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Needed - One More Friend

Guest post by: Zig Ziglar

Article Overview: Somebody once said that a stranger is simply a friend you haven't met. The dictionary says that a friend is one who is attached to another by affection which leads him to desire his company, or one who has sufficient interest to serve another.

Needed - One More Friend

Somebody once said that a stranger is simply a friend you haven't met. The dictionary says that a friend is one who is attached to another by affection which leads him to desire his company, or one who has sufficient interest to serve another. The dictionary definition amply describes Mike Corbett who, along with his friend Mark Wellman, on July 19, 1989, started their assault on El Capitan. El Capitan is a sheer rock wall 3,569 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley in Northern California. It is one of the most difficult mountains for rock climbers to scale. The combination of difficulty and danger is sufficient to test the strength and courage of even the world's most elite climbers.

It took Mark Wellman and Mike Corbett seven days to make the climb. During that time they encountered temperatures of up to 105 degrees and wind gusts that made the ascent even more difficult. When they reached the summit, Corbett stood in triumph but Mark Wellman just kept his seat. He's a paraplegic and the first person to scale El Capitan without the use of his legs.

Wellman had given up climbing in 1982 after he was paralyzed as a result of a fall. From that point on the only rock climbing he did was in his dreams. Then Mike Corbett convinced him they could climb the mountain together. Wellman certainly couldn't have done it without Corbett, who led the way and helped Wellman move through each stage, higher and higher. Perhaps the pinnacle of friendship and courage was reached when on the seventh day Corbett was unable to secure the pitons in the loose rock skirting the summit. Knowing that a misstep would send them both plunging to their deaths, Corbett hoisted Wellman onto his back and clambered the remaining distance to the top. On September 4, 1991, Wellman and Corbett set out to conquer Yosemite's other big wall, Half Dome. Thirteen days later they reached the top of the 2,200 foot vertical Tis-Sa-Ack route on Half Dome.

There's an old but very true statement that if you would have a friend, be a friend. I encourage you to be a friend like Mike Corbett was to Mark Wellman, and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

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Article Tags: ack, ascent, dictionary definition, elite climbers, friend mark, half dome, loose rock, mark wellman, mike corbett, misstep, northern california, paraplegic, pitons, rock climbers, sheer rock, strength and courage, thirteen days, wind gusts, yosemite, yosemite valley



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