LISTEN: [RealPlayer] [Windows Media] (Requires a FREE media player to listen) Click for Photos MountainZone.com: That's very interesting. Here's a final question, from a reader named James in Seattle and this is a question that I'm interested in because I'm a climber myself. He asks, Erik: How does the climbing work when you're on say a difficult...in a place where it's difficult to climb? Do your guides help place your feet and hands in the holds, of do they just give you instructions? Weihenmayer: That's a great question and it taps into a lifetime of learning how to function as a blind person in the mountains. When I first started climbing, hiking up rocky terrain, sighted friends who didn't know me well they'd kind of try to place my feet where they thought I wanted to step. When I first started hiking with my dad and my brothers when I was a teenager, my dad would take his hand and try to steer my neck; steer my body up these rocky trails. At first it was somewhat disastrous, I didn't know I could really hike and climb and take this sport very far. And then I discovered some long trekking poles and I could use a longer ice axe and I could kind of lean on those and feel the terrain. It was like having four legs instead of two legs. I could sense the terrain underneath me and use my balance and use my sense of hearing to listen to the sounds of space, closed space versus open space and because of that I could hear drop-offs, I can hear obstacles in front of me, and so I just use all my senses. I also have someone, when I'm hiking, hike in front of me and they ring a bear bell from their ski pole or their ice axe and they jingle it. Maybe they'll jingle it a little bit to the left if they want me to move left and jingle it to the right, and so forth. And then sometimes they'll tap their ice axe against a rock so I can hear it in front of me if I'm moving around it. And if it's really weird tricky terrain, yeah, they'll stop and they'll verbalize it for me. Like jumping over crevasses or crossing ladders. They'll give me a little information about where the ladders are tied together or something like that. So, yeah, it's a lot of systems that I've developed with teammates over the years, but never is somebody holding me or touching me or putting me in their pack and carrying me to the summit. I've always felt, as a blind person, like it's important to, you know... in the way you climb the mountain versus just getting to the top. I've always tried to be a real teammate to my friends: take care of them if their sick, carry the weight in their pack if they're hurting, and set up tents, build snow walls, do everything I can to contribute to the team getting up there. Go to Question 10 » [Top] [Climbing Home] [MountainZone.com Home]