stevebaskis

http://www.soldierstothesummit.org

Soldiers to the Summit Seeks Applicants for 2012 Program
Looking for personal growth and adventure? Looking for a way to help fellow injured service men and women? Look no further, Soldiers to the Summit (S2S) is looking for you.

Soldiers to the Summit began in 2010 when Erik Weihenmayer—the only blind person to climb the highest mountain on each continent—and his Everest team celebrated the tenth anniversary of their historic climb. Together they led a group of disabled soldiers, all injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the summit of Lobuche, a 20,100-foot peak in Nepal. Injuries included amputations, traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, and blindness.

The S2S Lobuche Expedition was a tremendous success, with seven out of ten soldiers reaching the summit. This expedition is the subject of a major feature film, called “High Ground”, which highlights the challenges faced by the soldiers as they work to return home after life-changing injuries. A year later, the team continues to work together to inspire others.

This year we are building further on that success with our second program, culminating with a summit climb of Cotopaxi, a spectacular 19,347-foot mountain in Ecuador in early December 2012. Your commitment will begin next year with at least two training trips in Colorado during the spring and fall. On these trips you will meet and build your team along with mentors from the Lobuche journey.

If you are selected, all group travel expenses and equipment will be provided. However, this is not just a free adventure. Your full commitment is essential, and the S2S program requires you to make significant contributions. You will be required to attend several training sessions, you may be asked to travel and speak to sponsor organizations, lead workshops at rehab hospitals, schools or disability programs, and become a mentor for future participants. This is a physically demanding program and although no prior climbing experience is required, good fitness is essential. You will help to spread the message and advance the mission of the S2S program.

Soldiers to the Summit is unlike any other adventure and will reward you with a lifetime of memories and the skills that will propel you forward on your own journey. To apply, please return a completed application and two letters of recommendation to the address below. If you like, a short video introducing you would also be considered.

Soldiers to the Summit

c/o 601 16th Street, Unit C

Box 167

Golden, CO 80401



Application deadline is February 17, 2012. If you have questions about S2S, contact Program Director Charley Mace by email at cm@soldierstothesummit.org. Learn more at http://www.SoldiersToTheSummit.org or http://www.facebook.com/SoldierstotheSummit

Brian, my climbing partner and friend wrote this story for Chicago Magazine about our climb of Africa's tallest peak Kilimanjaro. Follow the link below to read more about the Chicago Magazine story "Dark Victory":

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/November-2011/Blind-Ex-soldier-Steve-Baskis-Climbs-Mount-Kilimanjaro/

Hey everyone,

Please check out the video.

Take care,
Steve

Over the past few days I had the honor and privilege of joining 16 Medal of Honor recipients for celebration and ceremony in Dallas, Texas. Thursday night kicked everything off, we all had dinner and enjoyed some live music, while chit chatting about serving in the military and how we were injured. Friday came and we all were escorted down to where American Airlines has their training simulators and air museum, we all met the president of American Airlines and listened to multiple speeches. We dined underneath the wings of a DC-3 for lunch that day, celebrating and honoring our World War II veterans. I was pulled from the ceremony a little early so I could prepare for my jump into the Clint Black concert. I pulled on a flight suit and walked with my tandem partner Mike Elliot, a U.S. Army Golden Knight out to a UH-1 or as many know it, a Huey helicopter. Mike and I sat on the edge of the helicopter and took the slow ride to 10,000 feet, where we would roll out and free fall for 5,000 feet and deploy our parachute. The signature sound of the Huey thumped and thumped all the way to 10,000 feet and the air chilled while we sat on the edge of the helicopter. Mike counted to 3 and leaped into the air, we fell at around 120mph towards earth and when we hit the target altitude around 5,000 feet, Mike deployed the chute. Saturday was our last day celebrating The 150th Anniversary of The Medal of Honor and all veterans who have served, I met and spoke briefly with Gary Sinise before his performance with his band "Lieutenant Dan Band". All of the veterans and families who were present enjoyed the show and partied late into the night. All in all, the trip was amazing and something I will never forget.

Hello everyone,

I am traveling down to Dallas, Texas today to attend Skyball, which is an event to honor and support military personnel and family members. Sentinels of Freedom brought this event to my attention and asked me if I would be interested in jumping into the show with some Army Golden Knights. "I couldn't say no...

...but what i'm really looking forward too, is meeting The Medal of Honor recipients. If you haven't seen The Medal of Honor documentary yet, I highly recommend it. You can stream it on Netflix.

Visit the below links for more information:

Skyball:
http://www.skyballinfo.com

U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team:
http://www.armygk.com

I have made changes to my twitter account, my new username is: stevebaskis

I know that a lot of you already know that I am blind, but I don't believe many of you understand how I use a computer and other electronics without sight. Screen Readers such as Apple's Voice Over or Freedom Scientific's JAWS screen reader, allow me to surf the internet, write text documents, make Skype calls, post blog messages and so much more…

Visit the below links if you are at all interested in learning about screen readers. Apple's Voice Over has been implemented into many of Apple's products and can sometimes be useful to individuals who have vision:

JAWS (Job Access With Speech):
http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/jaws-product-page.asp

Apple Voiceover:
http://www.apple.com/accessibility/voiceover/

Apple of course has released their new mobile operating system and iPHONE 4S, which I am very interested in testing and upgrading too. I thought I would share the above information to inform people who may have never heard of such a thing.