On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the only blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. And on August 26, 2008, when he stood on top of Puncak Jaya, in Papua New Guinea, Weihenmayer completed his 12-year quest to climb the Seven Summits— the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.
He joins only 150 mountaineers who have accomplished this feat. Additionally, he has scaled El Capitan, a 3,300-foot overhanging rock wall in Yosemite; Losar, a 2,600-foot vertical ice waterfall in the Mt. Everest region of the Himalayas; and a difficult and rarely climbed rock face on 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya. He has also completed the most brutal adventure race in the world: Primal Quest, 460 miles in nine days, with no time outs.
Why Erik is a Game Changer:
• Erik is the only blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak.
• Erik, along with his Everest teammates, led a group of soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan to the summit of Lobuche, a 20,000- foot peak in Nepal, to give back to America’s heroes and show what is possible despite adversity.
• Despite losing his vision at the age of 13, he has become an accomplished mountain climber, paraglider and skier who has never let his blindness interfere with his passion for an exhilarating and fulfilling life.
