polarwid
Jun 6, 2002, 6:48 PM
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Found this in today's ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS dated 6 JUN 2002---
KASILOF
Paraplegic mountain climber conquers yet another peak
Keegan Reilly of Kasilof, a paraplegic who last summer climbed 14,443-foot Mount Elbert in Colorado, has scaled another mountain. On June 1, he was part a team of four paraplegics to summit 14,162-foot Mount Shasta.
It was the first time this stormy, steep northern California mountain has been conquered by paraplegics.
The four climbers assisted by a 20-person support crew took six days to reach the summit, riding hand-cranked track vehicles with snowmachine treads called SnowPods that were designed by the team's leader, Peter Rieke. Rieke was the first paraplegic climber to summit Washington's Mount Rainier in 2000.
Reilly, 21, is a computer science student at Oregon State University.
"This was the biggest organized paraplegic climb ever," he said. "It was a really exciting thing getting a group of people together who had the heart and willpower to get up there. You're breaking wall after wall after wall.
"Your arms get so tired you don't think you can ever move again."
Other climbers were Muffy Davis, a four-time paralympic medalist in Alpine skiing, and Mark Wellman, a professional paraplegic climber who has ascended Yosemite's El Capitan and Half Dome.
This climb was tougher than Mount Elbert for multiple reasons, Reilly said. It was in snow. And the snow was so soft during the day that it often forced the team to climb at night so their SnowPods wouldn't sink too deep. The team withstood one of the worst electrical storms to hit Mount Shasta in years. Camping sites were limited, and they had to pitch tents directly below a rock face that sent rock falls tumbling down around them all night, Reilly said.
The climbers have their sights set next on Japan's Mount Fuji.
More information on the climb is available on the Internet. Go to myweb.ecomplanet.com/REIL1613.
-- Anchorage Daily News
[ This Message was edited by: polarwid on 2002-06-06 11:49 ]
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