Although they left the United States on different days, BVA members Lonnie Bedwell and Shawn Cheshire are both now in Nepal and on the brink of their historic ascent of Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse. Climbing Everest and Lhotse on the same journey, the latter of which is the world’s fourth largest mountain, has never previously been accomplished by a blind person, let alone two at the same time.

In addition, Shawn’s successful attempt at reaching the top of Everest will make her the first-ever blind woman to do so. Already adaptive sports legends by virtue of previous accomplishments, Lonnie and Shawn are accompanied by guide teams from the nonprofit Sightless Summits and Choosing to See organizations. To follow their daily progress in real-time throughout the coming weeks, click here and locate the red flag on the MapShare webpage. Be sure to localize the map to determine the precise location of the group.