Welcome to my new blog! Many of you know that we have been offering a free email newsletter for several years. This has been great for telling about bigger adventures and projects. However, the format was not conducive to brief updates about shorter trips, upcoming talks, and noteworthy news from friends and the non-profit organizations that I support.
Starting this week, we will offer all of this material and more on my new blog. You can check it out as you peruse my web site or subscribe via an RSS newsfeed to stay up to date. I will also use Facebook and Twitter to notify friends and followers of new blog posts. Please leave comments and suggest future topics.
We will continue to offer the email newsletter for those who prefer that format. These will be published when there are bigger stories to tell.
I am really excited to announce the rollout of an upgraded Education section on my web site. My team and I have developed an interactive site with a curriculum that will engage students and bring my message to life in the classroom.
As many of you know, before I became a professional adventurer and motivational speaker, I was a 5th grade English and math teacher. Of course, my interest in kids and education is even greater now that I am the father of two wonderful children ages 7 and 9. While I enjoy motivating adults of all ability levels, teaching and inspiring our youth is a passion.
The purpose of this Education web site is to help young people truly believe that no matter how difficult the challenges, they can make a difference in the world. We will reinforce this message by engaging the students in a variety of exercises.
The Everest Journey combines Google Earth views of the world’s highest mountain (in either 3-D or 2-D views) with video clips of our expedition and descriptions of key stages.
My Adventure Gallery features many photos from each of our climbs up the highest mountain on each continent.
The Education section includes Lesson Plans, a Lesson of the Day, and a Forum for discussions among teachers and myself. In addition to the full length curriculum that accompanies my memoir, Touch the Top of the World, we have created a series of supplemental lessons that raise issues, invite exploration, and entice students to challenge themselves.
This Education site is designed for students between 4th and 10th grades. It is offered at no charge—I simply request that you provide us with feedback and suggestions. Please spread the word about this Education site because the more students use it, the more we will develop and expand the curriculum.
In November, Erik succeeded on one of his most difficult climbs yet! Sure, climbing Everest and the rest of the Seven Summits wasn’t easy. And the Nose on Yosemite’s El Capitan wasn’t a walk in the park either. But from the standpoint of technical difficulty, the Naked Edge in Colorado’s Eldorado Canyon is one of the most challenging.
Erik teamed up with Brady Robinson, the Executive Director of the Access Fund, who led most of the route. Also along was Charley Mace, a longtime partner and Everest teammate who climbed above, shouting directions to vital holds Erik would need to find with his scanning hands. This spectacular route follows the sharp vertical prow of the 700-foot Redgarden Wall.
Photo: Kris Gorney
The Naked Edge was first climbed in 1962 by the legendary Layton Kor and Bob Culp – at the time a major achievement in North American climbing. It took nearly a decade for two climbers, Jim Erickson and Duncan Ferguson, to ascend the route completely free (just using the rock). Since then, it has become an icon in the climbing world, and the “Edge” remains a test of skill, technique, and endurance.
According to Erik, “When Brady asked me if I wanted to climb it with him, I felt that familiar knot in my stomach from nervous anticipation. The Naked Edge is something I have dreamed about for a long time. It’s just up the road from my house and is definitely on the list for any serious climber. There has always been a part of me that has felt I wasn’t ready, that I wasn’t in good enough shape, but, some day you just have to reach out and take the challenge.”
The excitement begins on the first pitch of the Naked Edge; a classic 5.11a finger crack in a shallow corner. Brady reported, “Erik climbed the lower part without any problem. At the crux, he struggled to find the tricky footholds on the face and finger holds in the crack, so he eventually just leaned back and punched it for the anchors. He only fell right at the top of the finger crack. Impressive!!”
Photo: Cedar Wright
The fourth pitch is where things really start to heat up. Almost immediately it requires 5.10c moves and then it progresses into four or five very technical moves to a challenging “bomb-bay” chimney, which is narrow at the top and widens at the bottom to a huge void, making climbers feel as if they are being dropped out. Brady belayed from above and Charley belayed from below to prevent Erik from swinging into space. According to Brady, “Erik DID NOT climb it the easiest way. His holding power is pretty impressive and, since he can’t suss things out like a sighted climber, there comes a point where he just decides to go for it. Erik did incredibly well on this pitch, given its intricate nature.”
It’s the infamous fifth pitch that strikes fear into the hearts of climbers. Starting out with intricate moves which traverse directly right, a fall here swings you far into space. Climbers are soon faced with a burly crack, testing their endurance and nerves as they climb above the most exposed section of the face. Brady commented, “Erik climbed the glassy corner crux without falling. Wow! It’s really hard! He came all the way around the weird steparound and then got into the handcrack. This was the hardest part for Erik because it isn’t totally straightforward so he had to hang on the rope a couple of times to rest. That said, he did really well”
Photo: Cedar Wright
With the hardest climbing out of the way, Erik took over the “sharp end of the rope” and led the final pitch to the summit. As Erik puts it, “Leading is the most difficult and dangerous part of climbing, where a fall means more serious consequences. As nerve wracking as it is climbing high above your anchors, 700 feet off the ground with a river roaring far below, there is the true sense of adventure that has always excited me.”
The entire eight pitches of climbing and then rappelling back to the ground took less than 7 hours, including delays for filming. As any climber will tell you, that’s an excellent time for a party of three on such a long, demanding route.
Erik, Charley Mace and Brady Robinson at the top of the Naked Edge
Photo: Charley Mace
Erik’s ascent has left the climbing community awestruck. After the video made by Cedar Wright was posted on the Internet, online forums such as Rockclimbing.com and SuperTopo.com were filled with comments of congratulations. Veteran climbers who have done the Naked Edge have been greatly impressed that a blind person made the ascent. Well-known writer Dougald MacDonald labeled the ascent a contender for “Rock Climbing Feat of the Year.”
