- Survivor Wellness hosted its 30th annual event, Survivors at the Summit, at Brighton Resort.
- The event honors cancer survivors and included tribute flags, wellness classes and hikes.
- Executive Director Dana Levy emphasizes the community's support for survivors and their caregivers.
SALT LAKE CITY — A cancer care community called Survivor Wellness held its 30th annual event in honor of cancer survivors on Sunday.
The event, Survivors at the Summit, was held at Brighton Resort for the third year to help support cancer survivors, to honor those who have had cancer, those with cancer and those who have passed on.
The occasion was held at Snowbird for 20 years before it took place at Brighton Resort. Before that, the tradition started in 1996 when a group of 12 people brought handwritten flags to the top of Utah's highest peak: Kings Peak.
Dana Levy, executive director of Survivor Wellness, said the group that started it all included cancer survivors, local oncologists and community members. On those flags were the names of loved ones affected by cancer. Only 10 people in the group made it to the top of the Kings Peak.
"At the top, names were read aloud — some into walkie-talkies so those at base camp could hear," a Survivor Wellness news release said. "Tears were shed. A tradition was born."
Levy said the group recognized the impact of cancer goes further than just medical treatment. Those same people who climbed Kings Peak together ended up becoming founders of Cancer Wellness House in 1997, which was later renamed as Survivor Wellness.
I've lost a lot of people along the way, and it just humbles me to be here to honor them.
–Yolanda Carrero, 11-year cancer survivor
Levy said Survivor Wellness is located in two historic homes in downtown Salt Lake. The organization is a nonprofit that provides cancer survivors and their caregivers free services that are provided by volunteers.
"You're a cancer survivor from the moment you hear the words you have cancer, throughout the balance of your lifetime," Levy said. "Your caregivers are included in that definition as well because of the ripple effect."
One in four Utahns receives a cancer diagnosis within their lifetime, according to Levy. Survivors at the Summit gives cancer survivors a chance to honor those who experienced cancer.
People who attend the event make a donation and are given a yellow tribute flag that represents the impact cancer has on people, according to Levy. Those people then dedicate their tribute flag by writing names, a message or a word of encouragement on the flag.
Levy said people will move through the event with the flag and spend time honoring the person or people that they're hiking for, and then they hang the flag up.
"What's beautiful, though, is I see folks stopping, pausing, taking the long view, reading a flag," Levy said. "Maybe tearing up or really feeling their feels because in this moment, each person who's here realized they are not alone. And they go home, knowing they are not alone."
At some point during the event, there's a celebration of life. There are also activities, breakfast, wellness classes, live music, opportunities to get merch, time for hikes and more.
Before you start dedicating your flag, Levy said Survivor Wellness asks that you take a moment to think about the people you are honoring and hold them in your heart as you dedicate the flag. She said it becomes a time to meditate and recognize the impact of the person's cancer journey.
"Everybody knows the person next to them has been through it in some way," Levy said. "And it breaks us open just a little bit. And we might feel a little bit more like ourselves when we do that."
Yolanda Carrero, 11-year cancer survivor, said she attended the event to celebrate survivors, thrivers and those who were lost.
"I've lost a lot of people along the way, and it just humbles me to be here to honor them," Carrero said.
Carrero dedicated her time at the 2026 event to her brother, who passed away last year. She chose to wear her yellow tribute flags around her waist as a personal way of remembering friends and family whom she has lost.
Being surrounded by survivors at the event made Carrero feel understood and not alone.
Carrero attended her first event on the summit of Hidden Peak at Snowbird Ski Resort. Although the peak stands tall at 11,000 feet high, she said the hike to the top pushed her to her limits until she looked back on everything she dealt with while battling cancer.
"It just pushes you to the limits where, 'Oh my gosh, I've been through hard things and look I can still do this.' Cancer doesn't win," Carrero said. "It doesn't ever win. It's me trying to move on and keep fighting and keep living, thriving."
