One Revolution--The first unassisted paraplegic to summit Mt Kilimanjaro
A Documentary project by Christopher Waddell ·
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Update #2: Emerging from the rainforest
Posted on September 1, 2009
When I qualified for my first Paralympics in 1992, I had this amazing sense of liberation. I wasn’t supposed to make the team. My coach had prepared me for the disappointment from the very first day of the season, but I somehow squeaked onto the squad, and when I squeaked on I felt like all the work was done. Making the team was the hard part. The Games were time to enjoy the fruits of my labors. It was the most free I’d ever felt at a ski race. I wasn’t bound by expectations or worry. I won silver medals in both of my races, the slalom and GS, beating many athletes I’d never beaten.
What does 1992 have to do with climbing Kilimanjaro? It has everything to do with it. Throughout this project, I’ve felt like we could only be successful if I could make it to the summit. The summit is our goal and, it’s not our goal. We want to create change. We want the world to see people with disabilities. We want to create a voice that can be heard. And we want to achieve integration. We have grand plans beyond the climb, but I often felt that they were tenuous. At many junctures, it seemed that the fabric of the climb, the film, the wheelchair and handcycle donation, and our educational program could unravel in an instant.
Like those first Games in 1992, I can’t change what I’ve done to this point and I can’t transform myself in the few weeks that remain, and I can’t really worry anymore. A friend likened my present state to my ascent of the mountain. All the preparation—all the struggle—all the proverbial mountains that we’ve climbed—they were the rain forest—the first day of the climb. Now, I’m emerging from the rainforest and I can see the peak for the first time. She said she envisioned me getting lighter and lighter as I climbed to the peak. I can understand her vision. As we approach the actual climb, I feel far more relaxed. Obviously, I’m shooting for the top, but there’s joy in knowing that I can never be completely prepared. That joy means that I’ll need to get the best from what I have and it usually leads to great results.
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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.
