Blind Kayaker Prepping for Colorado River
By Rocky Thompson on November 13th, 2012
Photo by Rob Raker
You might know adventurer Erik Weihenmayer as “the blind guy who climbed Mount Everest,” but did you also know that he’s an ice climber, hang glider, and skydiver? And we’re not talking that skydiving where you’re strapped to someone’s chest; he goes solo, putting his faith in instruments. Now he’s prepping for what could be his most ambitious expedition yet: running the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in a kayak. He’s trying to sort out the rapids by feeling what’s under his boat and his paddle and listening to the roar of the river, which he describes as “sensory overload.” Sounds daunting. He also paddles with a coach who shouts out direction from behind, which worked well in slow-moving rapids but proved untenable once the duo made it into a class IV while training.
Tags: grand canyon, Kayaking, paddling