Brad Zdanivsky

Brad Zdanivsky (born May 6, 1976) became a quadriplegic after a car accident in 1994. Even though there had never been any quadriplegics return to climbing, Brad and his Father were determining to get to the summit of the mammoth Stawamus Chief on Canada’s West Coast.

Beginning in 1997 Brad set about designing and testing a device for pulling himself up this sheer rock face. Each subsequent year has seen improvements in the gear and increasingly impressive climbing successes – including Brad's ascent of the 1000-foot Grand Wall of the Chief in 2003.

Undaunted by the extraordinary challenges of this endeavor, Brad made a successful attempt on the summit of the Chief in July 2005, climbing 650 m (over 1,900 ft.) in 14 hours.

Ultimately, the goal is to set a precedent that will make climbing technically and psychologically more accessible to quadriplegics.

References

*cite news |title=Quadriplegic climbs B.C. mountain face |url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1123261552811_118670752/?hub=CanadaAM |work=CTV |date=2005-08-05 |accessdate=2008-05-02
*cite news |title=Determined to climb each mountain he faces |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2FArticleNews%2FTPStory%2FLAC%2F20050730%2FBCCLIMBER30&ord=69106054&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true |work=Globe and Mail |date=2005-07-30 |accessdate=2008-05-02

External links

* [http://www.verticalchallenge.org/ VerticalChallenge.org Official Website]
* [http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=159693&f=0&b=0 Super Topo discussion]
* Sam_Sullivan [http://www.verticalchallenge.org/timeline/2007/media.php climbs in Brad's Rig]