“Everyone faces the world

with different abilities and disabilities, but we all have one goal

in common … to break through our own barriers.”

—-Mark Wellman, extreme athlete

Extreme athlete to describe his

adventures

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-Extreme athlete Mark

Wellman-the first person with a disability to climb El Capitan and

Half Dome in Yosemite National Park-will give a talk titled “Beyond

the Barriers” on Friday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Middlebury

College. A parapalegic as a result of a life-threatening climbing

accident, he is also the first disabled person to sit-ski, using only

his arms, across the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range unassisted. The

event, which will include video and a slide presentation, will take

place in Room 216 of Bicentennial Hall on Bicentennial Way off

College Street (Route 125). Admission is free.

The talk by Wellman, a Middlebury

College Twilight Lecturer, will include a discussion of his struggle

to regain his spirit and strength, and to realize that adversity

offered him an opportunity for a new beginning.

Wellman lives and trains in Truckee,

Cal., where he owns and operates a business called No Limits,

offering various types of adaptive climbing gear that he has

developed with the help of equipment experts. He has also instructed

and assisted in many climbing seminars throughout the

country.

This event is co-sponsored by several

Middlebury College offices and departments-the Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA) office, the office for institutional

diversity, the department of athletics, and student residential

organizations Wonnacott and Atwater Commons. For more information,

contact the Middlebury College ADA office at 802-443-5936.

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