I would like to expand on some of the issues relating to disabled access to the world of adventure sport and in particular to the visually impaired sector of society which I have acquired experience of in the capacity of a sighted companion.

Over the last five years it has been a real pleasure to share in the excitement of such sports as cross-country skiing, Canadian canoeing, hillwalking and gorge-walking to name but a few with a cross-section of visually-impaired people ranging in age from 8 to 68! All of them have one main thing in common apart from the obvious and that’s a craving for adventure and exhilaration as well as enjoying an enormous amount of fun.

Most sports are based on pushing ourselves to achieving the best of our capabilities so why should it be any different for those with sensory or physical disabilities? However, even in this day and age, it is frightening to hear of some of the negative attitudes which still prevail towards disability essentially based on ignorance and misguided beliefs. All too often there is a tendency to impose our limitations on those with so-called handicaps in an effort to “protect” their interests when what we should be doing is encouraging them to discover their potential as individuals. Inherent in participation in adventure sports are challenge, excitement and risk but that is the attraction for all of us regardless of ability. “Over-protection may be more harmful than a certain amount of accidental injury” somebody once remarked and there is a lot of truth in that. Prejudgements are all too common and constitute one of the greatest barriers disabled people have to overcome.

Recently on a challenge to climb Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis in 36 hrs, the co-ordinator of four teams including four blind/partially-sighted people was scathingly told: “They won’t do it”. Adventures may start in the imagination, the alternative to vision, but it is the will to succeed and the strength of the human spirit which makes anything possible. They did it!

Creating such opportunities for full participation is surely the key to development for those wishing to seek outdoor opportunities, allowing people to adapt their many abilities to the sport concerned rather than remaining on the outside looking in. Fortunately, there are several very good organisations which work to develop and facilitate taking part in activities outside the scope of everyday lives. Amongst them is British Blind Sport which organises “Have a go Days” to encourage new sporting interests. Through such organisations those who feel held back and frustrated in their everyday lives can find an outlet to freedom through adventure which in turn allows them to extend the parameters of their lives, grow in self-confidence and realise some of their personal Everests. GDBA Holidays based in Kendal, organise a vast array of activity and special interest holidays all over the world for those with visual impairment and trips are subsidised for those who go as sighted companions.

The rewards for companions are multiple: experiencing a deeper awareness of your surroundings by lending people the benefit of your sight to describe details, all the time being taught to see the world afresh, having been made more aware of your other senses, you begin to feel you have missed out on so much previously; the sweet smell of heather, an eagle mewing overhead, the rush of a waterfall, all things which are too often eclipsed by the melee of general life around you. In short you enter a far more subtle, sensory world, a very special place indeed.

I watched from the ground as Michelle, a 16 year old girl who is totally blind, climbed on a top rope up an 80ft pine tree using only verbal commands and tactile sensation then abseil textbook fashion down its trunk. It was something she had never done before and her delight was obvious. I was fortunate enough to be there to share in it. How often have we been surprised ourselves by how well we did at something new and how often has that confidence spurred us on to do more? That thrill, that excitement in new found abilities should be there for everyone to grasp. Equality should come in the form of being given the same opportunities for participation, self-development and self-fulfilment by allowing people of all abilities to be embraced in adventure sports.

The visually-impaired people I know have trekked in Ladakh, paddled across the Channel in a dragonboat, cross-country amongst the Greek Islands, Canadian canoed in the USA, France and up the Caledonian Canal, backpacked coast to coast across Scotland, run the London Marathon and most recently proved the bystander totally wrong by successfully completing the 3 Peaks Challenge in 36 hours. And that’s only some of three people’s achievements within 4 years.

What’s more they tend to succeed quietly, not seeking applause or publicity, since their prime motive is self-fulfilment but if they do choose to publicise their achievements, it’s usually to encourage others like them to test their own abilities or to raise awareness in society as well as a recognition of just what they are capable of achieving. All they ask for is the gift of opportunity.

David Blunkett, MP, in his autobiography “On a Clear Day”, states: “By accepting challenges, I can prove to myself that I am no different and can take on the world just like anyone else”. I think we can rest assured that the world will be taken on from the USA to Ladakh, if given the chance.

By all means volunteer to be somebody’s eyes but don’t deny them their vision.

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