Blind adventurer climbs awesome peak
February 26, 2003 Edition -1
A Pretoria businessman has became the first blind South African, and one of few South Africans, to summit the 6 962m Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain outside the Himalayas.
"It's purely a physical challenge. It's a bit like doing the Comrades (marathon) to see if you can do it," Neville Clarence (42) said yesterday.
His sighted business partner, Lance de Willers (33), accompanied Clarence, and they summited Aconcagua on Valentine's Day.
Clarence, who lost his eyesight in Pretoria's Church Street car bomb explosion in 1983, has climbed Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, three times and is planning to attempt the world's highest mountain, Everest (8 846m), as soon as he is able to secure sponsorship, De Willers said.
The two-week expedition began with a three-day walk-in to Plaza Argentina, a 4 200m base camp. Then followed a series of "carry" and "move" days to camps one, two and three. Finally, the team waited for a window in the weather to push for the summit.
Clarence and De Willers have a mountaineering relationship that Clarence describes as "intense and accurate".
They climb with Clarence holding on to a handle tied to De Willers' backpack.
"It's intense. You have to concentrate all the time. Obviously you can't always talk, so I have to follow his instructions to the letter."
The pair "topped out" shortly after 4pm on February 14, after setting out from camp 12 hours earlier.
"Reaching the summit is only half the battle won," Clarence pointed out.
"The descent back to camp three took a further exhausting six hours. I was both physically and mentally wasted. Already on the ascent I was falling asleep on my feet."
The pair are back in SA to resume running their company, which sells computer software and hardware for the blind and sight-impaired. - Sapa
