Extreme sports athlete, National Geographic 2015 Adventurer of the Year, former Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, and BVA member Lonnie Bedwell has made his dream of reaching the highest peak on each of the Earth’s seven continents a reality, the first blind person ever to do so. On October 17, he and his companions made it to the top of Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya in Indonesian, literally meaning Victorious Peak), the last on his “beyond this world” visionary bucket list.
“And that’s a wrap!” Lonnie exclaimed in his social media posts soon after the latest mission was complete.
Carstensz Pyramid is the highest mountain peak on an island and the highest peak both in Indonesia and within Oceania. The mountain is in the Sudirman Range of the highlands of Mimika Regency, Central Papua, Indonesia. Puncak Jaya is ranked fifth in the world for topographic isolation.
As he described in his speech to BVA 77th National Convention attendees (2022), Lonnie’s adventures have sometimes left life and death hanging in the balance. His goal: To inspire others to continue pushing the boundaries of life, no matter what their situation entails. Lonnie is the ultimate testament to the resilience and grit required to do so.
Lonnie’s life changed in 1997 after a hunting accident instantly took his sight completely in both eyes. Despite this, he miraculously did roof work in his hometown of Duggar, Indiana, and raised three daughters, teaching them to hunt, fish, and, perhaps most incredibly, to drive a car. After his daughters graduated, he turned his attention to challenging himself and soon became one of the world’s most recognized blind extreme sports athletes. Countless BVA members have been inspired by his drive and the encouragement he has provided to them at adaptive sports camps and recreational venues throughout the country.
When the threshold for running the Grand Canyon was placed at 1,000 kayak rolls, Lonnie took his donated kayak to the pond on his farm and rolled it 1,500 times. The rest is history, with Lonnie kayaking some of the most challenging whitewater in the world. He is best known for having not only completed the first blind descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, 226 miles in 2013, but also leading an almost identical subsequent trip with four other blinded veterans and their guides five years later. He is also an avid downhill skier.
