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KEENE VALLEY - The Adirondack International Mountainfest kicked off on Friday night with an inspiring talk from blind climber Erik Weihenmayer, who had the crowd rolling with laughter with his wit and amazed by his accomplishments.

Weihenmayer has not only climbed the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, but he has summited the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Fewer than 100 people in the world have done that.

Originally from New Jersey, Weihenmayer was born with retinoschisis, a degenerative eye disorder. He lost his vision at age 13. In high school, his life changed when he went rock climbing while attending a month-long camp at the Carrol Center for the Blind in Massachusetts.

"I only turned to rock climbing because I couldn't play baseball," Weihenmayer told the Enterprise. "I just discovered it."

But Weihenmayer is not limited to just climbing. He also downhill skis, kayaks and paraglides. He also completed the Primal Quest, considered by some to be the toughest adventure race in the world. It took him nine days, during which he averaged two hours a night of rest.

Weihenmayer spoke at the Mountainfest at the request of Keene guide Ian Osteyee, who was introduced to Weihenmayer several years ago by Dr. Geoff Tabin, a well-known climber who is on the cover of this month's National Geographic Adventure magazine. Osteyee and Weihenmayer climbed the cliffs above Lake Willoughby in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom during their first ice climb, and then in January 2008 the pair was part of a three-man team that climbed the 3,000-foot ice waterfall Wei Lhosar in the Himalayas.

Weihenmayer is also chairman of No Barriers, "a nonprofit organization with a goal of promoting innovative ideas, approaches and assistive technologies which help people with disabilities push through their own personal barriers to live full and active lives," according to Weihenmayer's Web site. He founded the organization with paraplegic Mark Wellman and double-leg-amputee Hugh Herr, who is a scientist at Harvard's prosthetics laboratory.

These three have also climbed an 800-foot rock tower in Moab, Utah together.

In addition to speaking about his adventures and work helping blind children, Weihenmayer used photographs he had taken himself in his slideshow. He had taken the photos by balancing the camera on the wrist of his outstretched arm. He may never be able to see the photos, but he is still able to share them with people who will never visit these remote regions.

Weihenmayer was introduced before his presentation by Vinny McClelland, owner of The Mountaineer gear store in Keene Valley and Mountainfest co-organizer along with Ed Palen, of Adirondack Rock and River Guide Service in Keene. McClelland used a line from Helen Keller to introduce Weihenmayer.

"Self-pity is our worst enemy, and if we yield to it we can never do any good in the world," McClelland quoted before saying, in his own words, "Self-pity is clearly not in his vocabulary."

McClelland also noted in his introduction that the Mountainfest, which celebrated its 14th year, has raised more than $70,000 for charitable causes. The money has gone to several local people with cancer, volunteer fire departments and other organizations.

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Climbing clinics

On Saturday and Sunday, Mountainfest participants took part in clinics throughout the Keene Valley area. The activities ranged from snowshoeing with Adirondack photographer Carl Heilman II to climbing with internationally renowned climber Steve House. There were also clinics on avalanche safety and rescue, slide climbing and all levels of ice climbing, many of which were taught by respected local guides.

Among those taking the clinics was Virginia Pfau, a student from Rochester Institute of Technology who spent Sunday honing her ice-climbing skills with House on a frozen waterfall near Chapel Pound. Pfau was one of eight people taking an ice-climbing course with House, who is considered to be one of the top high-altitude climbers in the world. In 2006, House won the Piolet d'Or (or Golden Ice Axe) with Vince Anderson for their 2005 alpine-style climb of the largest vertical wall in the world: the 13,500-foot Rupal Face of 26,660-foot Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. Saturday night, House spoke at the "Beaverdome" auditorium at Keene Central School, talking about his adventures before a standing-room-only crowd.

This was Pfau's second year of attending the Mountainfest. Last year, she took a clinic with Conrad Anker, a North Face team climber who is known by the general public for being part of the team that found the remains of legendary British climber George Mallory on Mount Everest.

"It's really cool to hang out with really known, respectable climbers that inspire me," Pfau said. "People like Steve House and even Bill (Dodd), our guide, they really inspire me because they've had such a long history with the sport and learned from so many people."

Pfau said that she sees the Mountainfest as a place where she can learn skills from respected climbers that she can pass on to her friends and others.

"I like introducing people to the sport," Pfau said. "I've been at it for about four years now, and I've started teaching people how to do the simple things that I know and getting them out and encouraging them."

Because the clinics are small, participants have plenty of opportunities to interact with the instructors.

"Really, these clinics are such a nice size that everyone gets pretty individualized instruction," said House, who will be doing only two other ice-climbing festivals this winter. "Mostly we focus on moving techniques of climbing and how to make them more efficient climbers. (We) work on whatever their weaknesses happen to be."

This is House's fourth or fifth time at the Mountainfest, but the first in several years. He arrived several days before the Mountainfest and plans to stay until later this week. Prior to the event, House and a friend finished a difficult route in the Wilmington area that had been started by Keene guide Matt Horner.

"This place is really stacked with really good climbers, but you would never know it until you watch them climb," House said. "It's really great to come to a place where there are so many locals that are so skilled and so experienced and just super-down-to-earth people."

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Contact Mike Lynch at 891-2600 ext. 28 or mlynch@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.