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Update #1: Altitude

Posted on August 26, 2009

Altitude will provide one of my biggest challenges on Kilimanjaro. We called our project One Revolution because that was my equivalent of most hikers at altitude. For the hikers, it’s literally one step, catch your breath, take another step. For me, instead of one step, it’s one revolution of the cranks. I also have to admit that the name seemed kind of poetic in that something so small as one revolution could lead to the top of the mountain—and that we’re looking to create change, thus our One Revolution.

I don’t know how my body will react at 19,000 feet. I do know that I will be working really hard. In an effort to mitigate some of the altitude effects, I’ve been training with my expedition manager, Dave Penney, in his hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado, 9000 feet in town and 14,000 foot mountains out the back door. Hopefully, training in Crested Butte will minimize the effects of altitude as I climb Kili.

I will be back in Crested Butte starting on Monday and will compete in the Off-Road Handcycling World Championships there over Labor Day Weekend. I’ve trained a lot, but have little experience with other off-road handcyclists. I’m intrigued to see where I sit, and to learn from the other competitors. The Championships should be a fun event and a good test of my preparation before I leave for Kilimanjaro.

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This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on September 15, 2009.

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Sponsor Chris's Revolutions as he climbs up Kilimanjaro. One Revolution per dollar. You will get updates prior to the climb and periodic updates from the mountain during the attempt.

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50 Revolutions. Along with the updates, you will be given a link and password to the press site where you will be able to track Chris’s progress in real time on a Google satellite map.

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100 Revolutions. Along with the updates and tracking, you and a guest will join Chris at one of the post-Kilimanjaro celebrations in New York or Park City. If you can't make it, donate the tickets to a good cause.

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Sponsor Chris's final revolution at the top of Kilimanjaro and get credit in the film as a major sponsor!

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Chris broke his back in a skiing accident on December 20, 1988 while a member of the Middlebury College ski team. He was 20 years old. After two months in the hospital he returned to Middlebury for the spring semester. Three days short of the accident's first anniversary, he started to ski in a monoski--okay, ski might be a bit of a stretch, he started to fall down in a monoski. Within two years, he was named to the US Disabled Ski Team.

During his career he won more Paralmypic skiing medals (12) than any man in history. In 1994, he swept all four (slalom, giant slalom, super G, and downhill) events at the Paralympics in Lillehammer, Norway. In all, Chris competed in four winter Paralympics (Albertville, Lillehammer, Nagano, and Salt Lake City), yet he was also part of a select handful who competed in both the winter and summer Games, where he competed in three Paralympics (Atlanta, Sydney, and Athens). He won a silver medal in the 200 meters wheelchair racing in Sydney, and also won the 200 meters at the World Championships in Birmingham, England, joining a very elite group to win World Championships in a summer and winter sport.

In addition to his competition, Chris co-founded the Sarah Will and Chris Waddell Instructional Monoski Camp, which provided the starting ground for many future members of the US Disabled Ski Team, and others who just wanted to enjoy the sport more. He graduated from Middlebury with a degree in International Politics and Economics, acted in the soap opera "Loving," and was one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 1998. He moved to Park City prior to the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and Paralymics, though he grew up in Massachusetts.