Check out the fantastic video of the climb:
So far, the video has been viewed almost 10,000 times in just a couple of weeks. The story was even picked up by the Huffington Post. As word continues to spread of this remarkable achievement, climbers and non-climbers alike are inspired by how one person can overcome obstacles that many would consider insurmountable.
Equally amazing is the fact that this climb was nearly destroyed only a few years after its first free ascent. In the late 1970’s the owners of Eldorado Canyon were on the verge of selling the entire valley to a gravel company that hoped to turn it into a quarry. A community uproar led to the purchase of the land and the creation of Eldorado Canyon State Park.
One goal of Erik’s Naked Edge ascent was to bring attention to the Access Fund, a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to preserving climbing areas around the nation. Supported entirely by memberships and donations, they purchase land, build trails, and restore habitat so climbers and nature lovers can continue to enjoy our national treasures. “I think it’s the responsibility of every climber to become a member,” Erik said at the top of the climb. We hope you will watch the dramatic video of the ascent and get inspired to become a member of the Access Fund. This is Erik’s challenge to everyone who loves our open spaces.
Happy Holidays from Erik and the HighSights Team!
This week, December 10-11, Erik and his ski guide, Jeff Ulrich, will be showcasing their blind skiing and guiding clinics at the Hartford Ski Spectacular in Breckenridge, Colorado. The program they developed, called the Blind Skier’s Edge, is an innovative technique which hopes to attract more blind skiers and guides to a sport that has seen marked decline in recent years.
Photo: Serac Adventure Films
Here is a glimpse of the duo in action from the short film Blind Skier’s Edge, which has played at film festivals around the country.
Last summer, Erik and his team competed in the third annual Adventure TEAM Challenge, a 2-day multi-sport adventure race through the wilderness outside of Vail, Colorado. Erik helped found the race four years ago as a way for athletes with all kinds of challenges to get out and test their capabilities. Teams of five each include at least two disabled athletes, one of whom must be wheel-chair bound. The race has flourished, and now includes numerous members of the military, elite paralympic athletes and weekend warriors alike. The non-profit World T.E.A.M. Sports (The Exceptional Athlete Matters) is organizing the race.
Photo: Denise Kowal
Watch this powerful short video from last year’s race:
Registration for the Adventure TEAM Challenge 2010 is now open for both teams and individuals. To learn more, please visit:
Rising high into the thin dry air of eastern Turkey, Mt. Ararat stands at almost 17,000 feet. Some geologists believe Ararat to be the largest single-mass of mountain in the world, since it rises uninterrupted from the surrounding plains at 2,000 feet, while most other large peaks stand in mountain ranges with less differential.
Mt. Ararat straddles the politically embroiled borders of Turkey, Armenia and Iran, but this nexus of contemporary political strife only tells a fraction of the story which the mountain has seen over thousands of years. Ararat lies on the western edge of what many consider the “Hearth of Humanity.” From invading Mongol hordes to the missionary journey of the Apostle Paul, the mountain and surrounding range have long been a pivotal junction for culture, religion and the dramatic diaspora that characterizes the region. Most famously, according to the story of Genesis, Ararat is widely thought to be the final resting place of Noah’s Ark. For hundreds of years, treasure seekers and archaeologists have scoured its massive glaciated flanks in search of biblical secrets it may hold. In fact, just prior to Erik’s climb, a team of archaeologists camped near the top of Ararat were drilling core samples into the glacier in search of the Ark.
Eddi and Erik on the approach with Ararat looming in the background.
This fall, Erik teamed up with his brother Eddi and three Iranian climbers to scale the dormant volcano and take a step into its rich history. Behrouz Khabbaz Beheshti, the Iranian team organizer, is translating Erik’s memoir, Touch the Top of the World, into Farsi. He volunteers with an Iranian disability organization named, Bavar, meaning “believe” in English, and plans to sell the book in partnership with this organization. Along with Touch the Top of the World, he is also translating the award-winning documentary, Farther Than the Eye Can See, which will accompany the book. Erik’s royalties will benefit Bavar, which serves Behzour’s younger brother who was born with cerebral palsy.
Behrouz was accompanied by two other Iranian climbers: Hassan Moghimi, born without one hand but now a professional cyclist and accomplished climber, as well as Bahar Ganjavi, another experienced mountaineer.
For three days the climbing team worked their way up the increasingly steep slopes of Ararat and at 14,000 feet stepped onto a spectacular glaciated ice cap 17 square miles in size and up to 350 feet thick. Kicking steps in the steep slope was tiring, especially for those on the team who live at sea level, yet the summit rewarded the climbers with a windy but magnificent panorama of the vast desert surrounding the peak.
Erik on the summit of Mt. Ararat with Behrouz (front) and Hassan (back).
After the climb, the team took a drive to a place that some biblical historians believe is the Ark’s resting place. After going through a security checkpoint and into a protected zone near the border of Iran, they came upon a large rock formation in the high desert which resembles a large boat. The speculation is that this formation is the petrified Ark after the erosion of the surrounding weaker rock.
The large semicircular formation in the foreground is what many speculate to be the petrified remains of the Ark. Many researchers cite the fact that the formation is comprised of a silica based rock, which also forms petrified wood. Further, from bow to stern the formation measures 515 feet or 300 Egyptian cubits, the exact Biblical dimensions for the Ark.
Erik and Behrouz are now talking about a future climb of Mt. Damavand (18,600 feet), the tallest peak in Iran. They hope to make a ski descent of the mountain.
