{"id":2443523,"date":"2019-04-28T20:24:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T02:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/5point-honors-renowned-blind-adventurer-to-close-film-fest\/"},"modified":"2019-04-28T20:24:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T02:24:00","slug":"5point-honors-renowned-blind-adventurer-to-close-film-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/5point-honors-renowned-blind-adventurer-to-close-film-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"5Point honors renowned blind adventurer to close film fest"},"content":{"rendered":"
Blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, left, discusses the film “The Weight of Water,” about his kayaking trip down the Grand Canyon, with trainer Rob Raker at the 5Point film festival Sunday. Weihenmayer received the inaugural 5Point Honors award.<\/strong>
Thomas Phippen\/Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Outdoor film festival 5Point honored blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer in Carbondale on Sunday with the festival\u2019s inaugural 5Point Honors award for dedication to the organization\u2019s ideals.<\/p>\n

Weihenmayer received the award after a screening of the feature length film \u201cThe Weight of Water\u201d \u2014 documenting Weihenmayer\u2019s feat of kayaking the entire Grand Canyon \u2014 on the fourth and final day of the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis (award) is for dedication to living to all of our five points, and teaching others to live extraordinary lives,\u201d event host Paddy O\u2019Connell said Sunday. The eponymous five principles of the organization are respect, commitment, humility, purpose and balance.<\/p>\n

During a discussion after the screening, Weihenmayer said he overcame the final, toughest rapids in part because of the strength of the people around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re such a great team, that team gives you strength, and it makes you want to be better and go beyond yourself,\u201d said Weihenmayer, whose extensive mountain climbing resume includes being the first blind person to summit Mount Everest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Weight of Water\u201d also won the best of festival award.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to honor Erik\u2019s legacy and commitment to adventure with the first ever 5Point Honors award,\u201d said Regina Jones, executive director of 5Point Film. \u201cHis mission to overcome challenges and also support others through his nonprofit work embodies everything that 5Point is about, and it is such an honor to have Erik join us at this year\u2019s festival feature film screening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cErik has built a world-class adventuring life for himself despite having to overcome his visual impairment,\u201d said John Hauser, executive director of Challenge Aspen and personal friend of Weihenmayer, who attended the special tribute.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is continuing to find great challenges to climb and unique ways to give back to others with disabilities. It is fun to have been a very small part of these adventures and to call Erik a friend,\u201d Hauser said.<\/p>\n

Directed by Michael Brown, \u201cThe Weight of Water\u201d follows Weihenmayer, his kayaking guide and crew, and a second blind kayaker, Navy veteran Lonnie Bedwell, as they traversed the treacherous rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 2014.<\/p>\n

The film also won the Banff Film Festival Grand prize in 2018, as well as other awards.<\/p>\n

Weihenmayer recounted the trip in his book \u201cNo Barriers: A Blind Man\u2019s Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also has written the best-selling memoir \u201cTouch the Top of the World\u201d which also is a feature film, and \u201cThe Adversity Advantage,\u201d about turning \u201ceveryday struggles into everyday greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, left, discusses the film “The Weight of Water,” about his kayaking trip down the Grand Canyon, with trainer Rob Raker at the 5Point film festival Sunday. Weihenmayer received the inaugural 5Point Honors award.Thomas Phippen\/Post Independent Outdoor film festival 5Point honored blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer in Carbondale on Sunday with the festival\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2443523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 11:09:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}