BOSTON (CBS) – Earlier this week, Gail Novaco, and a group of female cancer survivors climbed Mount Washington.

Gail has been cancer-free for five years, so in celebration of that, she along with a group of eight others decided to make the trek.

Their ages ranged from 33 to 71.

When diagnosed, many think cancer is a death sentence, but Gail and her friends wanted to make a statement that it is not.

And they did, making it to the top of the mountain.