Mt. Elbert When Keegan Reilly started climbing he didn’t start at the bottom. Mt. Elbert reigns over the Rockies at 14,433 feet (4399 meters)! The mountain is the highest peak in the aptly named range that spans from New Mexico into the northern reaches of Alaska, and is the second highest mountain in the continental United States. Although the climb is not considered extremely technical in nature, steep pitches, loose shale, and large boulders make an arm-powered ascent a grueling and dangerous ordeal. In the summer of 2001 Keegan made his alpine climbing debut by attempting the first paraplegic summit of Mt. Elbert.

Team Strong Arm, consisting of Keegan; his uncle John Nelson; and several friends, spent four days on the mountain face. Keegan used a four-wheel, arm-powered prototype to navigate the rough terrain of the young mountain. The apparatus known as the Scarab was design by mechanical engineer Mike Augspurger specifically for this purpose. Its independent axle’s, heavy-duty traction, and revolutionary hands-free steering system powered by Keegan’s strength and determination were unstoppable. On the sixth day team Strong Arm achieved the summit.

Keegan set out to climb Mt. Elbert with the notion of challenging himself both physically and mentally. In the process he broke the existing paraplegic alpine elevation record and shattered perceived barriers for millions. The term ‘accessible’ was forever redefined.

Read the article in The Denver Post