Blind Adventurer, Erik Weihenmayer    [27-12-2013] Erik Weihenmayer (1968-) is the world’s first blind adventurer to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. He lost his sight at the age of 13. However, he didn’t want to be defeated by the harsh environment. He wanted to be stronger. Erik decided to scale the highest peaks of six continents. To achieve his goal, he tried his best. Above all, he didn’t want to burden his colleagues because he is blind. So, he never stopped practicing for the challenge. For example, Erik repeatedly built tents while wearing thick gloves on his hands. He also went up the highest building in his neighborhood with 30 kg bags on his shoulders every day. After the thorough preparation, he took on the challenges to climb Mount McKinley in Alaska, the United States, Aconcagua Mt. in South America and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. After successfully scaling those mountains, he finally succeeded in climbing Mount Everest in 2001. “I would say that there is a very blurry line between the things we can’t do and the things that we can. I think that it is everyone’s obligation they owe to themselves and to their lives to figure out their own way up their own mountain,” Erik said in an interview. Staff reporter Kayla Park (suhihi00@timescore.co.kr)     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)