Erik Weihenmayer
World-Class Blind Adventurer
- First blind person in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest
- ESPY winner who’s appeared on the Today Show, Oprah, Good Morning America, Nightline, and the Tonight Show
- Shares what it means to live—and how to create—a “No Barriers” life
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Erik Weihenmayer's 2025 biography
Meet Erik Weihenmayer
Erik Weihenmayer is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world.
Despite losing his vision at age 14, he is an accomplished climber, paraglider, skier, and kayaker who never allows blindness interfere with his passion for pursuing an exhilarating and fulfilling life. Erik brings audiences a powerful message about harnessing the power of adversity as fuel for greatness, emphasizing the importance of building a strong “Rope Team,” and illuminating how to develop a “No Barriers Mindset.” Erik’s talks resonate with diverse audiences from graduating college students to large sales teams to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Erik’s speaking career has taken him around the globe from the 2005 APEC Summit in Chile to the 2009 Presidential Inaugural celebration in Washington, DC. Erik speaks to major companies in London, Dublin, Moscow, Berlin, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Abu Dhabi, as well as across the United States. Previously, he shared speaking platforms with luminaries such as Secretary Colin Powell, President Bill Clinton, and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Pioneering Adventurer. In 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In 2008, he completed his quest to climb the Seven Summits—the highest mountain on each continent. Additionally, he has ascended dozens of major peaks, rock walls, and ice climbs around the planet including the first blind ascent of the 3,000-foot Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite and an ascent of a rarely climbed 3,000-foot frozen waterfall in Nepal. In 2003, Erik competed in Primal Quest, among the toughest adventure races in the world: 457 miles, nine days, 60,000 feet of elevation gain, and no time-outs. Averaging only two hours of sleep a night, Erik’s team was one of 42 to cross the finish line out of the 80 elite teams that started. In 2006, Erik created the Adventure Team Challenge, a first-of-its-kind adventure race in which teams of disabled and non-disabled athletes compete; his team won five years in a row. In 2010, he completed the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, with elevations all above 10,000 feet, on a tandem bike, once again becoming the first blind person to complete a world-class competition. And in 2011, Erik’s Team No Limits raced across the deserts and mountains of Morocco for a month, finishing in second place on the ABC reality show, Expedition Impossible.
In September 2014, Erik and blinded US Navy veteran, Lonnie Bedwell, kayaked the entire 277-miles of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River, considered one of the most formidable whitewater venues in the world.
Celebrated Author. In addition to being a renowned adventurer and speaker, Erik is also the author of the book, Touch the Top of the World, which has been published in 12 languages. The book was made into an A&E movie and released on DVD by Sony. Erik’s second book, The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles Into Everyday Greatness, shares hard-earned lessons and practical advice for using adversity as fuel for growth and innovation. His latest book, No Barriers: A Blind Man’s Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon, was released in February 2017.
Recognition, Media, & Films. Erik’s adventures have earned him dozens of awards including an ESPY, Nike’s Casey Martin Award, and the Helen Keller Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a frequent television guest who has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, Oprah, Good Morning America, Nightline, and the Tonight Show. He was featured on the cover of TIME magazine, among others, and has also carried torches for both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Farther Than the Eye Can See, the documentary of his Everest ascent, is ranked by Men’s Journal as one of the top 20 adventure films of all time. The film won first prize at 21 international film festivals and was nominated for two Emmy awards. In 2004, Erik and six Everest team members trained a group of blind Tibetan students and then led them to 21,500 feet on the north side of Everest. Blindsight, the documentary of the ascent, won People’s Choice Awards at the Los Angeles, London, and Berlin Film Festivals, and was released in theaters in 2007 to major accolades from film critics. Erik has been featured in the 2012 award-winning film High Ground, and most recently the 2019 award-winning and compelling film The Weight of Water.
Humanitarian Outreach. In 2005, Erik co-founded No Barriers USA, a non-profit organization that helps people of diverse abilities develop a No Barriers Mindset – to attack challenges head on, problem solve, build winning teams, and serve others. The signature event is the annual No Barriers Summit, bringing together technology, innovation, and adventure to engage attendees to tap into the human spirit, break through personal barriers, and create community and global breakthroughs.
In 2010, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Everest climb, Erik and his team created No Barriers Warriors, a No Barriers program, to help veterans reclaim their lives by leading and serving again.
Erik Weihenmayer's 2025 talks & topics
The “No Barriers Life.”
Through Erik’s groundbreaking adventures around the world, he has explored and defined what it means to live a “No Barriers Life,” describing it as a map we build to navigate and to pursue a life that matters. Central to this journey is a mindset to continually challenge ourselves to grow and evolve – in Erik’s words, to “climb” while others “camp.” Erik describes the key components for shattering barriers and pioneering possibilities, which start with a powerful “Vision” to guide us and a “Reach into the darkness.” By relentlessly innovating new systems and approaches along the way, we “Pioneer” our way to solutions. As a blind adventurer who has climbed Mt. Everest and kayaked the Grand Canyon, Erik understands better than most that barriers are real, not merely perceived, and that obstacles encountered can either stop us in our tracks, or we can figure out a way to harness them and propel ourselves to new places that we would never experience. Erik calls this “Alchemy,” the process of turning lead into gold. “With an alchemist,” he says, “you can throw them in the midst of a fierce competitive environment, strip away their resources, throw roadblocks in front of them, and they’ll still find a way to win – not despite adversity, but because of it.” This journey cannot happen alone. By building a great “Rope Team” that shares our vision we become stronger. The gifts we earn along our journey represent our personal “Summits,” but it is only when we share these gifts with others that we “Elevate” our communities as well as ourselves.
