Photograph by Matt Hage
Operation Denali, an expedition of wounded Iraq war veterans who, sponosored in part by Mountain Hardwear and our Expedition Sponsorship Program, put an assault on Denali in June with a team of 6 (including a few amputees), was honored today when the team leader, Marc Hoffmeister, was selected as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.
>>View Marc Hoffmeister photo gallery
June 1, 2009 - The Operation Denali team takes the "mandatory" pre-climb picture at the airfield in Talkeetna before departing for base camp. Front row, left to right: Marc Hoffmeister, Gayle Hoffmeister, Todd Tumolo, Dave Shebib, and Matt Nyman. Back row, left to right: Bob Haines, Jon Kuniholm, Matt Montavon, and Kirby Senden.
By David Roberts
It was April 2007. Serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq, Hoffmeister, then 37 years old, was riding in an Army Humvee. The troops were on patrol outside Al Hillah when an IED tore their vehicle to shreds. "I knew I was badly hurt," Hoffmeister says today. "I was staring through a large hole in my left arm. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't hear." Hoffmeister was evacuated to a hospital in Germany, then sent on a 29-hour "hell flight" home. Eight surgeries on his arm followed, and months of pain-racked convalescence. Then the depression set in. Though back in his hometown of Eagle River, Alaska, Hoffmeister felt completely at loose ends. "I was just on the couch, doing nothing," he says.
2010 Applications are due November 15th! The Mountain Hardwear Sponsorship Program was founded to encourage people to explore the outdoors and to push our products to perform in physically demanding environments. Download the 2010 Application Here
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Comments (1)
Although, I believe that a man like this one should be celebrated, I wonder why a magazine like National Geographic would pick a military man or someone who has the means or the job to be able to do those kinds of exploration. I know that for many children (or at least for me) National Geographic magazine was a window into another world. I dreamed to write, photograph or be a part of that world.
There are so many people who go on amazing adventures and bring their children along to continue the legacy of outdoor exploration and cultural understanding, rather than exploring for the sheer power or self aspects of it. I wish the outdoor world would start to celebrate more regular outdoor enthusiasts, who do a lot for the continuation of exploration.
Heidi http://outdoorbaby.net
Posted by Heidi Ahrens | November 15, 2009 7:31 PM
Posted on November 15, 2009 19:31