2004 Newsletters
The Climb to Lhakpa Ri (23,100') Begins
Sep 28th, 2004
The Climb to Lhakpa Ri (23,100') Begins
The team is positioned in the 12,000' capital city of Lhasa acclimatizing and assembling gear, and undertaking some final training with the six blind Tibetan teenagers from the Braille Without Borders school. It was only 4-5 years ago that these students, now ages 15 to 17, lived in a dark world of no opportunity and no hope. Today, they can speak passable English, read Braille in English, Chinese and Tibetan, and can operate a computer. Soon some of them - we hope all - will stand on a peak higher than any outside of the Himalayas... an amazing life transition, thanks to Erik and his team and to Sabriye Tenberken, founder of the school, a blind adventurer herself, and author of My Path Leads to Tibet.
Erik from Lhasa: "Although groveling in the dirt for a month in order to put myself on a high peak may not motivate me like it once did, I'm filled with a sense of optimism about what we're about to do. To think about getting these young Tibetans to the summit fills me with energy and a sense of purpose. I think of Sonam Bongso?s (age 15) simple statement, ?I am blind, but I want to show the world that blind people can do anything.? I think of Sabriye's work, in five years bringing these blind children out of their dark rooms into the mainstream of life, taking kids once seen as pariahs, now some of the most respected in their villages and among the more educated in all of Tibet. It shows me the power of one strong will to nudge society forward and force open doors of opportunity. In less than a month, six of these teens may stand higher than any other summit outside the Himalayas. What a statement that will make about people's potential across Tibet and throughout the world. That's why we're here, why we've left behind our families and comfortable lives, to be a part of something pioneering, to help continue that nudge towards opportunity begun by Sabriye."
Erik's mission: "There is a blurry line separating what the world sees as impossible yet what we know in our hearts to be fully possible. If I can find a way to reach out across race and culture, and shatter the boundaries which have been established through generations for the disabled people of Tibet, and pass to them that same sense of joy and achievement with which I have been blessed, it will be the fulfillment of my climbing career." Follow the climb on http://www.climbingblind.org.
NBC Nightly News
The Climbing Blind expedition is slated to be the closing segment of NBC Nightly News this Friday evening, October 1, at approximately 6:55 p.m. Eastern, just as the team begins its 2 1/2 week climb of Lhakpa Ri, just north of Everest. Erik has had a long relationship with the show and with Tom Brokaw, a climber himself, dating back to his first big mountain, McKinley in 1995, and continuing through Everest in 2001.
Wall Street Journal
A half-page ad in Monday's edition (September 27) of the WSJ, page B3, features Erik and his "Heightened Focus," in conjunction with the 2004-05 Advantage of Focus marketing campaign of the law firm of Howrey Simon Arnold & White, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Howrey is also a supporter of Erik's Tibet expedition.
More Billboards Nationwide
The Foundation for a Better Life promotes the values which have made America strong via thousands of billboards on highways and in airports and theaters, featuring Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill and Mother Teresa... and Erik. Many of you have reported "sightings" of Erik sitting on a mountaintop with the message, "Climbed Everest. Blind. Vision. Pass It On." The most prominent is a 40' by 60' billboard at Broadway and 41st in Time Square. The Foundation has just extended Erik's billboard run for another year. Apparently, Erik has been the most popular billboard choice... that is, except for Kermit the Frog.
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