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http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2006/07/16/news/top_story/aclimber.txt
Four thousand, eight hundred and twenty feet.
That’s how close Miriam Richards recently stood from the top of the highest mountain in North America, the pinnacle of a dream that started nine years ago.
Richards has been pursuing highpointing, climbing the highest mountain in all 50 states, a feat only a few hundred people are known to have accomplished. Richards was hoping not only to add her name to this list, but also to become the first deaf person to highpoint.
On May 25, Richards circled Alaska’s Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, in a single-engine plane.
“It’s so beautiful. There are mountains everywhere. You feel so small,” Richards said through her friend and interpreter Hilary White.
She’d already climbed the other 49 highpoints. Below her was the only mountain left.
Since she started climbing mountains in 1995, the Corvallis woman has weathered setbacks. It took three tries to reach the top of Mount Rainier.
She’s been hospitalized with symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a progressive degenerative disease that attacks the central nervous system. She was diagnosed in 2003.
And an ice cliff on Mount Hood once gave way beneath her. She survived the 600-foot fall that left her body broken, but not her spirit.
Only half the people who attempt to climb Denali make it all the way to its 20,320-foot peak.
Could she withstand the sub-zero temperatures, the 50-mph wind and the 60-degree slopes?
As she looked at the mountain, Richards felt more ready than ever to try.
Determination
Richards, 41, was born deaf. A native of Canada, she came to Corvallis in 1995 as a graduate student to study forestry, political science and
sociology at Oregon State University. She earned a master’s degree in 1998 and has lived here since.
She is an instructor at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, where she teaches sign language.
Richards trains with White, who has accompanied her on many highpoints. The women also work seasonal jobs together to raise money for trips and climbs, and volunteer at camps for people who are deaf. White has a partial hearing loss, and she’s often the voice of her friend’s hand signs.
Richards has always maintained a positive outlook, White said.
When she gives motivational talks at deaf schools, or to civic organizations, people look up to her.
“She tells them, ‘There’s things that you don’t know you can do, but you can,’” White said. “It’s like magic when she talks to them.”
Richards taught herself how to climb with a little help from a guide. Corvallis is an active climbing community.
Being deaf, however, Richards has sometimes been ostracized by other climbers. Some guides have refused to take her, or charge her more money than hearing customers.
It took months of searching and negotiation for Richards to find a guide service that would allow a deaf woman with MS to attempt to climb Denali.
Three weeks before departing for Alaska, White and Richards were training together in Colorado to adjust to the high altitude.
White recalled thinking, “Miriam’s ready.”
“She was so strong. She was so confident.”
No. 50
Richards, with guide Kathy Cosley and two other guides from Alaska Mountaineering School, flew to a camp at 7,200 feet on Denali. That left a lot of territory for the group to cross, Richards said.
“I was surprised that we didn’t start higher,” she said.
Richards adjusted to the altitude and steepness.
But the cold was at times unbearable. They encountered some snowstorms, but when it was clear, it was frigid.
Some nights it was so cold she couldn’t sleep. In hindsight, Richards wished she had filled a bathtub with ice and practiced lying in it to prepare herself.
The cold also aggravated a persistent cough.
And it froze the injections she takes for MS.
Without her medication, the symptoms began to set in. One day, the middle of her body went completely numb.
Still, she wanted to keep going.
“I didn’t want to stop,” Richards said.
Cosley kept encouraging her.
“She said, ‘You’ve been higher than you’ve ever been on the other highpoints. Let’s go up a little bit,’” Richards recalled.
At 14,000 feet, two of the guides had gone ahead to the camp at 16,200 feet to drop off supplies.
They returned with the bad news.
The camp was on a steep ridge and there was no place to set up a tent. The only option was to go up to the next highest camp, 3,500 feet higher, a climb with more than a 50-percent grade.
To make it in one day, they would have to go fast.
Richards, still coughing, was exhausted.
“I really wanted to get to the top,” she said. “I just felt that it was impossible.”
The group climbed to 15,500, where Cosley took a picture of Richards with her highpointing flag.
When she sees the photo, she points to her face.
“That’s not really my smile,” Richards said.
