Corinth 13-year-old snowboarding 30,000 vertical feet for diabetes fundraiser

CORINTH, N.Y. (NEWS10)– Some thrillseekers climb 46 high peaks, but a Corinth teen has a different achievement in mind. Conley Baldwin has decided to snowboard 30,000 vertical feet on 20 different mountains in the name of a fundraiser for type 1 diabetes.

There's something about the magic of cruising on the snow and weaving in and out of tree-lined trails for 13-year-old Conley.

“I can be a little bit more free-spirited like I can take a different trail," Conley said. "I can kind of choose my own path.”

Freedom feels good on the slopes, but some parts of Conley's life make that a challenge. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at two years old.

For his mom, Samantha Baldwin, and his dad, Robert Baldwin, that meant monitoring Conley's blood sugar levels at all hours of the day and administering insulin.

“Whether your kid was diagnosed at two or 17—the guilt, the sleeplessness, the worry constantly," Robert said.

Eleven years later, Conley said he's lucky and has a perspective well beyond his years about his diagnosis. At 13, he knows how to handle his insulin pump to control his blood sugar and calculate his carbs for every meal and snack.

“The liberty of being able to pull out a pump and hit a few buttons and just be able to keep on living a normal life," Conley said.

That's the message Conley hopes to share with his fundraising group, Type 1 Alpine Adventures. His goal is to snowboard 30,000 vertical feet this Winter Season at 20 different peaks from New York to Vermont.

“Make it like more than us. Make it so people can see what I'm doing. And so it's not just for me. It'll help other people," Conley said.

With every mountain, he wants to raise money for diabetes research through Breakthrough T1D. He is also on a mission to sponsor two children for an upcoming camp run by the nonprofit that inspired him—Riding on Insulin. Riding on Insulin was created by snowboarder Sean Busby after he was diagnosed with T1D and holds action sports camps for diabetics of all ages.

“You need to be able to talk to someone that understands where they're coming from and not just telling someone your sob story," Robert said. "You know? You can relate. So that's the overall goal in this.”

The Baldwins share every step of this effort on the group's Facebook page. Robert said they hope to create a local network for kids and families living with diabetes through Type 1 Alpine Adventures.

“For some, every day is a double black diamond, which is kind of like, you know what life is like with diabetes," Samantha said "You just don't know what you're going to expect. It's always going to be hard, but you can get through it.”

Conley and his parents bring "quick sugar," like gummies, to the top of every mountain. They offer the snacks just in case a fellow diabetic needs a bump in their blood sugar.

“Show other people that you're not alone," Conley said. "You can do this. And there's other people like you. And you can do all the regular things that everybody else gets.”

As of February 20, Conley has snowboarded down 27,606 vertical feet with 2,394 left to go. The Type 1 Alpine Adventures Facebook Page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557540025914