A blind climber conquered Everest. And then six more of the continents highest peaks

Eric Weihenmayer experienced something that can break even an adult in high school. At the age of 13 he became completely blind, and only sport helped him to cope with the difficulties and not to fall into depression. Eric managed to become the first blind mountaineer who conquered the highest mountains of every continent.

However, this is not his only achievement, or rather, this is just the beginning of a life full of adrenaline. We tell you about the amazing story of mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer.

When I climbed Mount Everest, the expedition leader told me: “You must make sure that this ascent does not become your main achievement”. I took that advice seriously.

Finding yourself: How did Weihenmayer decide to take up mountaineering?

Eric was born in 1968 in Princeton, New Jersey, into a well-to-do American family. At the age of three he was diagnosed with a congenital retinal defect, and by the age of 11 he was destined to lose his sight completely. It was not easy to accept what happened: Eric broke canes, refused a guide dog and did not want to ride the school bus for the disabled. An attempt to distract himself was inept soccer lessons, but even they did not help, but only aggravated the boy’s depression. After a bad experience in sports, Eric abandoned training. And it was this decision that radically changed his life, because then he realized that he could not live without sports.

Now his every day began with a jog in the park, freestyle wrestling and other active sports. With the boy’s wrestling everything worked out as well as possible. He became captain of the school team, made the state team and competed at the national championships.

In high school, Weihenmayer lost his mother in an automobile accident. After her death, his father took him and his brothers on a trip to Peru to bring the family together and help overcome hardships. This family adventure, which included a 14,000-foot hike, started a tradition of annual trips to remote corners of the world and fueled a love of the mountaineering life.

Conquering the summits: climbing the highest mountains

Being blind made me realize that I wasn’t going to be a great baseball or basketball player, so that limited my options a bit. Rock climbing was something I fell in love with.

Rock climbing opened the door to a world of adventure for Eric and also inspired him to try skydiving, paragliding, skiing, and ice climbing. Weihenmayer’s strong physique allowed him to try his hand at various types of sports tourism. In 1991 he was in the Pamirs, and two years later he crossed the Batura Glacier – one of the largest glaciers in the world with an area of 285 square kilometers and a height of 2540 meters.

In 1995, Eric climbed Mount Denali in Alaska. In his autobiography he recalls the most difficult part of the climb – it was the distance from 4267 to 4876 meters – at this point Eric was afraid he was making a terrible mistake.

I felt like the backpack was squeezing my spine and internal organs, and the straps were preventing me from breathing. I thought about how far I could go before I fell.

Thus began a famous series of climbs to the world’s highest peaks. Two years later he conquered Kilimanjaro, and two years later he climbed Aconcagua. And the first time the peak in South America did not yield to the climber, so he had to make a second and already successful attempt.

Eric opened the beginning of the century by conquering Vinson Peak in Antarctica, which has a height of 4892 meters above sea level. The 45 degree frost made his legs cramped and his lips blue, but the climber still reached the summit.

Eric explains his love for rock climbing this way:

A lot of people say they go to the mountains because of the beautiful views. It’s all bullshit. That’s not why people go to the mountains. You’re not going to endure hardship for three months just because of a beautiful picture. I think people go to the mountains for other reasons: to overcome themselves, to find the meaning of life, for a sense of camaraderie.

The most famous climb in the series is, of course, the Everest climb. Weihenmayer climbed the world’s highest peak in 2001, which made him a star. The following year, he was even invited to complete the Olympic Torch Relay and light the torch at the Winter Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City.

After Everest, he reached the summit of Mount Elbrus and in 2008, he climbed the Carstens Pyramid on the island of New Guinea. This achievement completed the circle in a journey that began in 1995. It took him 13 years to conquer the seven highest peaks of each continent.

This is not the end: what else has Eric Weihenmayer distinguished himself in?

When he is not climbing, Eric is no less active. Since 1998 he has been involved in cycling, which began with a 1736 kilometer ride with his father through Vietnam. Later he started to participate in bicycle races and covered longer and longer distances.

In 2002 Eric became the first blind solo paraglider and did not stop at one flight. He has more than 50 of them in his baggage. According to him, the hardest part is landing, so he has a rope with a bell tied to his leg that clings to the ground and the sound tells him it’s time to go down.

In September 2014, Eric kayaked more than 450 kilometers of the Grand Canyon.

Whirlpools throw you off track, you start to get pulled to the bottom when you least expect it. I felt like I was on a battlefield. Now I dream that I’m in a kayak, I don’t have a helper and I’m flying down crazy river rapids.

Erik Weihenmayer now promotes the sport, writes books and motivates people to overcome life’s barriers.

We all face obstacles that can knock us down. But we have the ability to push through them and live a life filled with meaning. We all want that for ourselves, our family and those around us.