SUMMIT! TEAM EVEREST '03 MAKES HISTORY
American Mountaineer Gary Guller is first person with one arm
to reach summit of Mt. Everest
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Dennis Borel, Project Director
(512) 478-3366 M-F days
(512) 431-1656 or (512) 443-6038 other times
E-mail: dborel@cotwd.org
KATHMANDU, NEPAL May 23, 2003
At 12:15 PM Nepal Time, May 23 (1:00 AM, May 22, CST in the US),
mountaineer Gary Guller made history when he became the first person
with one arm to stand upon the world's highest peak.
At 7 PM the night before, Guller along with Team Everest Summit
Team members Gary Scott, Nima Dawa Sherpa, Namgya Sherpa, Da Nima
Sherpa, Pem Tenji Sherpa began their climb from Camp Four at 26,000ft
to the 29,035ft summit of Mt. Everest. Seventeen grueling hours
after they began, the team lead by Guller, who lost an arm in a
climbing accident 14 years ago, reached the peak.
Co-Expedition Leader Gary Scott of Colorado Springs, Co., was
forced to turn back before reaching the peak because he was climbing
without using supplemental oxygen and felt too weak to continue
safely without it.
The team made this incredible journey to prove to the world that
the potential of people with disabilities is unlimited. On April
6, Guller and Team Everest made history as its Challenge Trek Team
became the largest cross-disability group to reach Everest Base
Camp at 17,500 feet. Whereas only one in ten able bodied trekkers
reach Base Camp, eight of the 14 trekkers with disabilities made
it, including four using wheelchairs. International and national
media reported on this phenomenal achievement.
The team has been on the mountain over 60 days now. Harsh conditions
marked the climb, and risks faced them at almost every turn: the
yawning crevasses of the Khumbu Icefall, which the climbers crossed
upon ladders strung together with rope, below freezing temperatures
and high winds which racked the mountain nonstop, all while potentially
deadly avalanches rocked the mountain.
During this, the 50th anniversary of the first successful Everest
summit, some climbing teams were forced to give up their attempts
to summit due to weather and health related issues. Last week, Guller
and the team found Camps Three and Four completely devastated by
severe windstorms. This, combined with another dose of severe weather,
forced them to turn back, aborting their initial summit push. Despite
numerous setbacks on the mountain, Team Everest '03 remained positive
and upbeat, working together as a team, and stayed focused on the
goal of making history and changing misconceptions regarding the
capabilities of people with disabilities.
Says Guller, "This expedition is proud to support the dreams
of all people, regardless of their ability or their disability.
The freedom to explore and to fulfill goals should be enjoyed by
every single person in the world."
Back in the states, Guller's partner organization, the nonprofit
Coalition of Texans with Disabilities CTD, is still working hard
to make Team Everest '03 a success. CTD kicked off this dramatic
history making campaign in January 2002, in an effort to raise public
awareness and funds for disability related advocacy.
According to project director Dennis Borel, Team Everest '03 continues
to seek funds, about $800,000, to achieve the advocacy and public
awareness goals set by the team. "Between a crashed economy,
terrorism and war, fundraising was extremely difficult. We were
able to raise the minimum amount of money it would take to get our
message to Everest. We are now counting on the generosity of those
who have been inspired by our purpose and efforts to help us tell
the story of this remarkable achievement and change attitudes and
policies towards people with disabilities."
CTD and Team Everest '03 will host a Welcome Home party for Guller
on Thursday, June 5 from 7:00 - 10:00pm at Mother Egan's Irish Pub,
715 W. 6th St. in Austin, TX. The public is welcome to attend. Children
get in for free; all others please make your tax deductible donation
of fifteen dollars at the door.
For more information about Team Everest '03, the Coalition of
Texans with Disabilities, or Gary Guller, please contact Dennis
Borel, M-F days at (512) 478-3366, other times at 512/431-1656 or
512/443-6038. E-mail: dborel@cotwd.org
Team Everest '03 is a benefit for The Coalition of Texans with
Disabilities (CTD), a non-profit organization based in Austin, Texas.
Team Everest '03 Contact:
Dennis Borel, Project Director
(512) 478-3366 M-F days
(512) 431-1656 or (512) 443-6038 other times
E-mail: dborel@cotwd.org
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