But she put on a happy face, despite how she felt.
Deciding to turn back was a tough decision.
But it was the right one, she said.
Along the way, she met three women from Colorado who were all breast cancer survivors. Richards asked the women, if when they reached the summit, to say her name. They kept their word.
Richards is not alone in not reaching the top.
Denali can be dangerous and deadly, even for someone in perfect health.
Other people climbing the mountain when she was there were not so lucky. Four people had to be rescued. And two women died when they fell into a crevasse.
When she got off the mountain, White was the first person Richards called.
White gets choked up when she remembers that phone call. It didn’t matter that Richards didn’t reach the summit.
“I’m just so proud of you,” White said, wiping away tears.
Among her friends and family, no one said “fail.”
Sometimes Richards wishes she could have swapped the order of the Denali climb, so that she could have tried before she had MS. She’s finishing a book, “Highpoint of Persistence.” She wants to continue to hike and climb in less extreme climates.
As for the next adventure, she’d like to buy a house and a tractor, and settle down.
Richards has decided that she will not try to climb Denali again.
“I’ve witnessed it. I’ve touched it. I’ve been there,” she said.
Forty-nine and three-fourths is close enough.
That leaves open the door that someone else will achieve her goal to become the first deaf person to highpoint. To that, Richards responds by clapping her hands.
“I’m starting something,” she said. “I hope that others will follow.”
Reporter Rebecca Barrett can be reached at rebecca.barrett@lee.net or 758-9510.
Energizer nominee
Just like in the battery commercial, she keeps going and going. Miriam Richards, a 41-year-old Corvallis woman, is one of 10 national finalists in the Energizer battery company’s “Keep Going Hall of Fame” contest.
This spring, Richards, who was attempting to become the first deaf person to climb the highest peak in all 50 states, attempted her final highpoint, Alaska’s Denali, but had to turn back before reaching the top when she experienced symptoms of multiple sclerosis. She was diagnosed with MS in 2003.
Richards paid for the climb with loans and hopes supporters will vote online in the Energizer contest, which carries a top prize of $10,000. The contest also gives the winner’s designated charity a $5,000 donation.
Richards has selected the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind as her charity. Richards and her friend Hilary White, who nominated Richards, volunteer at retreats for people who are deaf and blind at the Seabeck, Wash., charity.
To vote in the Energizer contest, see www.energizer.com and click on the “view all promotions and sponsorships” link on the bottom left corner of the Web page. Select the “Keep Going Hall of Fame” link next to the gold coin.
More photos
To view more photos from Miriam Richard’s Denali climb, see www.cosleyhouston.com/
recent/06-06-denali.htm.
Summits
Miriam Richard’s record of summits
1. July 7, 1997 Guadalupe Peak, Texas, 8,749
2. May 22, 1999 Mount Hood, Ore. 11,239
3. July 30, 2000 Mount Whitney, Calif., 14,494
4. Aug. 19, 2000 Borah Peak, Idaho, 12,662
5. Aug. 26, 2000 Mount Sunflower, Kan., 4,039
6. Aug. 27, 2000 Mount Constable, Neb., 5,426
7. Aug. 30, 2000 Mount Elbert, Colo., 14,433
8. Oct. 1, 2000 Brasstown Bald, Ga., 4,784
9. Oct. 1, 2000 Sassafras Mountain, S.C., 3,560
10. Oct. 1, 2000 Mount Mitchell, N.C., 6,684
11. Oct. 2, 2000 Mount Rogers, Va., 5,729
12. Oct. 2, 2000 Black Mountain, Ken., 4,145
13. Oct. 3, 2000 Clingmans Dome, Tenn., 6,643
14. Oct. 15, 2000 Driskell Mountain, La., 535
15. Oct. 15, 2000 Magazine Mountain, Ark., 2,753
16. Oct. 16, 2000 Taum Sauk Mountain, Mo., 1,772
17. Oct. 16, 2000 Woodall Mountain, Miss., 806
18. Oct. 16, 2000 Cheaha Mountain, Ala., 2,407
