Climbing
Zuko Carrasco, a 42-year-old paraplegic, did something that most would think is unachievable. With a team of nine friends, the Ecuadorian climbed almost 3,000 feet up El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California, with only his hands and upper body strength.
Prior to a freak accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Carrasco made a living as a professional mountain guide. He took clients up mountains across Ecuador and Argentina including Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. In 2015, he and a friend led a team-building exercise that included a trust fall portion. When it was Carrasco’s turn, he was not caught due to some miscommunication and the accident left him paralyzed.
Through physical therapy, Carrasco was able to regain the ability to move his arms and hands. He was able to discover hand cycling, which involves moving a bike via hand cranks, through this movement and told the Los Angeles Times that it was a significant step forward for him.
“I was really proud of myself, so happy to do something on my own. Nobody had to push me.”
He was able to scratch his mountaineering itch with hand cycling and began to participate in races, and longer rides, and ultimately biked up Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Cotopaxi (Ecuador). These adventures got him a social media following that helped secure corporate sponsors and motivational speaking gigs, which allowed him to provide for his family. As he continued to search for more extreme things to do to push himself and his newfound independence, he narrowed his focus on El Capitan — an iconic rock climbing destination in the valley of Yosemite, California.
Through a system of pulley systems that allowed him to move up the rock on his own and with the help of a team of nine friends, Carrasco set out to climb the rock. After hundreds to thousands of “good moves,” one that would pull him up four inches, and pushing past dehydration, the chance of heat stroke, and fatigue, Carrasco made it to the top on October 6.
He liked the challenge of El Cap because although it was difficult and tested his willpower and strength, he felt a sense of independence from start to finish. According to the LA Times, his next adventure entails a hand cycle ride through the Peruvian Andes that involves 125,000 feet of vertical climbing and 1,000 miles of riding.
