Inspiration from Erik Weihenmayer

Erik Weihenmayer not only became blind because of a rare disease, shortly afterwards he lost his mother in an accident. In an effort to strengthen the family during this difficult time, Erik's father, an ex-Marine, took his three teenage sons on climbing trips to the far reaches of the globe including South America, India and Nepal. He probably could not imagine what would become of his son.




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Today, Erik Weihenmayer is an acrobatic skydiver, long distance biker, marathon runner, skier, mountaineer, ice climber, and rock climber! He has won a wide variety of prestigious awards and has been responsible for raising millions of dollars for blind organizations and other worthy causes in the United States and around the world. In a poll, Erik was named as one of the 20 most inspirational people in America.

In 1999, Erik joined Mark Wellman - the first paraplegic to climb the 3000-foot face of El Capitan, and Hugh Herr - a double-leg-amputee and scientist at Harvard's prestigious prosthetics Laboratory, to climb an 800-foot rock tower in Moab, Utah. As a result of their successful climb together, the three formed No Barriers, a non-profit organization with a goal of promoting innovative ideas, approaches, and assistive technologies which help people with disabilities push through their own personal barriers to live full and active lives. Erik also serves as a National Braille Literacy Champion on behalf of the American Foundation for the Blind.




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About No Barriers USA
"The purpose of No Barriers is to promote innovative ideas, approaches, and assistive technologies which help people with disabilities push through their own personal barriers to live full and active lives. As you will see by exploring our website, we achieve this through two main programs - an online educational resource center and through our No Barriers Festivals, of which we've held four - one in Miami, Florida, one in Squaw Valley, California, and two in Cortina, Italy."

Read more about No Barrier USA

His experiences in climbing have been filmed, including the project with blind children in Tibet.(Resulting in the film Blindsight). His most known film is maybe "Farther Than the Eye Can See". Bringing home first prize at 19 film festivals and nominated for two Emmy's, the film beautifully captures the emotion, humor and drama of Erik's historic ascent as well as his team's three other remarkable 'firsts': the first American father/son team to summit, the oldest man to summit, and the most people from one team to reach the top of Everest in a single day. Through screenings, the film has raised over $600,000 for charitable organizations.

Many people know him from his work as a motivational speaker, as well. Erik's speaking career has taken him around the world, from Hong Kong to Switzerland, from Thailand to the 2005 APEC Summit in Chile. He speaks to audiences on harnessing the power of adversity, the importance of a "rope team," and the daily struggle to pursue your dreams. Clearly, Erik's accomplishments show that one does not have to have perfect eyesight to have extraordinary vision.
Apart from all this, he has found time to be a guest on numerous shows, including Oprah.



Picture by Concur Technologies

Being blind is really not easy, and most people don't have the stamina of Erik Weihenmayer. Here is a list of some charities that support the blind, be it teaching blind children in Tibet or simply for the training of guide dogs. Please have a look!

Braille Without Borders
Guidedogs in the UK
Royal National Institute of Blind People
Junior blind of America
American Foundation for the blind

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