Harlan Taney’s kayak paddle snapped in half last month at the bottom of Lava Falls, the Colorado River’s burliest rapid in the Grand Canyon.
Under water, one-bladed and struggling to right his kayak in the roiling rapid, the veteran river guide had only one thought: His pal, Erik Weihenmayer, could be in trouble.
“My reaction was ‘Oh, man, I can’t swim and let Erik down. He’s counting on me 100 percent,’ ” said the filmmaking paddler.
Weihenmayer heard the radio in his ear go silent. He was accustomed to Taney following him, giving instructions through his earpiece. The river roared. Weihenmayer’s kayak pitched violently.
Weihenmayer, who is blind, leaned into his strokes but the kayak tipped. He swam from the boat. Taney, who somehow rolled with half a paddle, arrived seconds later to rescue him.
There was another hundred miles of kayaking ahead in the expedition and Weihenmayer was rattled. But his relentless drive — the same inspirational pursuit of sightless adventure that has pushed him to the top of Mount Everest and the tallest peaks on each continent — led him to walking back up to the top of Lava Falls the next morning in order to kayak it cleanly.
“I had to do it again,” said the 46-year-old Weihenmayer, soon after spending three weeks last month kayaking 277 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, one of the most stout stretches of remote whitewater in the country.
Blind since he was 13, Weihenmayer wasn’t aiming for glory. He wasn’t driven by machismo or by competition. He wanted to cleanly paddle the Class V rapid for those whose lives are void of light.
“People can get shoved into dark places and they get lost and they can’t climb out. They feel like they have zero impact in the world and they have no purpose,” he said. “I want to reach them and teach them; bring them through my journeys. Show them there’s a process and there’s a tool kit that they can build to live a no-barriers life.”
Weihenmayer, of Golden, is no stranger to adventure. He is an accomplished climber and mountaineer whose résumé includes being the only blind person to climb the world’s tallest mountain, in 2001. He skydives and paraglides. He skis the backcountry and climbs frozen waterfalls. He has raced across the Moroccan Desert on foot.
WATCH: No Barriers’ Grand Canyon celebration and reflection
WATCH: No Barriers’ Grand Canyon expedition recap
As the force behind his No Barriers USA foundation, which aims to change lives through trans- formative outdoor experiences, Weihenmayer’s adversity-dashing feats have prodded more than 500 people to take the “no barriers pledge.” Following his lead, they are volunteering, losing weight, kicking cigarettes, mentoring kids and starting nonprofits.
“Whatever their stretch is,” he said. “Whatever they want to do with their lives, pushing their boundaries.”
Kayaking definitely pushed Weihenmayer beyond his already broad limits. Methodical, calculated ascents — even of the world’s most daunting peaks — didn’t prepare him for the dynamic, reactionary nature of white- water kayaking. He had to accept that things would go wrong. His boat would be knocked off line. He was going to flip. He was going to have to roll up and fight.
“The water is moving underneath you in a crazy, chaotic way and everything is hitting you from different directions, and you are trying to understand those forces by what you are hearing and what you are feeling and what your guide is telling you,” Weihen- mayer said. “It’s such a challenge and it’s relentless, but it’s also very rewarding.”
Blind kayaking is not an individual sport. It takes a floating village. A fleet of guides chased Weihenmayer down the river.
“It’s a lot like playing two video games at the same time. You have to paddle on your own, plus you are responsible for another person,” said Boulder climber-paddler-musician-troubadour Timmy O’Neill, who has kayaked alongside Weihenmayer for years as they aimed for the ultimate trip down the Grand.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasonblevins
Read Erik Weihenmayer’s trip reports and see videos from the Grand Canyon at his blog http://www.touchthetop.com/blog/