What is An Adaptive Athlete?

Some might imagine our guest today as the superhero on the cover a graphic novel. The headline would read… mild mannered kindergarten teacher by day and single handed slayer of ice creatures by night (or weekends more accurately). Kimber Cross was born with one hand. The nutshell version of her journey to where she finds herself today started with pushing her parents outside of their comfort zones, navigating her passions with insecurities, and flipping adversity into ultimately transformative moments in her life. Prior to climbing Everest or kayaking through the Grand Canyon, blind of course, our host, Erik Weihenmayer, was a middle school teacher for many years. He and Kimber compare classroom challenges to mountaineering challenges (subjective vs. objective hazards), they get into the latest in hand prosthetics, the realities of adaptive devices like Erik’s brain port that projects images onto his tongue and the process of figuring out how to connect Kimber’s ice tool to an arm with no hand… Also the relationship between sponsors and their athletes, and ideas around the meaning and role of adaptive athletes in todays world and beyond.