest mountain is for the people I'm climbing for,'' said Gruder, a former elementary school teacher, who is making the trip with a group of more than a dozen other climbers. ``They're the ones who have the mountains.''

This is her sixth climb in 12 years.

Gruder traveled to Africa and scaled Mount Kilimanjaro's 19,340-foot peak. She's reached the base camp of Mount Everest, between Nepal and Tibet, climbed Peru's Machu Picchu, Japan's Mount Fuji and conquered Mount Blanc in the Alps of northern Europe.

But Gruder said mountain climbing is one of the easier challenges she's faced.

In 1995, one of Gruder's four daughters was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

She completed her first climb a year later, raising $25,000 to fight the disease that afflicts her daughter.

''There are very few people in the world that are as awesome as she is,'' said Cindy Yonover, Gruder's daughter.

Yonover, who lives in Hawaii with her husband, was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder while training for a marathon.

''The whole idea of going on a trip for a cause that is near and dear to her heart is amazing,'' Yonover said. ``She sets a wonderful example for the whole world.''

Two of Yonover's sisters are traveling with their mom through the Himalayas.

''Not only is she my idol, my mentor, but physically, she's in incredible shape,'' said daughter Tammy Hussin, 46, who is on the trip with her mother. ``I hope we can do climbs after this. But if it's the last one, it will be the best one.''

Gruder adheres to a strict training schedule. She works out six days a week -- lifting weights, jogging on the treadmill and building endurance on the elliptical machine.

Over the years, Gruder's ambitious climbs have raised more than $150,000 for research. She asks friends, relatives -- and anybody else -- to ''buy'' her steps.

This year's trip has an added purpose. For the first time, Gruder is also raising money to fund research for Parkinson's disease in honor of her husband.

'Whenever anybody is sick or anybody dies, I always say, `go to nature.' It's so therapeutic,'' said Gruder, who fell in love with mountain climbing in Aspen, where she and her husband had a second home.

Climbing the Rocky Mountains gave her a sense of joy -- and inspired her to take on greater heights.

''The only thing I ever cared about was that hearty feeling of exercise and strength,'' said Gruder, whose first big-league climb up Kilimanjaro brought the same rush, only magnified.

''It feels like walking on the moon,'' she said.

Now an accomplished climber, she has developed rituals over the years.

She always wears her signature red jacket. She always snaps pictures along the trail, which she keeps in scrapbooks commemorating each climb.

And, each time she reaches her destination, she cracks open a bottle of champagne in celebration.

This trip has already raised at least $14,000. Gruder says more checks may be waiting for her when she returns.

The money will go to the University of Miami's Department of Neurology to fund efforts to fight both multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's.

''She's setting a kind of example that we hope other interested citizens would do to improve public health and improve the care of many patients,'' said Ralph L. Sacco, chairman of UM's neurology department.

Part of Gruder's donation will help build a clinic for patients with movement disorders such as multiple sclerosis.

''If everybody gives a little bit, it adds up to a sizable amount,'' he said.

Robert Gruder, a retired hotelier who once owned the Monaco in Sunny Isles Beach, usually awaits his wife at the foot of the mountain -- with champagne in hand.

This time, however, the couple will meet up in Paris.

He was able to speak to his wife Wednesday morning.

''By some fluke, the phone worked,'' Gruder said.

While he doesn't fear for his wife's safety, he hopes this is her last climb; although, Iloo Gruder might not be ready to quit.

''I heard her voice,'' said her husband. ``And she sounded absolutely marvelous.''