On Saturday 16th August 2008, Darol Kubacz achieved his dream of becoming the first paraplegic to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro purely under his own power. Reaching 18,400ft, Darol completed the grueling climb in 10 days and sat higher than any other paraplegic has climbed without help.
The new course is the toughest in the history of the event, with an overall climb of over 16,000ft, organisers are keen to ensure participants have prepared adequately for the world's toughest wheelchair and handcycle race. A list of qualifying events is due to be released by the start of November, with upcoming events in both the USA and Europe counting towards qualification.
When Mike Spindle set out to design a new type of wheelchair he didn't play by the same old boring design rules, he made his own and the result was the excellent Trekinetic K2 all-terrain wheelchair. We've talked about the trekinetic before, and it made the #5 spot in our list of the best manual off-road wheelchairs, if you didn't already know, it looks pretty sweet too:
So all of you lucky people with a shiny new iPhone now have a whole new way to keep up-to-date with stuff here at PushingTheLimits.
Just pick up your iPhone and head to www.pushingthelimits.com the same as you normally would and be greeted by our iPhone specific version of the site for easy and fast browsing [...]
Free2Wheel is an excellent website dedicated to providing travel guides and reviews of wheelchair access in India for people planning trips to the region.
Hilary Lister, the female sailor attempting to conduct the first solo circumnavigation of the UK by a quadriplegic, has been forced to cancel the challenge after 53 days at sea. Plagued by horrendous weather, problems with her boat's keel and water damage to her specialist control equipment, Hilary is determined to complete the challenge and has vowed to return next year.
Challenge Alaska, organisers of the famed Sadler's Alaska Challenge are getting set to make an announcement about the 2009 extra special 25th Anniversary race known for being the world's hardest wheelchair and handcycle race.
Darol Kubacz is back on Kilimanjaro with his Freedom For Life team having launched another attempt to become the first paraplegic to make it to the summit of Africa's highest mountain. 2 years ago, during his first summit bid, Darol was forced to turn back with 'just' 3,000ft to go when he developed pulmanory edema (altitude sickness) and came close to death, he's spent these last two years training and preparing for another attempt and started out from the base on 7th August.
It can be frustrating being in a wheelchair, obviously there's the whole problem with changing light-bulbs and other minor difficulties that come with being in a wheelchair, but one of the biggest hurdles is actually finding activities and sports that are accessible.
Made almost completely from spare bike parts, and even some old pieces of wood, the wheelchair is designed to try and conquer the two main hurdles for mobility in Africa and other developing nations; rough terrain and cost.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
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