Subject:

Comments:
: Blind climber sets out to conquer Mount Everest : By Binaj Gurubacharya : KATHMANDU, March 28 - Watching Erik Weihenmeyer walk the streets of Thamel aided by a walking stick, it would be hard to say that this man who lost his eyesight at age 13 is a professional mountaineer. : More amazing is that this Spring he will attempt to be the first blind person to scale the 8,850 meters or 29,035 feet high Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. : But losing eyesight due to a degenerative eye disorder has not deterred American climber from what he loves to do the most ... climb mountains. : "Everest is famous and because it is so famous that you read and hear so much about, I wanted to try it too," said the 32-year-old climber from Golden, Colorado. : Unlike most climbers who depend on coordinating carefully between their eyes, hand and feet to make their climb, he will follow the sounds of bells that will be tied to the jackets of his climbing mates and Sherpa guides. : "I have developed skills with my hands that most people do with their eyes and I always climb with strong people," he said. "I have been to 7,000 meters points and feel pretty good." : His biggest challenge will be the Khumbu Icefall where climbers use aluminum ladders and ropes as bridge to cross crevasses. A slip would almost mean certain death hitting the icy bottom or razor sharp ice edges on these crevasses. : He will also be using bottled oxygen to supplement his breathing at the higher points. He said since he did not want to take any risks and give safety number one priority, he would use the bottled oxygen like most western climbers do. : When he was just 13 and in high school, he lost his sights due to a rare disease called retinoscheses. At age 16, he took up rock climbing and ever since then there has been no stopping him. : He has already climbed 20,320 feet high Mount McKinley in Alaska, 22,834 feet high Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, which is considered the highest peak outside of Asia and 19,340 feet high Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. : He even married his wife at 13,000 feet Shira Plateau on his way to Kilimanjaro’s summit. Now the couple has a nine-month-old daughter, Emma. : In January, he scaled Polar Circus, the 3000-foot vertical ice wall in Alberta, Canada. : He said that he has always dream of stepping on the top of the world but kept it a secret desire until about four years ago when he met other climbers in Colorado. : For the past three years he and his climbing friends have been preparing for this trip practising on smaller mountains to familiarize with the cold, high altitude and thin atmosphere. : Last year, the team made an unsuccessful bid on the 22,500 feet high Mount Ama Dablam. Deteriorating weather and food shortage forced the climbers to retreat from a 19,800 feet point spending after eight days waiting for weather to clear up. : He and his dozen team mates from the National Federation of Blind Allegro Everest Expedition hopped on a helicopter and left for the mountain Wednesday. : The team will first land at Lukla and trek for nine days to the base camp at 17,500 feet where they will spend at least three days to acclimatize before making practice runs up the mountain ferrying supplies. : The team hopes to reach the summit during the middle part of May when the weather gets favorable for the summit bid. : "I feel lucky this time," he said.

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL: