I love stories of people and places beyond the norm. The latest issue of the Alpine Club of Canada newsletter held just such a gem. Pippa Blake was a dreamer, always saying that one day, she’d hike into Everest’s Base Camp, but she never got around to it. And then fate stepped in the way and multiple sclerosis changed the direction of her life. It didn’t stop her dreams though and finally her two sons decided it was time to get serious and turn thoughts into reality.

But there are some places power chairs just won’t go – like Base Camp for example – so the first major obstacle was finding and funding the vehicle that would take Pippa where she wanted to go. The group started an organization called Rise Above Barriers to plan and carry out the trip that would take Pippa and her crew from Lukla to Base Camp (normally a minimum 16-day round trip with close to 3000 metres of elevation gain).

The objective of Rise Above Barriers was to map out blueprints for this journey that others could use in the future, to raise funds to purchase a “TrailRider” (which would be donated to another organization whose goals include facilitating active lifestyles for people with disabilities after Pippa’s trip was complete), to raise awareness about accessibility issues, and to motivate other people to surmount seemingly insurmountable roadblocks.

The TrailRider (developed through the creative brainstorming and direction of British Columbia Mobility Opportunities Society’s founder Sam Sullivan) has a single wheel, like a wheelbarrow. A padded seat and back with armrests is in middle and there are handles front and back for “push me, pull me” effect. After a few trial runs to work out the kinks the team was ready. On November 2, 2007 the team started the trek from Lukla. Twelve days later, Pippa saw her dream come true when she rolled into Base Camp.

For people living with disabilities, opportunities to pack up and head out into the wild blue yonder are few and far between – but when they do happen, the experience touches the soul and reminds us all to dream big!

Other Stellar Adventures
Firefighter and adventurer Eric Bjarnason helped plan quadriplegic Jim Milina’s expedition to climb up and over Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa in 2002 (see CORD Climbs). In 2008 Bjarnason will be leading several clients in their own bids for Base Camp (find out more about these trips at the website, Courage to Carry On).