The character arc of Erik Weihenmayer

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 23 September 1968 in Princeton, New Jersey. Between then and now sit a diagnosis at fifteen months, a childhood in Florida and Hong Kong spent refusing the cane and the Braille, a high school wrestling team captained, a guide dog at sixteen, rock climbing found at about the same age, a teaching job, El Capitan climbed in 1996, the summit of Everest on 25 May 2001, the Seven Summits in September 2002, a charity founded in 2005, and the Grand Canyon kayaked in September 2014. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Erik Weihenmayer?

Blind by his teens, and the summit at thirty two.

At fifteen months he was diagnosed with juvenile retinoschisis, and doctors expected him to be fully blind by thirteen. The family moved to Florida when he was four and to Hong Kong in 1975, where he went to school. As his sight went he fought against using a cane and against learning Braille, because he wanted to keep the sighted life he had. Back in America and settled in Connecticut, he took up wrestling instead, captained his high school team and represented the state at a national championship.

At sixteen he began using a guide dog. He also tried rock climbing and found that he was good at it: scrambling up a face by feel, finding holds with hands and feet, is a way of climbing that does not need eyes. He took a double major in English and communications at Boston College, did his student teaching, became a middle school teacher in Phoenix, where he met the teacher who became his wife, and coached wrestling.

Then the climbing took over. He went up the Nose of El Capitan in 1996. On 25 May 2001 he became the first blind person to stand on the summit of Mount Everest, and the magazine cover that followed made him famous. He completed the Seven Summits in September 2002, one of about a hundred and fifty people to have done it and the only blind one, added an eighth in 2008 and climbed an eight hundred metre vertical ice face in the Himalayas the same year. In 2005 he co-founded a charity for people of all abilities. In September 2014 he and a blinded navy veteran kayaked the entire two hundred and seventy seven miles of the Grand Canyon, which is one of the hardest stretches of whitewater there is.

The moments

Erik Weihenmayer's timeline.

The 1960s

23 Sep 1968

Born in Princeton

Everyday. A New Jersey childhood, for the first fifteen months.

~1969

A diagnosis at fifteen months

Setback, and it changed everything. A prognosis with a date on it, given before he could speak.

The 1970s

~1975

Florida, then Hong Kong

Everyday. Two countries before secondary school, and his sight going the whole time.

The 1980s

~1982

He refuses the cane

Setback, and it changed his direction. He refused the help, for years, because taking it meant admitting it.

~1984

Wrestling, then a rock face

Milestone, and it changed everything. A sport you do by feel, found by a boy who could no longer see.

1 Jun 1984

Take the guide dog

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: accept the help, taken, or keep pretending. He tried rock climbing at about the same age and turned out to be a natural at it.

The 1990s

~1991

A teacher in Phoenix

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A classroom, a wrestling team and an ordinary job, before any of the mountains.

~1996

The Nose of El Capitan

Milestone, and it changed his direction. One of the most famous rock climbs in the world, by touch.

The 2000s

25 May 2001

The summit of Everest

Milestone, and it changed everything. The first blind person to stand there, thirty two years after a doctor gave a date.

Sep 2002

The Seven Summits

Milestone, and it changed everything. The highest peak on every continent, and the only blind person on the list.

~2005

No Barriers

Milestone, and it changed his direction. He built the thing he had needed, for everybody else.

~2008

An eighth summit, and ice

Milestone. A vertical ice wall the height of two Eiffel Towers.

The 2010s

Sep 2014

The Grand Canyon by kayak

Milestone, and it changed everything. Two blind men, two hundred and seventy seven miles of whitewater, all of it run.

The rock is read by hand and the river by ear, and he is still out on both. What it has set moving is not a slogan but a demonstration repeated for thirty years: that the question is almost never whether a thing can be done, only whether anybody has worked out how.

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Erik Weihenmayer: frequently asked questions

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What is Erik Weihenmayer's character arc?

A diagnosis at fifteen months that gave him until thirteen before full blindness, a childhood spent refusing the cane, wrestling and then rock climbing found in his teens, and the summit of Everest at thirty two as the first blind person to stand there.

When did Erik Weihenmayer climb Everest?

On 25 May 2001, becoming the first blind person to reach the summit. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine because of it, and completed the Seven Summits in September 2002, the only blind climber to have done so.

Why did Erik Weihenmayer refuse a cane?

Because using one meant accepting what was happening. As his sight was going he fought against canes and against learning Braille, wanting to hang on to his life in the sighted world. He began using a guide dog at sixteen.

How does Erik Weihenmayer climb without sight?

By feel. He found as a teenager that he was a natural at scrambling up a rock face using his hands and feet to locate holds, which is a way of climbing that does not depend on seeing. He climbed the Nose of El Capitan in 1996.

What did Erik Weihenmayer do in the Grand Canyon?

He kayaked all of it. In September 2014 he and a blinded navy veteran ran the entire two hundred and seventy seven miles of the canyon, one of the most formidable stretches of whitewater anywhere.

What is No Barriers by Erik Weihenmayer?

The nonprofit organisation he co-founded in 2005, which helps people of diverse backgrounds and abilities in their daily lives. He speaks widely on the same theme, and was a middle school teacher and wrestling coach before the climbing career.

Where does this timeline of Erik Weihenmayer's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Erik Weihenmayer isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Erik Weihenmayer, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Time magazine cover story on the first blind ascent of Everest, 2001.
No Barriers, organisation records, founded 2005.