Doug Szwarc first built his athletic ability and endurance on the North Allegheny soccer and football fields, and then the volleyball courts at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The 28-year-old, 1998 graduate of North Allegheny High School has gone a long way from home since then, but he still hasn't stopped training.

Now a Navy lieutenant stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, he has planned a rigorous climb to raise funds for two charities.

On Sept. 1, Lt. Szwarc and three fellow servicemen will attempt to climb Mount Fuji four times in one day. They hope to raise $10,000 for the South Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program -- which recruits volunteer advocates for children in family court proceedings -- and for a local orphanage.

If they succeed, the servicemen will climb roughly 20,000 feet round-trip in just 24 hours, a journey equivalent to one trip up and down Mount Kilimanjaro, or just 9,000 feet short of scaling Mount Everest.

Navy Lts. Rob Lowern and Luke Nelson, and military conditioning coordinator Michael Raney, will join Lt. Szwarc on the climb.

The servicemen call their effort the Fuji Challenge, and have started a Web site for donations.

"We are at least slightly insane," Lt. Szwarc wrote in an e-mail from Japan. "Last week when I was training [on the mountain], three people had to be rescued by paramedics."

Lt. Szwarc said the servicemen are attempting the climb because they believe it is a worthy cause, and because it would help enhance the image of U.S. forces in Japan.

"This is an opportunity for us to show the true spirit of American people," Lt. Szwarc said.

He chose the ad Litem program because his parents are volunteers. The other charity, the Shunkuo Gunken orphanage, has received support from the U.S. Navy for years. Lt. Szwarc helped to arrange a few events for children there when he first arrived in Japan, and said he was hooked after that.

"It means a lot to make those kids smile," he said.

It also takes a lot to train for such an intense climb.

The four servicemen have trained for the climb for the past five months. Lt. Szwarc said he typically logs 15 hours of training every week.

One climb up and down the mountain is not highly dangerous, and about 30,000 people make the trek each year. The average person takes between seven and 10 hours in a trip up and down the mountain. The servicemen will have to move much faster.

Each man will carry water, food, clothes, climbing poles, a head lamp and first aid kit. Lt. Szwarc said the biggest worry is dehydration.

He has climbed Mount Fuji five times. Three of those climbs came in a similar fundraising attempt last year when he and a friend made the climb three times in 24 hours. The trip was successful, but Lt. Szwarc said the fundraising was poorly planned. He hopes to improve that this year. So far, the servicemen have raised about $7,000.

For more information or to contribute, visit www.fujiclimb.com.