Mike Gauthier returns to Ohio to share his passion and experience as a lead climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park as a part of the Lyceum Distinguished Speaker Series at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at Happy Days Lodge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Gauthier directs the National Park Service’s mountaineering and rescue program at Mount Rainier National Park. In 1998, the American Red Cross selected him as their wilderness rescue hero. He is the author of Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide, and has summited the mountain more than 180 times. "Would I want him coming after me? Absolutely," says Daryl Miller, head climbing ranger at Denali National Park and Preserve. "As a climber, he's able to do anything and everything."

Climber, rescuer, photographer, and author, Gauthier will share his passion and stories of triumph and tragedy on this majestic mountain. Whether finding new routes up its glaciers, photographing its many moods, or snowboarding from its summit, Gauthier knows this mountain.

Bruce Barcott, a contributing editor at Outside magazine, says of Gauthier, “If the mountain’s glaciers contain the story of every climber who’s crossed them, Mike Gauthier has left volumes of joy and sorrow on the faces of Rainier. ’’

In addition to Mount Rainier, Gauthier has successfully led six expeditions to Mount McKinley and the Alaska Range and one to Aconcagua. Gauthier has been struck by lightning three times and has been caught in avalanches, leading Men’s Journal to select him as one of the 25 Toughest Men in North America.

Admission: $10 adults, $8 CVNPA members, and $5 children ages 3 - 12. General seating. Advance sales are available by calling (330) 657-2909. Happy Days Lodge, 7 - 9 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.