19. Oct. 16, 2000 Britton Hill, Fla., 345
20. Feb. 1, 2001 Mauna Kea, Hawaii, 13,796
21. June 13, 2001 Timm Hill, Wis., 1,951
22. June 13, 2001 Mount Arvon, Mich., 1,979
23. June 14, 2001 Eagle Mountain, Minn., 2,301
24. June 16, 2001 High Point, Iowa, 1,257
25. June 18, 2001 Charles Mound, Ill., 1,235
26. July 21, 2001 Mount Davis, Penn., 3,213
27. July 21, 2001 Backbone Mountain, Md., 3,360
28. July 21, 2001 Spruce Knob, W.V., 4,863
29. July 22, 2001 Campbell Hill, Ohio, 1,550
30. July 22, 2001 High Point, Ind., 1,257
31. July 23, 2001 Tower Hill, Del., 448
32. July 23, 2001 High Point, N.J., 1,803
33. July 24, 2001 Mount Frissell, Conn., 2,380
34. July 24, 2001 Mount Greylock, Mass., 3,491
35. July 25, 2001 Mount Marcy, N.Y., 5,344
36. July 26, 2001 Mount Mansfield, Vt., 4,393
37. July 27, 2001 Mount Washington, N.H., 6,288
38. July 28, 2001 Mount Katadin, Maine, 5,268
39. July 30, 2001 Jerimoth Hill, R.I., 812
40. June 16, 2002 Black Mesa, Okla., 4,973
41. July 4, 2002 Boundary Peak, Nev., 13,143
42. Aug. 7, 2002 Kings Peak, Utah, 13,528
43. Aug. 14, 2002 Granite Peak, Mont., 12,799
44. Aug. 17, 2002 White Butte, N.D., 3,506
45. Aug. 20, 2002 Harney Peak, S.D., 7,242
46. Sept. 23, 2002 Humphreys Peak, Ariz., 2,633
47. July 5, 2003 Mount Wheeler, N.M., 13,161
48. Aug. 14, 2004 Gannett Peak, Wyo., 13,804
49. Aug. 19, 2005 Mount Rainier, Wash., 14,411
May 25-June 10, reached 15,500 feet on the 20,320-foot Denali in Alaska
Four thousand, eight hundred and twenty feet.
That’s how close Miriam Richards recently stood from the top of the highest mountain in North America, the pinnacle of a dream that started nine years ago.
Richards has been pursuing highpointing, climbing the highest mountain in all 50 states, a feat only a few hundred people are known to have accomplished. Richards was hoping not only to add her name to this list, but also to become the first deaf person to highpoint.
On May 25, Richards circled Alaska’s Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, in a single-engine plane.
“It’s so beautiful. There are mountains everywhere. You feel so small,” Richards said through her friend and interpreter Hilary White.
She’d already climbed the other 49 highpoints. Below her was the only mountain left.
Since she started climbing mountains in 1995, the Corvallis woman has weathered setbacks. It took three tries to reach the top of Mount Rainier.
She’s been hospitalized with symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a progressive degenerative disease that attacks the central nervous system. She was diagnosed in 2003.
And an ice cliff on Mount Hood once gave way beneath her. She survived the 600-foot fall that left her body broken, but not her spirit.
Only half the people who attempt to climb Denali make it all the way to its 20,320-foot peak.
Could she withstand the sub-zero temperatures, the 50-mph wind and the 60-degree slopes?
As she looked at the mountain, Richards felt more ready than ever to try.
Determination
Richards, 41, was born deaf. A native of Canada, she came to Corvallis in 1995 as a graduate student to study forestry, political science and
sociology at Oregon State University. She earned a master’s degree in 1998 and has lived here since.
She is an instructor at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, where she teaches sign language.
Richards trains with White, who has accompanied her on many highpoints. The women also work seasonal jobs together to raise money for trips and climbs, and volunteer at camps for people who are deaf. White has a partial hearing loss, and she’s often the voice of her friend’s hand signs.
Richards has always maintained a positive outlook, White said.
When she gives motivational talks at deaf schools, or to civic organizations, people look up to her.
“She tells them, ‘There’s things that you don’t know you can do, but you can,’” White said. “It’s like magic when she talks to them.”
