mountaineering

This is just a terrific book, filled with humor, wisdom, pathos and adventure. The author poignantly describes his childhood descent into blindness, his efforts to ignore it, his initial rebelliousness, and his gradual coming to terms with his handicap. Before long, the reader, like Erik, no longer sees blindness as a handicap, but as one of many hurdles life tosses in our way. It is certainly less of a burden to him than was the sudden, tragic death of his mother, which he movingly addresses and comes to terms with. He finds purpose to his life, he finds love, and he finds friendship and adventure on the mountains that he climbs. Buy this book and give it to any friend who has an inclination toward self-pity, and it may change their life. Read it and be inspired by the resiliency and strength of the human spirit.

I saw Erik Weihenmayer on THE TONIGHT SHOW, the
blind mountain climber, joking about how he attempted to teach
fifth graders who raised their hands whenever he asked a
question . . . when that did not work, he told them to call
out their responses--and all hell broke loose . . . I decided
then and there that this guy had something to teach me, so
I got his TOUCH THE TOP OF THE WORLD . . . it is
the exciting, touching story of his life, including how he
became the first blind man to summit Mount McKinley,
scale the rock wall of El Capitan and then Argentina's
Aconcagua, the highest peak outside of Asia . . . he was
married at 13,000 feet on the Shira Plateau, and he
recently scaled Polar Circus, the 30,000-foot vertical ice
wall in Alberta, Canada.

I was moved by Weihenmayer's many tales of courage . . . also,
I frequently laughed at how he managed to find humor in
situations that would have gotten down many others . . . get this
book if you want to be inspired; I was!

There were many memorable passages in the book; among them:
"That's ridiculous," I replied, but when I walked down the
hallway, I couldn't believe it [that he could locate an open
door when walking down an empty hallway]. I stopped in
astonishment when the confined sound bouncing back at me,
suddenly on my right, changed to open sound. I reached my
had out right and felt the open frame of the door. "Don't take
no for an answer when you're looking for your system," Carl
ended class by saying. "You may have to look beyond the
obvious, but you'll find it."

And lastly I took a chance and told her that her going blind
wasn't her fault; that God wasn't punishing her, because I
didn't think God worked like that. I had thought it too, that
life was a punishment, made up of only losses. "Yeah, he
takes things away," I said into the speaker," but he gives
other things back and, in a strange way, those new things
can be just as good or even better. I think you just have
to look for the new things a little harder."

So instead of trying to predict the future, I would rely on two
principles which had led me to this point, and one new
principle I was just starting to recognize: I would set myself
in motion, have faith in my vision, and never lose sight of
those precious moments of bliss along the way.

This is an ease read but surprisingly soul-awakening book for me. There are statements on life lessons strung together like jewels hidden everywhere in this book, from the start to finish, mostly on self-assumed constraints that are common to everyone, sighted or not. I found vicariously the family love, friendship, and community support invigorating. I sensed the humor, strength, commitment, and perseverance Erik W carries with him daily, not just to the mountain top, which makes this book an absolute page-turner. Thanks Erik W for writing this book and share intimately with the readers the details of your journeys and the poeple in your life, we all have a lot to learn and draw from your experiences touched by the top of the world.