Erik Weihenmayer - Biography and List of Achievements

Biography and List of Achievements

On September 23, 1968, Erik was born with a disease called retinoschisis and became totally blind by the age of 13.
In 1987, he graduated from Weston High School in Connecticut. As the school’s wrestling captain, he represented the state in National Freestyle Wrestling Championships.
In 1991, he graduated from Boston College. In the same year, he trekked in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan.
In 1993, he received a master’s degree in Middle School Education from Lesley College. In the same year, he crossed the Batura Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Northern Pakistan. The same year he joined the staff at Phoenix Country Day School as an instructor.
In 1995, Erik reached the 20,320’ summit of Mt. McKinley, North America’s highest peak, sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind. His triumph was featured on Today with Katie Couric and the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.
In 1996, he carried the Olympic Torch through Phoenix and was selected for the first annual Distinguished Arizonan Award by the Governors Council. He was also inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and received its first Medal of Courage.
In 1997, he climbed his second continental summit, Kilimanjaro. He married at the height of 13,000’. Erik and his wife Ellen live outside of Denver, Colorado, United States.
In 1998, he rode a tandem bike from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City with his father, a Vietnam veteran.
In 1999, he attempted Argentina's Mount Aconcagua. Poor weather conditions forced his team to turn around just short of the summit. A subsequent attempt on a separate trip was successful.
In 2001, he climbed and summited Mt. Everest.
In 2004, he led an expedition in Tibet called Climbing Blind project, including blind teens from the Braille Without Borders school for blind at Lhasa, Tibet.
In 2006, helped to lead Global Explorers sponsored expedition, Leading the Way, to Peru. The expedition film, Fellowship of the Andes, premiered in New York City 28th Oct 2006.
In 2007, was the speaker at Lehigh University's spring commencement ceremony on May 21.
In 2009, he was a speaker at the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference on January 19.
In 2009, he was a speaker at the Babson College spring commencement ceremony on May 16 where he was also awarded a PhD in Humane Letters.
In 2010, he led a group of 11 wounded veterans to the summit of Mt. Lobuche, a 20,075ft peak in the shadows of Mt. Everest.
In 2011, he competed on the ABC reality show Expedition Impossible on the team No Limits with teammates Jeff Evans and Aaron "Ike" Isaacson. They finished 2nd overall.
In 2012, he visited a school assembly in Charlotte, North Carolina.