Richards taught herself how to climb with a little help from a guide. Corvallis is an active climbing community.
Being deaf, however, Richards has sometimes been ostracized by other climbers. Some guides have refused to take her, or charge her more money than hearing customers.
It took months of searching and negotiation for Richards to find a guide service that would allow a deaf woman with MS to attempt to climb Denali.
Three weeks before departing for Alaska, White and Richards were training together in Colorado to adjust to the high altitude.
White recalled thinking, “Miriam’s ready.”
“She was so strong. She was so confident.”
No. 50
Richards, with guide Kathy Cosley and two other guides from Alaska Mountaineering School, flew to a camp at 7,200 feet on Denali. That left a lot of territory for the group to cross, Richards said.
“I was surprised that we didn’t start higher,” she said.
Richards adjusted to the altitude and steepness.
But the cold was at times unbearable. They encountered some snowstorms, but when it was clear, it was frigid.
Some nights it was so cold she couldn’t sleep. In hindsight, Richards wished she had filled a bathtub with ice and practiced lying in it to prepare herself.
The cold also aggravated a persistent cough.
And it froze the injections she takes for MS.
Without her medication, the symptoms began to set in. One day, the middle of her body went completely numb.
Still, she wanted to keep going.
“I didn’t want to stop,” Richards said.
Cosley kept encouraging her.
“She said, ‘You’ve been higher than you’ve ever been on the other highpoints. Let’s go up a little bit,’” Richards recalled.
At 14,000 feet, two of the guides had gone ahead to the camp at 16,200 feet to drop off supplies.
They returned with the bad news.
The camp was on a steep ridge and there was no place to set up a tent. The only option was to go up to the next highest camp, 3,500 feet higher, a climb with more than a 50-percent grade.
To make it in one day, they would have to go fast.
Richards, still coughing, was exhausted.
“I really wanted to get to the top,” she said. “I just felt that it was impossible.”
The group climbed to 15,500, where Cosley took a picture of Richards with her highpointing flag.
When she sees the photo, she points to her face.
“That’s not really my smile,” Richards said.
But she put on a happy face, despite how she felt.
Deciding to turn back was a tough decision.
But it was the right one, she said.
Along the way, she met three women from Colorado who were all breast cancer survivors. Richards asked the women, if when they reached the summit, to say her name. They kept their word.
Richards is not alone in not reaching the top.
Denali can be dangerous and deadly, even for someone in perfect health.
Other people climbing the mountain when she was there were not so lucky. Four people had to be rescued. And two women died when they fell into a crevasse.
When she got off the mountain, White was the first person Richards called.
White gets choked up when she remembers that phone call. It didn’t matter that Richards didn’t reach the summit.
“I’m just so proud of you,” White said, wiping away tears.
Among her friends and family, no one said “fail.”
Sometimes Richards wishes she could have swapped the order of the Denali climb, so that she could have tried before she had MS. She’s finishing a book, “Highpoint of Persistence.” She wants to continue to hike and climb in less extreme climates.
As for the next adventure, she’d like to buy a house and a tractor, and settle down.
Richards has decided that she will not try to climb Denali again.
“I’ve witnessed it. I’ve touched it. I’ve been there,” she said.
Forty-nine and three-fourths is close enough.
That leaves open the door that someone else will achieve her goal to become the first deaf person to highpoint. To that, Richards responds by clapping her hands.
“I’m starting something,” she said. “I hope that others will follow.”
Reporter Rebecca Barrett can be reached at rebecca.barrett@lee.net or 758-9510.
Energizer nominee
Just like in the battery commercial, she keeps going and going. Miriam Richards, a 41-year-old Corvallis woman, is one of 10 national finalists in the Energizer battery company’s “Keep Going Hall of Fame” contest.
This spring, Richards, who was attempting to become the first deaf person to climb the highest peak in all 50 states, attempted her final highpoint, Alaska’s Denali, but had to turn back before reaching the top when she experienced symptoms of multiple sclerosis. She was diagnosed with MS in 2003.
Richards paid for the climb with loans and hopes supporters will vote online in the Energizer contest, which carries a top prize of $10,000. The contest also gives the winner’s designated charity a $5,000 donation.
