The spring mountaineering season of 1989 was winding down. Already seven people had perished and still Everest held lives in her icy grasp.

In the rarefied air of the Himalayan Mountains, two men fought their way homeward from their storm-bound camp at 21,500 feet on Mt. Everest. With a harsh wind howling about them, in a frozen wilderness 1,000 feet higher than the summit of Mt. McKinley, they struggled through snow, at times chest deep.

Staggering from exhaustion, after nine hours of arduous labor, they reached Camp 1, only now it was buried under ten feet of snow. In deteriorating weather conditions, they had no option but to continue down the mountain.

After a sixteen hour ordeal they staggered into the safety of Base Camp. They had saved their own lives, but at cost. They had to abandon everything they had to the mountain, including Whittaker's right foot; fortunately he had a spare.

The son of a Welsh army officer, Tom Whittaker arrived in the U.S., having worked his passage, delivering a 65 foot yacht across the Atlantic. Following his vision of being a professional mountaineer his exploits take him from the sun baked rock walls of Yosemite Valley in California, to the frozen wastes of Canada and Alaska. Then on Thanksgiving Day 1979, Tom Whittaker's life as he knew it came to an end.

Shortly after completing a Masters of Arts degree at Idaho State University in Pocatello, an out of control vehicle swerved into his lane, striking his car head on. For five days Tom fought for his life. Only now this man who sailed, climbed, kayaked and skied would have another mountain to climb. The crash left him permanently disabled. Multiple fractures of both legs and severe injuries to both feet and knees resulted in the removal of a kneecap and the amputation of his right foot.

Tom painfully and slowly put his life back together. He earned another Masters degree and founded the Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group (C.W. HOG). By harnessing the power of civic responsibility and volunteerism, he put the devastating lessons he learned to work for others. In the process Tom found a home and in 1986 became an American citizen.

Because of the program's innovation and success, Tom has been able to carry his message to New Zealand, Australia, Canada and now to his native Wales. Newsweek magazine, in it's July 4th, 1989 honored Tom as one of "Americas Unsung Heros"

Married with a five year old daughter, Whittaker is a professor in Adventure Education at Prescott College, Arizona, instructing in the premier outdoor leadership program in the nation. As a disabled person he teaches skiing, kayaking, rock climbing, caving, expeditionary backpacking and leadership skills to future generations of outdoor professionals.

Tom is now poised to be the first amputee to stand on the summit of Everest. His powerful, authentic message strikes a cord in our hearts as well as our heads.

When, in 1998 Whittaker goes back to Everest, he will be accompanied by his HOG's, but only as far as Base Camp! From there, he is to be joined by a disabled Sherpa (from Nepal ) and an international team of world class mountaineers to make his bid to stand on the roof of the world.

He will not be doing this as an outdoor extremist or super athlete, but as an ordinary person. As a husband, a father, but most importantly as someone who, in the face of considerable personal catastrophe, would not let his dream die. Whittaker reminds us, when setbacks occur in our personal and professional lives, it is not the falling down, but the getting back up that matters.

The essence, in the heart of the American Dream, is not money, status or power, but the freedom to dream and the courage to embrace those dreams; for all people. As a people, we love to compete and we love to win. But more than anything Americans applaud the grit and spirit it takes to get back up and finish the race.

That is why when Whittaker lost his foot and joined the ranks of America's 50 million disabled people he did not put on a prosthesis and a pair of designer jeans and walk away, but saw a need and put his mind and body into helping to create solutions.

Everest Challenge is not about climbing a mountain; it is bigger than that. Everest Challenge is all about responding to a need, at a grass roots level, and striving to be an agent of positive change.