insight
arms or legs. And I had that experience, too, when I was a kid, barely able to see and pressing my face up against the TV screen to watch single-leg amputee Terry Fox run across Canada. So we all have people who inspire us and push us on, and
then we in turn push others. I love the idea that I’m open- ing doors and nudging people forward through what I do.
Which is what you’re doing through No Barriers. (Erik’s organization runs a variety of outdoor challenge programs, including “Soldiers to Summits” for wounded veterans.) Yes. The idea is to help people tap into the human spirit to break through barriers. Our motto is, “What’s within you is stronger than what’s in your way.” When you encounter adversity, at some point you realize that you have a choice: either you let that brick wall stop you in your tracks and crush you, or you use it to be a better person, to be stron- ger, to have more courage, to understand how to rope up with good people and collaborate in your life, how to in- novate your way through problems. The outdoors have this amazing therapeutic ability to help people to find peace, to find meaning, to find joy again. The outdoors can be the greatest laboratory, the greatest classroom that we have on Earth.
Do you find that nature’s been a classroom for your own children? I think nature has a lot to teach us because it makes us feel like we’re part of something important and beautiful— we’re maybe not the most important part of the natural landscape, but we are part of it. What brings me the most joy is to see my family out in
the forest, and my son Arjun is skipping stones across a pond and my daughter Emma is running around catch- ing tadpoles and comparing their sizes—they’re just never bored. Nature leads them to all the things that I want them to have in their lives. I want them to have imagina- tion. I want them to have curiosity. I want them to be able to problem-solve and figure out how to do the things that they want to do.
But a lot of kids don’t get that privilege. I think as open space starts to get more scarce, kids are growing up in cities where they don’t experience the outdoors. Even kids in our neighborhood—we’ll invite them into the outdoors where 32 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Erik with his children, Arjun and Emma, and guide dog, Uri.
we’re enjoying ourselves and running around and playing, and they’ll be sitting on a rock, thinking, “What do I do? I don’t know what to do.” So it’s sort of a cultural thing that I fear that we’re losing as a nation.
What can we do to counteract that loss? Well, it’s one thing to have this rugged wilderness half- way around the world in the Himalayas, but I think it’s so important to have open space within walking distance of where you live, of your community. Every child should be able to get to a park—some beautiful stand of trees or a little creek to play and explore, to use imagination and become the leaders they’re meant to be.
Is there a place like that that’s made a difference in your life? When I was training for Everest there was a beautiful little peak called Chief Mountain behind our house. My daughter was a little baby at the time and I would climb it with her in my backpack. I’ve climbed that mountain in the howling wind and cold and on beautiful summer days when you could take your shirt off and sunbathe at the summit. When you ask me what the most beautiful mountain is, sure, Everest and Carstensz Pyramid and McKinley, they’re great, but Chief Mountain—that’s the ticket, because I’ve stood on that summit 20 or 30 times with my family. Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet, but it’s more of a symbol. I like to see people out on a trail for the first time, or riding a bike, or taking a group of neighborhood kids up a hill behind their house. I think Everest comes in all shapes and forms. I encourage people to get out and go for their own Everest, whatever that may be.
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