May 6, 2003
Contact: Leslie Webb (509-963-1685/fax 509-963-1726/e-mail: webble@cwu.edu)
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The first paraplegic climber to reach the
summit of Mt. Rainier will discuss “Expanding the Frontiers of Ability”
Monday, May 12 at Central Washington University. Peter Rieke’s free,
public presentation – to be held in conjunction with Disability
Awareness Week -- is slated for 4 p.m. in the Samuelson Union
Building’s Cesar Chavez Theatre.
Rieke has actually summited Mt. Rainier six times, five times
as an able-bodied person. But, his last trip, ending at the top on
June 18, 2000, is his best-known triumph. It was accomplished with the
aid of a custom-built “snowpod.” The hand-crank device – described as
a cross between a snowmobile and bicycle -- allowed him to use arm
power to reach the pinnacle of the 14,411-foot peak.
“I’ll talk about team building and the personal aspects of
the climb,” Rieke says,” rather than the technical aspects of the climb
itself.”
Rieke, 48, a chemist and experienced mountaineer, was
paralyzed from the waist down during a rock-climbing accident in 1994.
He is now president of Mobility Engineering, Inc., a Pasco firm that
designs and manufactures adaptive sports equipment for the disabled.
His CWU presentation is sponsored by the campus organizations
A.B.L.E. (Access Belonging Learning Equality), Disability Support
Services and Diversity Center.
“At any point in life we may be affected by a disability,”
Keith Angotti, A.B.L.E.’s chair for Disability Awareness Week, says.
“We might think it’s the end of the world, but Rieke shows we can
obtain anything we desire!”
For more information, or for persons of disability to arrange
for reasonable accommodation, call (509) 963-1685, or (for the hearing
impaired) TDD (509) 963-2143.