Erik will take audiences on a journey to discover the tools and insights to develop what he calls the “No Barriers Mindset” – the elements it takes for individuals, teams, and organizations to turn into the storm, convert challenges into greatness, and reach for nearly impossible goals.
Shattering Expectations.
Erik Weihenmayer inspires audiences to have the vision to dream big, the courage to reach for near impossible goals, and the grit, determination, and ingenuity to transform their lives into something extraordinary. Weihenmayer’s daring adventures have shattered people’s perceptions all over the world about what is humanly possible. As a blind mountain climber, he has faced one of the most arduous tasks man can attempt, with a unique impediment that turned out to be a special gift. He defines vision as “an internal compass guiding us through the storm,” and gives new poignancy to the concept of seeing.
The Only Way To Cross a Glacier Is With a Rope Team.
Erik Weihenmayer speaks with authority on the subject of teamwork. His Mt. Everest expedition holds a world record for the most people from one team to stand atop Everest’s peak in a single day. The key to pursuing his endeavors has been his superb ability to combine his strengths and talents with those of the people around him. He speaks to the importance of working as a team. “People might have different responsibilities, different goals, even motives, but you link together behind one vision and the scope and power of that kind of team is unstoppable.”
On Innovation: How to Pioneer New Possibilities.
When Erik Weihenmayer realized he’d have trouble hearing teammates call out the timing for important turns while kayaking, he developed a submersible, open mic radio. When he needed assistance to predict an impending landing while paragliding, he designed and built a unique bell-and-rope system. Weinhenmayer doesn’t see himself as a risk taker, but as a problem solver and above all, an innovator.
He is motivated by a sense of discovery to develop new strategies to make the world, and his adventures within it, safer, more efficient, and more productive. With this talk, he speaks passionately and memorably about finding creative ways to cross the blurry lines between what detractors view as impossible, and what we believe to be possible in our hearts.
Leading in the Dark.
Erik Weihenmayer describes the time he and his partner, a much better climber, were caught on a dangerous rock face at nightfall and without working headlamps. In spite of his fear, Weihenmayer knew this was his time to lead his friend down to safety. He believes the most important aspect of leadership is how we pass it on to others. “Leadership is contagious,” he says, “We pass it from body to body, from life to life, and we give all the people around us the courage to do great things.”
Teamwork – The Only Way To Cross A Glacier Is On A Rope Team
Erik speaks with authority on the subject of teamwork, since often the key to his endeavors has been his superb ability to combine his strengths and talents with those of people around him. “Imagine everyone connected by a giant rope, helping each other, compensating for individual weaknesses, using everyone’s abilities to the fullest. We’d be an unstoppable force.”
While there are some things he cannot do on a climb, Erik refuses to be the token blind guy. In fact, he works hard to pull at least his share of the weight, wanting his own contributions to far outweigh any accommodations made for him.
Diversity – Team Up With Differences
Erik inspires audiences to make our differences a source of strength. His daring adventures have shattered the perceptions of people all over the world about what is possible in our lifetimes.
He has learned that by embracing our own uniqueness as well as the diversity of others, we can tap into the hidden potential which lies in all of us. He tells about scaling Utah’s famous Fisher Tower, a spiral rock formation, with a paraplegic and a double leg amputee as his team members. None of the climbers could have made the ascent individually; but, using their differences as strengths, they finally stood on the top, together and triumphant.
Risk Taking – Dare To Fail
Erik’s many dramatic successes have not come without his share of failures. Since Erik sets tough goals for himself (most of his adventures have never even been attempted by another blind person), he knows he will fail as often as he succeeds… at first, but he’s learned a critical lesson: that failure is simply a part of success. “Success is not just the crowning moment, the spiking of the ball in the end zone or the raising of the flag on the summit.
It is the whole process of reaching for a goal and, sometimes, it begins with failure.” When Erik does fail, he says it rarely is the result of his lack of ability; but is more likely because he just hasn’t quite figured out the “system” which will work for him. Too often, he says, we are paralyzed by fear, so we play it safe … and never reach out.
Follow Your Bliss
Someone once told Erik he needed to recognize his limitations, but he’s found it much more fun to realize his potential. At 16, he climbed his first rock face. Sitting on the ledge well above the treeline, he could feel the texture of the rocks under his hands and the warm sun on his face -and the sense of openness all around him. And it was then that he knew he would never drive a car in the Indy 500 or catch a ball in the World Series — but he could climb mountains.
He had found his “bliss.””Follow your bliss. Follow it down dead-end alleys to dramatic blunders, follow it to unseen places and to people who are different from us, follow it beyond people’s expectations of us and even beyond our own …. because, if we are true to our bliss, it will lead us to a lifetime of great adventure and happiness.”