Erik Weihenmayer is one of the best rock climbers in the country. He can scale vertical cliffs of rock or ice, and he has climbed the highest peaks on all seven continents. He stays in shape by running marathons and jogging up and down stairs with a 70-pound backpack. He also happens to be blind. “Blindness is a nuisance,” he says, “but it’s not the reason you can’t do something.”Born with a rare degenerative condition, retinoschisis, Weihenmayer was totally blind by age 13. Even at that age, he refused to let his handicap stand in the way of his goals. Today he can outperform many climbers with perfect vision.
“When I start something, I know I’m going to flop on my face,” he says. “But failure is a real valid way of learning about something.”
On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the only blind man in history to reach the summit of the world's highest peak - Mount Everest. On August 20, 2008, when he stood on top of Carstenz Pyramid, the tallest peak in Austral-Asia, Weihenmayer completed his quest to climb the Seven Summits - the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. Erik is joined by fewer than 100 mountaineers who have accomplished this feat. Additionally, he has scaled El Capitan, a 3300-foot overhanging granite monolith in Yosemite; Lhosar, a 3000-foot ice waterfall in the himalayas; and a difficult and rarely climbed rock face on 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya.
In September, 2003, Erik joined 320 stellar athletes from 17 countries to compete in the Primal Quest, the richest and toughest multi-sport adventure race in the world: 457 miles through the Sierra Nevada's, nine days, sixty thousand feet of elevation gain, and no time-outs. Averaging only two hours of sleep a night, Erik and his team surged past the finish line on Lake Tahoe, becoming one of the 42 teams to cross the finish line out of the 80 teams that began.
After Erik's Mt. Everest ascent, Brail Without Borders, a school for the blind in Tibet, invited him to teach its students mountaineering and rock climbing. His many climbs gave the teenagers the courage to excel in a culture which affords few opportunities for the blind. Erik and six Everest team members went to Tibet in May 2004 to train the students, then in October led them on a climb to the Rombuk Glacier on the north side of Mt. Everest. Once seen as pariahs, the teenagers ultimately stood together at 21,500-feet., higher than any team of blind people in history. Steven Haft, producer of such blockbusters as Dead Poets' Society, made a documentary on the ascent which opened to standing ovations at the Toronto, L.A., and London Film Festivals. The film will be released theatrically in spring of 2007.
Adapted from Be In It to Win, part of the Selling Power Success Library, published by McGraw-Hill. (Lisa Gschwandtner)
After Erik's Mt. Everest ascent, Brail Without Borders, a school for the blind in Tibet, invited him to teach its students mountaineering and rock climbing. His many climbs gave the teenagers the courage to excel in a culture which affords few opportunities for the blind. Erik and six Everest team members went to Tibet in May 2004 to train the students, then in October led them on a climb to the Rombuk Glacier on the north side of Mt. Everest. Once seen as pariahs, the teenagers ultimately stood together at 21,500-feet., higher than any team of blind people in history. Steven Haft, producer of such blockbusters as Dead Poets' Society, made a documentary on the ascent which opened to standing ovations at the Toronto, L.A., and London Film Festivals. The film will be released theatrically in spring of 2007.
Adapted from Be In It to Win, part of the Selling Power Success Library, published by McGraw-Hill. (Lisa Gschwandtner)