Richards has selected the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind as her charity. Richards and her friend Hilary White, who nominated Richards, volunteer at retreats for people who are deaf and blind at the Seabeck, Wash., charity.
To vote in the Energizer contest, see www.energizer.com and click on the “view all promotions and sponsorships” link on the bottom left corner of the Web page. Select the “Keep Going Hall of Fame” link next to the gold coin.
More photos
To view more photos from Miriam Richard’s Denali climb, see www.cosleyhouston.com/
recent/06-06-denali.htm.
Summits
Miriam Richard’s record of summits
1. July 7, 1997 Guadalupe Peak, Texas, 8,749
2. May 22, 1999 Mount Hood, Ore. 11,239
3. July 30, 2000 Mount Whitney, Calif., 14,494
4. Aug. 19, 2000 Borah Peak, Idaho, 12,662
5. Aug. 26, 2000 Mount Sunflower, Kan., 4,039
6. Aug. 27, 2000 Mount Constable, Neb., 5,426
7. Aug. 30, 2000 Mount Elbert, Colo., 14,433
8. Oct. 1, 2000 Brasstown Bald, Ga., 4,784
9. Oct. 1, 2000 Sassafras Mountain, S.C., 3,560
10. Oct. 1, 2000 Mount Mitchell, N.C., 6,684
11. Oct. 2, 2000 Mount Rogers, Va., 5,729
12. Oct. 2, 2000 Black Mountain, Ken., 4,145
13. Oct. 3, 2000 Clingmans Dome, Tenn., 6,643
14. Oct. 15, 2000 Driskell Mountain, La., 535
15. Oct. 15, 2000 Magazine Mountain, Ark., 2,753
16. Oct. 16, 2000 Taum Sauk Mountain, Mo., 1,772
17. Oct. 16, 2000 Woodall Mountain, Miss., 806
18. Oct. 16, 2000 Cheaha Mountain, Ala., 2,407
19. Oct. 16, 2000 Britton Hill, Fla., 345
20. Feb. 1, 2001 Mauna Kea, Hawaii, 13,796
21. June 13, 2001 Timm Hill, Wis., 1,951
22. June 13, 2001 Mount Arvon, Mich., 1,979
23. June 14, 2001 Eagle Mountain, Minn., 2,301
24. June 16, 2001 High Point, Iowa, 1,257
25. June 18, 2001 Charles Mound, Ill., 1,235
26. July 21, 2001 Mount Davis, Penn., 3,213
27. July 21, 2001 Backbone Mountain, Md., 3,360
28. July 21, 2001 Spruce Knob, W.V., 4,863
29. July 22, 2001 Campbell Hill, Ohio, 1,550
30. July 22, 2001 High Point, Ind., 1,257
31. July 23, 2001 Tower Hill, Del., 448
32. July 23, 2001 High Point, N.J., 1,803
33. July 24, 2001 Mount Frissell, Conn., 2,380
34. July 24, 2001 Mount Greylock, Mass., 3,491
35. July 25, 2001 Mount Marcy, N.Y., 5,344
36. July 26, 2001 Mount Mansfield, Vt., 4,393
37. July 27, 2001 Mount Washington, N.H., 6,288
38. July 28, 2001 Mount Katadin, Maine, 5,268
39. July 30, 2001 Jerimoth Hill, R.I., 812
40. June 16, 2002 Black Mesa, Okla., 4,973
41. July 4, 2002 Boundary Peak, Nev., 13,143
42. Aug. 7, 2002 Kings Peak, Utah, 13,528
43. Aug. 14, 2002 Granite Peak, Mont., 12,799
44. Aug. 17, 2002 White Butte, N.D., 3,506
45. Aug. 20, 2002 Harney Peak, S.D., 7,242
46. Sept. 23, 2002 Humphreys Peak, Ariz., 2,633
47. July 5, 2003 Mount Wheeler, N.M., 13,161
48. Aug. 14, 2004 Gannett Peak, Wyo., 13,804
49. Aug. 19, 2005 Mount Rainier, Wash., 14,411
May 25-June 10, reached 15,500 feet on the 20,320-foot Denali in Alaska