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| | Email this article • Print this article | CF grad guides blind youth up Kilimanjaro
by Ken Haggerty
Growing up in Cannon Falls, class of 1994 graduate John Schiebe made summer camping and hiking trips to the Boundary Waters with his family and local church groups.
Schiebe's summer outdoor adventure this year took him just a little farther away from Cannon Falls and his canoeing skills didn't do him much good.
Schiebe left for Tanzania, Africa on June 20 as one of sixteen sighted guides leading a group of eight blind climbers to the 19,340 foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The climb took six days up and was expected to last two days down. Schiebe says limited technical climbing is involved, mostly just rugged hiking.
In preparation for the climb, Schiebe, who now lives in Flagstaff, AZ, and his assigned blind climbing partner, A.J. Hovet, 18, of Ash Fork, AZ, trained at altitude in Arizona. Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet elevation and Schiebe also has reached 12,643 atop Mt. Humpheys, the highest peak in Arizona. Schiebe says altitude sickness is one of the biggest hurdles.
Each blind climber is accompanied by two sighted climbers. A.J. is able to follow the movement of the sighted climber in front of him by way of half of a hiking pole attached to the lead climber. Sighted guides also call out "toe jammers" and "shin bangers" along the trail. Hovet has only limited light and dark perception due to side effects from radiation treatment for brain cancer about seven years ago.
"My hope is that A.J. and the other climbers inspire others to do what many people 'see' as impossible," said Schiebe.
Schiebe, the son of Sheldon and Mary Schiebe, moved to Arizona nine years ago for a job with W.L. Gore, the company best known for Gore-tex fabrics. Schiebe, who attended St. John's College and the University of Minnesota, has a B.A. in Physics and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He works in Gore's medical products division that develops products for skin grafts, stents, hernias and other applications.
Schiebe's wife, Aimee, used to babysit for the executive director of the Foundation for the Blind, the Phoenix-based group organizing the trip. She and son Landon, eighteen months, followed the climb from Flagstaff. They reached the summit on June 29. Photos and updates are expected to be posted at seekiliourway.org.
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