Historical 9/11 Paradox Sports memorial Yosemite Climb-----------
For sure this was one of the most memorable and inspirational trips that I have ever been a part of. To come together on such a historic day with a group of passionate and amazingly heroic individuals was an honor beyond what I had previously thought possible.
Timmy O’Neil asked me if I could come to Yosemite Valley to help Paradox Sports and a group of 30 disabled vets summit some of the most iconic formations in honor of 9/11, though my schedule was completely packed, it took me only a few seconds to make up my mind. “Yes” I heard myself say. Already knowing that this was an opportunity not to miss I leapt on the idea like a fox pouncing on a field mouse- leaping high in the air and landing square on the idea. This was going to be amazing, I could already tell.
Two weeks after talking with Timmy I found myself driving through the famous tunnel on highway 41, where you get the most spectacular view of Yosemite Valley. I once again (for perhaps over the hundredth time) lost my breath. El Captain looming in the foreground with leaning tower, Bridal Veil Falls and Half Dome standing along side. How could you not love this place that is full of so much beauty and grandeur. Yosemite is a place that I have visited many times on my climbing circuit and yet I never grow tired of these amazingly inspiring walls, waterfalls, giant trees and lush green meadows. I was already getting psyched to share my love of this place and my passions of climbing with the War Vets that I was about to meet.
I pulled into the campground and was soon greeted by old and new faces, all eager to be in Yosemite and psyched to get out on the rocks and trails of the valley. We racked up the next morning and headed up to glacier point apron, where we set up top ropes for a small group of the early arrivals. It was soon apparent to me that these guys were not in fact truly “disabeled” in the sense of the word-as Steve Baskis,
who lost his eyesight in a bomb blast in Iraq, made his way through the talus to the base of the climbing area with only the guidance of a bell rung by someone in front of him and trekking poles to keep him upright. He nearly kept as good of time as all of us with our two good eyes intact. Turns out he could climb as well as anyone too, fully adapted to his “disability”.
As we sat at the base of the climbs, D.J. Skelton, one of the founding members of Paradox Sports, war hero and honestly awesome guy, popped his glass eyeball out and shows me his eye socket, saying “I bet you never have seen inside someone’s head before”. He claims he was lucky that the shrapnel that hit him from behind made a clean hole all the way through his head, knocking his eyeball straight out. Otherwise, if it’s not clean, it is hard to get a glass eye to fit properly, so in a fact he was lucky, though getting your eye blown out of your head doesn’t necessarily make one think of luck. But D.J. is no ordinary man, Esquire named him one of their “Patriots of the Year.” After he came back to service as the most injured soldier to return to combat command. When he took off his shirt to climb I saw why he got that title, it looked as if he had been tortured in an array of ways, scars emblazed across his flesh. But as he grabbed the rack and set out leading, you would never know that he has any sort of disability as he moved smoothly up the rock, obviously not a novice at the sport.
Paradox teamed up with Yosemite National Park to put this event into motion. For me, besides rescuing people while on SAR, being in the valley never has felt this important. The park service went above and beyond in their greetings of these war veterans and the Paradox crew with ceremonies, a big welcome dinner, free camping and lots of support. It was really awesome to see climbers and park officials working together on a common goal with such combined compassion. Through this event Paradox/Timmy are helping to create a much needed bridge between the world of climbers and park service much like what Ken Yager is establishing through the Yosemite Climbing Association and the Yosemite Face lift.
The following day was the big summit day and we split the near 30 participants up into groups. Most of the group would climb either the cables route or snake dike on Half Dome. I was to go with two of the more proficient climbers up the East Buttress of El Cap and yet another small group was already on the Zodiac on El Cap, working on the first all Veteran Team to ascend a big wall on El Capitan.
Paradox Sports athlete Pete Davis, U.S. military veteran Timpson Smith and I headed up in the morning to the base of El Capitain.
Super psyched to get on that wall and climb as part of this historic ascent day. It was extraordinary to be up on El Cap with these guys.I had an awesome day on the East Buttress and climbing with these guys was nothing less than inspiring and awesome for sure. At the top of El Cap we ran into Chad Jukes Skiy Detray and Mike Kirbywho who had just topped out Zodiac, making the first all vet ascent of El Cap.
It was not surprising to me that we had a 100% success rate, that these people, that are tough as nails made their way to the top of El Cap and Half dome on Sept 11th, 2013. Super proud and determined, I would hardly call them disabled, but rather the most able bodied, and inspiring group that I have had the pleasure to work with.
