Blind Man Makes Mountaineering History on Seven Summits Challenge

Blind Man Makes Mountaineering History on Seven Summits Challenge

By Luke Bream on September 24, 2009

An accomplished climber, Erik Weihenmayer is the only blind man in history to climb the Seven Summits – the highest peak on every continent. This included the summit of the world’s highest peak – Mount Everest on May 25, 2001.

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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

After Erik’s Mt. Everest ascent, Braille 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.