The latest installment of Leading Authorities “Adventurers” series featured Erik Weihenmayer, General Stan McChrystal, Governor Tom Ridge, and Steve Baskis. We showed a private, preliminary screening of High Ground, the latest film by award-winning director Michael Brown, which tells the story of 11 wounded veterans whose road to recovery took them to the 20,075-foot Himalayan peak Lobuche – just 8.7 miles shy of the summit of Mount Everest.
During their trek, blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer and nine other Everest climbers guided the soldiers, and together they took on a formidable mountain challenge – all in the name of celebrating the return of our nation’s heroes and demonstrating that their disabilities are not insurmountable.
Watch the High Ground. trailer
After viewing two segments of the film, soldiers who had participated in the trek – including Steve Baskis – answered the audience’s questions, describing their journeys, what they got out of the experience, and how the plan to reintegrate into society after being wounded in war.
Also in attendance was General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan who now oversees Joining Forces, a White House initiative that aims to support military families, and the Yellow Ribbon Fund; Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania, the first secretary of homeland security, a Vietnam veteran, and the chairman of National Organization on Disability; and, of course, Erik Weihenmayer, a world-class adventurer, the first blind man to summit Mount Everest, one of only 150 mountaineers to climb the Seven Summits, and the founder and chairman of No Barriers USA.
Leading Authorities is pleased to be working with such distinguished citizens and servicemen. If you are interested in having anyone from this event at your next meeting, call 1-800-SPEAKER or fill out our online form to reach a program consultant.