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Ranking in 7summits list, either CP or K | : | 103 |
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Ranking in Carstensz Pyramid list | : | 158 |
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Ranking in Kosciuszko list | : | 72 |
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First name | : | Erik |
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Family name | : | Weihenmayer |
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Gender | : | male |
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Country of origin | : | USA |
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Date of Birth | : | 1968-09-23 |
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Name of first summit | : | Denali |
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Date of climbing the first summit | : | 1995-06-27 |
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Name of final summit in Carstensz list | : | Carstensz |
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Date of final summit in Carstensz list | : | 2008-08-26 |
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Name of final summit in Kosciuszko list | : | Kosciuszko |
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Date of final summit in Kosciuszko list | : | 2002-09-05 |
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Date of climbing Kilimanjaro | : | 1997-08-11 |
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Date of climbing Elbrus | : | 2002-06-13 |
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Date of climbing Aconcagua | : | 1999-01-11 |
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Date of climbing Denali | : | 1995-06-27 |
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Date of climbing Vinson | : | 2001-01-13 |
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Date of climbing Everest | : | 2001-05-25 |
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Date of climbing Carstensz Pyramid | : | 0000-00-00 |
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Date of climbing Kosciuszko | : | 2002-09-05 |
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Climbed Carstensz Pyramid? | : | Yes |
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Climbed Kosciuszko? | : | Yes |
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Total time including Carstensz Pyramid | : | 13y,060d |
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Total time including Kosciuszko | : | 07y,070d |
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Age when finished with CP | : | 39y,337d |
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Age when finished with K | : | 33y,346d |
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Website | : | http://www.touchthetop.com http://www.sevensummitsexpedition.com |
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Additional Info | : | (Buy Erik's book here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452282942/the7summitscom/ )
On May 25th, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind man in history to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain - Mount Everest. At the age of 32, Weihenmayer is on course to become one of the youngest people to climb all of the Seven Summits - the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. He has already scaled Mt. McKinley in 1995, El Capitan in 1996, Kilimanjaro in 1997, Argentina's Aconcagua in 1999 and Polar Circus in 2000, a 3000 foot ice waterfall in Alberta.
A former middle school teacher and wrestling coach, Erik is one of the most exciting and well-known athletes in the world. Despite losing his vision at the age of 13, Erik has become an accomplished mountain climber, skydiver, and skier. He has never let his blindness interfere with his passion for an exhilarating and fulfilling life. Erik's feats have earned him ESPN's ARETE Award for courage in sports, induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and most recently IDEA Award from the largest association of health and physical fitness professionals and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glaucoma Foundation.
In addition to being a world-class athlete, Erik is also the author of the book Touch the Top of the World. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452282942/the7summitscom/ )
In this autobiographical work, Erik recalls his struggle to push past the limits of vision loss. Weihenmayer tells his extraordinary story with humor, honesty and vivid detail, and his fortitude and enthusiasm are deeply inspiring. He speaks movingly of the role his family played in his battle to break through the barriers of blindness. Erik and his wife Ellie are the proud parents of one-year-old Emma.
Erik's extraordinary accomplishments have gained him abundant press coverage including repeated visits to the NBC's Today and segments on World News Tonight, the Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, MSNBC, and Inside Edition to name a few. He has also been featured in Sports Illustrated and Men's Journal.
Erik speaks to audiences around the country on topics that include overcoming life's challenges, achievement, the importance of teamwork, and his daily struggle to never let go of the goals and dreams that you establish for yourself. Clearly, Erik's accomplishments and future goals show that one does not have to have perfect eyesight to have extraordinary vision.
There was a nice interview with Erik on the Coloradoan website:
http://www.coloradoan.com/entertainment/stories/20040229/xplore/47347.html
Question: Favorite of the seven summits?
Answer: Mount Vincent in Antarctica. It's so remote. Getting there is harder than getting to the summit. The flight across Drake Passage is a six-hour flight from the tip of South America. We had to wait two weeks because of the weather. About half the time, the plane can't make it because of high winds.
Q: Most difficult adventure?
A: Aconcagua. We decided to be really cool and go in early December to beat the crowds. January is prime for Aconcagua. When we got there, we figured out why no one goes in December. An avalanche blocked the narrow valley we were going to use, so we changed our route. We got desperately sick and barely made it to base camp, where the snow was so deep we couldn't even get mules to it. In 18 days, we had one good day of weather and we weren't in position to summit. Plus, I wasn't able to sleep because I had severe glaucoma. The high altitude made my eye feel like someone was sticking a fork in it. We got to 21,000 feet, and the wind was knocking us to our feet. I was following Chris Morris of Boulder, and he had a bear bell that helps me follow, but the bell froze. He had to whistle at the top of his lungs every two minutes like a version of mountain Marco Polo. Finally, Chris said it was suicide to continue. I hadn't cried since fifth grade, but when we got back to base camp, tears were coming down my face like a little baby.
Q: If you could see one thing in the world, what would it be?
A: It would be a toss-up between my wife and daughter, but I think my daughter would win. I know my daughter, what her cheeks feel like and what her breath smells like after she drinks milk, but it would be nice to see her twinkling eyes.
Q: How much emotion did you invest in climbing Everest?
A: For so long throughout the climb and for so many years, you wonder if you have what it takes to stand on the summit. You doubt yourself and are afraid that maybe you overreached, and the naysayers who believe you have no business being up there get under your skin and you start believing them. Then you get pushed back by storms, and you are sick half the time and throwing up and it gets tough. You just have to take it step by step and not let that invade your brain.
Q: Do you think you made believers out of your critics?
A: I think in a way. You always have cynical people who will find the negative in what you do. My wife and I made the decision for me to climb Everest when Emma was 8 months old, so she wasn't aware that I was gone that long. If I tried to leave for three months now, she'd cry. I had to do it then. A blind person climbing Everest wasn't on anyone's radar screen. I think it was good for the world because it took people's perceptions and shattered them.
Q: What was the feeling like once on the top of the world?
A: It's hard to separate the summit from the whole experience. You take a step and then you're on the top that is the size of a one-car garage. You feel like you're in space. I could hear the sound of space. You can feel the thinness of the atmosphere, the wind is less dense. The sound as it moves though space has an empty sound. It's powerful and really scary. It makes you feel like you're being swallowed up by the sky.
Q: How big of an accomplishment was it to reach the seven summits?
A: When I thought about it at first, it was almost unimaginable. I thought the only ones who could do it were superstars. It's the same as Everest, you just plug away and try not to get too far ahead. Then one day, seven years after you start, it ends and you think that was cool, but it's over, what's next.
Q: What's the biggest frustration of being blind?
A: There are daily things like struggling through an airport and finding the right restaurant. Then there is going to the rec center to get a workout, and the snow covers the path you normally take, so you struggle through, and it maybe takes you an hour to get to the door. Then you realize it's Veteran's Day and it's closed.
Q: What's the most common misconception sighted people have about blind people?
A: People tend to separate themselves from other people. Blind people aren't any different than anyone else. We feel the same sense of adventure, and we don't want to be swept to the sidelines and forgotten. When people read my book ("Touch the Top of the World''), they say "wow, I really learned about disabilities." That's great, but I tell them that I hope they learned something about themselves.
Q: If you hadn't gone blind, how would your life be different?
A: I wonder if I would have had a little bit more traditional life. One thing that blindness enables you to do in the modern world is to be more of a pioneer. I don't want to sound nostalgic, but it's exciting to be the first to see if it can be done. That's 50 percent of the reason why I find things exciting.
Q: If you weren't blind, would you be just another accomplished adventurer?
A: I think so. I'm not that great of an athlete. I just have a lot of focus, drive and friends. There's nothing spectacular about my personality. The fact is, being a blind climber is like being a Jamaican bobsledder. It's not that common. You get attention being a blind climber and doors of opportunities go with it, but I don't get carried away with that.
Q: Looking back, what one thing would you change about your life?
A: I would somehow have my mom still alive. Losing my mom in an automobile accident was a thousand times more painful than going blind. I was just fighting back (from his blindness) when that happened.
Q: How much anger do you have about losing your sight?
A: I don't hold on to things that are dead, and sight for me is dead. No matter how much I kick and clamor, my sight isn't coming back. I'll be in the mountains and my friends will describe the mountains and that the alpenglow looks like frosting on a cake. I'm sure that's pretty, but I don't get joy from it. My joy is the fact that my friends took the time when they are tired and cold to describe the world to me. The joy is the friendship, not the scenery.
Q: What were you feeling when you discovered going blind was inevitable?
A: It was what you would imagine dying being like when you were a kid. You don't understand it, but you see that people react to it in this sad and desperate way, especially my mom. When I was diagnosed, she took to me to a church where there was a priest who performed miracles. While we were waiting there, she was crying and her tears were plopping on my head, and I was thinking "what is wrong with me?''
Q: Are you a religious person?
