Well here's a question of my own: Are you conscious of the inspirational effect that your success in the mountains has had on other people?
I think it's great to be able to do that, because when I was a kid I had all sorts of role models. You know, when I looked at those folks and said "Wow, I'd like to do that kind of thing someday." It awakens some possibilities inside you. So I think I'm happy to play that role. I mean, I've climbed because of the beauty of it, because of the team, because the beauty of movement, and rhythm as you move up the mountain. So I mean I honestly climb for personal reasons, but it is nice, as a side note, to really get people excited about what they can do in their lives and maybe shatter some perceptions about what's possible.
Well here's a question from a MountainZone subscriber named John Scott who asks if you think you would have had a completely different experience if you'd been able to see what you were doing, and he follows that up question by saying do you think you would have even tried for the seven summits if you hadn't been blind?
That's a great question, because I probably wouldn't have been climbing. I mean, you know, I really started rock climbing when I was 16 as a result of the fact that I couldn't play baseball or basketball any more, like other kids. So I was reaching out for new things, and when you reach out and you have to look really hard, you know, beyond things that are obvious, sometimes you come up with really extraordinary things you can do.
That was, for me, the mountains. And I may never have turned to the mountains unless I'd gone blind. So it is sort of an interesting thought to think that my life might be different if I could see, except in this way: blindness is what happens to you, I think your character is sort of what sort of enables you to push beyond that, and I think I would still have that same character of wanting to challenge myself in some way or another, but maybe I would have stuck to volleyball and weightlifting, you know?
