No Barriers ─ A Blind Man's Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon

No Barriers is about my journey since coming down from Everest 14 years ago, and the path to where I am today. It is the story of my own life—the ups and downs both personal and professional but also the many people I’ve encountered who possess what I call a “No Barriers” mindset, who live a No Barriers life. It’s about people who give those around them the courage to do great things. People who have risked failure, transcended their personal barriers, and shown others a way forward: scientists and innovators and technologists and artists and musicians and activists and soldiers.

No Barriers is a way of living, and it lives in all of us. I think there is something inside all of us, a kind of light. But sometimes—through injury, disease, tragedy, mental illness, and trauma—people get shoved into a dark place, and that light is almost extinguished. A lot of times, making hard choices is what feeds that light, and becomes the energy we need to propel us forward. This book is about making the hard choices to fuel that light flickering in all of us, so that we can ignite with purpose and become our very best selves.

ERIK WEIHENMAYER is a bestselling author, athlete, adventurer, and motivational speaker. He is the only blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He also completed the Seven Summits, joining 150 mountaineers who have accomplished that feat, but the only climber who was blind. He is the author of Touch the Top of the World and The Adversity Advantage. He co-founded No Barriers USA, which helps those with special challenges to live active and purposeful lives. He lives in Colorado.