A: I'm a searcher. I guess I'm a Christian. I know when I'm in the mountains I'm not the most important part of the environment. It makes me feel humble and more connected to something more powerful beyond humans. I've had moments in my life when I was desperately in need of strength, and I was given it. There are signs and evidence that I've experienced that makes me believe there is something to it.
Q: What would you tell other blind people?
A: Blindness isn't a death sentence. Everything you need is inside you.
Q: Funniest blind guy adventure story?
A: There have been many, but the story I always think is so funny is when we had climbed McKinley. My dad, wife and two brothers timed it perfectly and flew over us while we were on the summit. We were all in identical red suits, waving our ski poles at them. I asked one of my teammates, Jeff Evans, if he thought they knew which one of our group was me. He said that they would because I was the only one waving the ski pole in the wrong direction.
Q: Most difficult daily routine to do blind?
A: Working the cable, VCR and DVD. Lord have mercy.
Q: What do you wish those who see your documentary get from it?
A: I think people will walk away inspired to believe.
Q: What's one of the best passages from your book, "Touch the Top of the World"?
A: There is a lot of humor in the book. Even though you're blind, it doesn't mean you're angelic. You can still be a pig. I invented a special handshake system where I can tell how good looking a female is I'm talking to by the way a friend shakes my hand. She's thinking I'm seeing her inner beauty, but I was just another pig. It breaks stereotypes.
Q: Is there a blessing in being blind?
A: There is a blessing in everything and in being alive. I stopped looking at life as advantages and disadvantages. I take my strengths and do exciting things with them. You can make a blessing into anything.
Q: Something about you that most people don't know?
A: That I can be lazy. I like to sit and eat chocolate doughnuts in front of the TV. You can't always be out there achieving and changing the world. Sometimes, you have to sit in front of the TV and eat chocolate doughnuts and dance with your daughter.
Q: Who has been the most influential person in your life?
A: When I was going blind, I was watching this TV show called "That's Incredible" and a guy named Terry Fox had lost his leg to cancer, and he was running across Canada. This was before good prosthetics like Flex Feet, and he was limping bad and on crutches. He was the grandfather of disabled sports.
Q: One person you would like to meet?
A: It sounds corny, but Abraham Lincoln. He was a normal guy who was put into a position to change the world. He rose to that occasion but ultimately paid for it. Gandhi and Martin Luther King had courage to step up, so do people who go to war. I like to meet people with courage.
Q: What's your next big adventure?
A: In May, we are going to Tibet to help this German lady who has started a school for blind kids in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to teach six of her most motivated kids to climb. Then we're going to go back in the fall and lead them up 7,000-meter Lhakba Ri on the north side of Everest.
Q: One outdoor activity that doesn't interest you in the least?
A: Golf. I'm going to wait until I'm at least 50.
Q: One outdoor activity you'd like to take up?
A: Yoga. As you get older, you need to work on staying limber and on your balance.
Q: Any final thoughts?
A: I'm psyched Character Fort Collins is showing the film because the film's message of having courage and believing in what you are doing fits perfectly with their message. It's been exciting to connect this film with nonprofits to raise awareness and money.
From the same page some additional info:
ERIK WEIHENMAYER FILE
FAMILY
Married to Ellie Reeve for 7 years, 3-year-old daughter
Emma, cat named Elvis and guide dog named Willa.
AGE
35.
NICKNAMES
Current friends call him Super Blind. Middle school friends called him Blindenheimer.
OCCUPATION
Professional mountaineer, speaker and author of "Touch the Top of the World."
PERSONAL HISTORY
Born Sept. 23, 1968, in Princeton, N.J. Moved around a lot, including living in Hong Kong, before settling in Weston, Conn., when he was in the sixth grade and until he graduated high school. When he was 13, his mother died in an auto accident at about the same time he lost his sight to the degenerative eye disease, retinoschesis. His family includes his father, two older brothers and an older sister.
ADVENTURE HIGHLIGHTS
Becoming the first blind person to summit Mount Everest, and first blind person and one of only about 100 people to successfully summit the highest peaks of the seven continents. Successful climbs of the Polish Circus, a 3,000-foot waterfall ice climb in Canada, 24-hour ascent of Zurbringen's Face on New Zealand's' Mount Cook, the 2,900-foot vertical feet of the Nose Route of El Capitan, summitting Mount McKinley in 1995, the first big mountain and first of the seven summits he summitted. Being a member of a team that finished the 2003 Subaru Primal Quest. Only 44 of 80 teams finished the 454-mile race.
MORE ABOUT ERIK
www.touchthetop.com
Originally published Sunday, February 29, 2004
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