Headline, July05, 2013

'''INPURSUI​TOFGREATNE​SS''' : 

''BLIND EVEREST CONQUERER

 ERIK WEIHENMAYE​R''

''I went blind at the age of 13, and started climbing three years later. I loved it. I could problem-solve my way up' using my hands and feet as eyes. So my path to Everest began then, and 15 years later I was there.

Some of the sherpas didn't believe I was blind because i wasn't falling over. So I took out my glass eye in front of the head sherpa, and asked if he would like to see the other one. He said NO!

We were on the mountain for two months, from the late March, but the worst part was the start, -Khumbu Icefall is chaos because you are jumping over ice boulders. It took 13 hours, but it should have taken four or five.

Within 100ft of Camp1, I tripped over a tiny crevasse. My friend tried to grab me, but instead he broke my nose with his ice axe. I arrived at camp covered in blood, and I thought I was going to faint.

We reached Camp III, at 24, 500 feet by May, but the weather was bad so we had to return to the Base. We set of for the summit on 21 May, resting at Camp II for a day, then up the Lhotse Face to camp III to spend the night there.

We then climbed up the South Col to rest. We left at 9pm the next night, climbing in the dark. My team whined because they couldn't see, I laughed and told them to suck it up.

We made it to the Balcony at 2am, and a really ugly storm came in from the south. We didn't know whether to go on. then Sherman Bull who had tried to climb the Everest four times said : 'If you want good weather, go to Central Park in June.' Then our Base Camp manager radioed us and said the storm was passing. We decided to press on.

We reached the South Summit at 8am. When you are that high up, you are firing on very few brain cells, and I kept asking my sherpa if I had enough oxygen. I had to concentrate so hard. Not being able to see and think would have meant very serious trouble. But i felt more lucid than I had expected.

A climber Chris Morris, summited just before me. he said : 'You are about to stand on top of the world.' I took 20 more steps, and there I was. And it sounded like how I imagine space sounds. The sound just engulfed me.''

Respectful dedication to All The Students of the world. Game !WOW! is on. So come on, challenge yourself and join up on the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless.

!WOW! has all the ingredients of a grand adventure : risk, rebellion and passion! 

INPURSUITOFGREATNESS

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless