Backyard Camping for Kids with Disabilities

For outdoor enthusiasts who also happen to be parents, taking the kids camping for the first time is an almost-intoxicating experience. Seeing their eyes light up at a night sky full of stars or the dancing flames of a bonfire can reignite your sense of wonder at the natural world all around us.

For that reason and a host of others, like nappies and sleep schedules, most parents don’t introduce their children to their love of nature by taking them camping in a national park. A much more common (and practical) approach for the first family campout is to stay close to home — literally. Backyard camping keeps you in proximity to a bathtub, chicken nuggets, and a warm, comfy bed, just in case things go awry.

Source: Home Advisor

Outdoor Activities For People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
(American Blind Foundation)

36 Fun Summer Activities for Kids Who are Blind or Multiply Disabled
(Wonderbaby.org)

Outdoor Adaptations for Children Who Are Blind
(Our Everyday Life)

Games for Blind Boy Scouts & Cubs
(Inquiry.net)

Inclusive Outdoor Games For Deaf Children
(Pentagon for Learning & Play)

Group Games For Deaf And Hearing Children
(SoundAdvice)

Games for Deaf Boy Scouts & Cubs
(Inquiry.net)

Autism Camp Australia

Autism Camp Australia (ACA) has developed a program which includes a range of activities to improve the health and wellbeing of participants. The program caters to young people, aged 7-14, living with Autism Spectrum Disorder levels 1, 2 and 3 and their families.

ACA’s mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of autistic young people and their families through the provision of accessible and supported respite-break experiences, therapies and life skills development.

Around the world Sailability operates under different names. Sailability organisations are “not for profit”, volunteer-based, and through the activity of Sailing enriches the lives of people of all abilities – the elderly, the financially and socially disadvantaged as well as people with physical challenges.

Here is a list of all the Sailability clubs operating in Queensland

• Brisbane – Bayside 
• Brisbane – Graceville 
• Brisbane – Shorncliffe 
• Bundaberg
• Capricornia  
• Central Qld – Sailability In the Bush
• Darling Downs 
• Gold Coast – North 
• Gold Coast – South 
• Sunshine Coast 
• Tin Can Bay 
• Tweed Heads North  
• Whitsunday’s  

Source: Sailability

See also: Sailors With a Disability Program, Cairns Yacht Club

iFly Indoor Skydiving All Abilities Night

All Abilities Night at iFLY is a unique event that makes the dream of flight a reality for those in the special needs community. This program has been custom designed for those with physical and cognitive challenges to create an environment of support and inclusion, while focusing on making what seems impossible, possible. If you have someone in your life who is unable to participate in able-bodied activities but still wants to be challenged and push their limits, this is the perfect event to join.

Please note: All Abilities clients can access the site at any time. We have trained instructors always on site, so people do not need to be part of an all-abilities event to experience iFly.

The 2023 Year of Accessible Tourism in Queensland includes:

• $10 million Accessible Tourism Queensland Fund
• $1 million Awareness and Capability Program
• $1 million Visitor Experience Development initiative.

The Accessible Tourism Queensland Fund will support small to medium size tourism and events businesses to develop or enhance accessibility for people of all abilities.

Funding through the Awareness and Capability Program will go towards extending the Accessible Tourism in Queensland project, which will include the remaining tourism destinations across Queensland – Bundaberg, Capricorn, Gladstone, Mackay, Southern Queensland and the Whitsundays – which will complete state-wide assessment of tourism infrastructure accessibility and tourism business capability.

Read More

See also: TEQ Year of Accessible Tourism 2023 Fact Sheet 

Accessible Tourism Toolkit

To support Queensland’s tourism industry to become more accessible and inclusive to all visitors, the following resources have been developed by Get Skilled Access (GSA) and TravAbility on behalf of the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport.

• Accessible communication and brand guidelines
• Activity access information template
• Venue access information template
• Built environment checklist
• Five online learning videos
  • Module 1 – Defining disability, accessibility and inclusion
  • Module 2 – The language of disability
  • Module 3 – Inclusive mindset and universal design
  • Module 4 – Misconceptions and unconscious bias
  • Module 5 – Business case for accessible tourism

Go to the Accessible Tourism Toolkit webpage:

The resources were developed as part of the Accessible Tourism in Queensland project.

Access doesn’t mean paving pathways!

Designing for access in outdoor spaces doesn’t mean paving pathways.

A reckoning with assumptions about who wants to spend time in nature. Read More

Source
Antonia Malchik, High Country News
May 13, 2019

Accessible Trails

“The beauty of hiking is that it is for all abilities. There isn’t a person with a disability that we couldn’t take out on a hike”

People with Disability

Information from the Queensland Government

The Disability Inclusion Fact Sheet provides the outdoor recreation industry with introductory practical information to increase offerings for people with a disability.

What Business Resources are Available for People with Disabilities?

If you’re a disabled entrepreneur considering a new venture, these organisations are there to offer help. They include specialist business funding, opportunities for grants, as well as local resources, advisory bodies and the possibility of mentorship.

In Australia, people with disabilities have a higher rate of entrepreneurship (13 percent) than those without (10 percent). Although those are encouraging statistics, disabled entrepreneurs still have to overcome numerous barriers that able-bodied business owners don’t have to think about.

Thankfully, there are a growing number of resources, tools and funding options that can help disabled entrepreneurs overcome the economic and social challenges they face so they can launch and grow their businesses successfully.  Read More

Source: AABRS

Design for Everyone Guide

Sport and recreation settings

• Camping Areas
• Skate Parks
• Shared Trails
• Play Spaces
• Sport and Recreation reserves

Persons with Disability and Sport

People with a disability should receive the same physical, mental, and social benefits from participating in sport and physical activity as those not having a disability. Under law, Australians of all abilities should have access to sport and physical activity opportunities.

Persons with a disability include individuals with physical, sensory, intellectual, psychiatric, and/or other health related disabilities.

Key Messages

1. Disability should not exclude someone from participation in appropriate sports and physical activity.
2. Organisations dedicated to policy, advocacy and program delivery to persons with disability have an established role within the sport sector.
3. Stakeholder organisations use needs-based and inclusive strategies to engage persons with disability, encouraging them to be physically active.

Source
Clearinghouse for Sport

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a new way of providing individualised support for eligible people with permanent and significant disability, their families and carers. The NDIS is the insurance that gives us all peace of mind. Disability could affect anyone – having the right support makes a big difference.

What is the NDIS?

NDIS in Queensland

• Five Things you need to know about NDIS in Queensland
• Who can access the NDIS?
• Roll out of the NDIS in Queensland – introduction video
• Roll out of the NDIS in metropolitan Queensland – map
• Roll out of the NDIS in regional Queensland – map
• Where can I find more information?

NDIS for Providers

Disability Action Week

Disability Action Week is held annually in September with the aim of empowering people with disability, raising awareness of disability issues, and improving access and inclusion throughout the wider community.

• Accessible tourism toolkit
• Recreation programs for people with a disability
• Park Accessibility
• Parks and forests with wheelchair access 

Inclusive and Accessible

Improving access to natural places by providing better information

Providing Assitance
Adaptive equipment for bushwalking
Assistive techniques

Words at Work

Building inclusion through the power of language

Language is a powerful tool for building inclusion (or exclusion) at work.

The way we speak to each other creates a culture in which everyone can feel valued, respected, and one of the team (included), rather than under-valued, disrespected, and out of place (excluded).

What is Inclusive Language?
Put simply, inclusive language is effective language – it is respectful, accurate and relevant to all.

Respectful
Inclusive language involves knowing about and showing respect for all members of our team and workplace.

Accurate
Inclusive language gives a more accurate view of the real world by reflecting social diversity rather than perpetuating stereotypes. It avoids making false assumptions about (or stereotyping) people based on their age, cultural background, disability, gender, Indigenous background or sexual orientation and gender identity.

Relevant
Inclusive language reflects Australia’s diversity, is meaningful to a wide audience, and enables everyone to feel that they are being reflected in what is being said. To feel included, we need to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ ourselves reflected in the language used at work.

Download Words at Work

Source: Diversity Council Australia

Inclusion Guide & Self Assessment Resource for Camps and Outdoor Activity Providers

This Guide is a practical resource to support operators in the planning, design and  development of inclusive camps and outdoor businesses. The resource is underpinned by the concept and principles of Universal Design, assisting business operators to develop strategies that enables people from diverse backgrounds to function independently and with dignity during a camping and outdoor experience.

Author: Maree Feutrill
Source: Australian Camps Association

A Universal Design approach to developing inclusive camp programs

Presentation by Maree Feutrill, YMCA Camp Manyung at the Kids Outdoors 2030 conference, 2015

This workshop will introduce delegates to the Principles of Universal Design and their integration to camp program. The purpose of this approach is to enable all people, regardless of age or ability, to participate equally in the camp experience.

YMCA Victoria, in partnership with the Victorian State Government, are currently using a process to apply universal design principles and philosophy to design of camp programs, adventure activities, camp facilities and flexible teaching methods to create an inclusive camp environment.

Various case studies of universally designed camp activities will be used to illustrate how adventure activities can be accomplished in multiple ways to meet the needs of a broad range of campers with different abilities.

Universal Design: Integrating the Principles into Camp Activities

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design is dedicated to enabling the design of environments that can be accessed, understood and used regardless of age, size and ability.

Design for Everyone Guide

Welcome to the Design For Everyone: A Guide To Sport And Recreation Settings.

A practical resource to assist the planning, design and development of inclusive sport and recreation facilities.

The concept of Universal Design is to simplify life for everyone by making the built environment more usable to as many users as possible.

It is separate from accessible design as Universal Design is based on the equitable use of a facility and social inclusion and not the measurement of accessible design features and meeting minimum legislative requirements.

Applied holistically to a building without an alternative for different groups, Universal Design addresses issues of having a different approach for different users, which not only improves and simplifies the way a facility is used but also eliminates user segregation to maximise participation by users of all abilities.

Source: Sport & Recreation Victoria

Artificial Intelligence and Assistive Technologies

The 2023 Year of Accessible Tourism in Queensland includes:

• $10 million Accessible Tourism Queensland Fund
• $1 million Awareness and Capability Program
• $1 million Visitor Experience Development initiative.

The Accessible Tourism Queensland Fund will support small to medium size tourism and events businesses to develop or enhance accessibility for people of all abilities.

Funding through the Awareness and Capability Program will go towards extending the Accessible Tourism in Queensland project, which will include the remaining tourism destinations across Queensland – Bundaberg, Capricorn, Gladstone, Mackay, Southern Queensland and the Whitsundays – which will complete state-wide assessment of tourism infrastructure accessibility and tourism business capability.

Read More

Accessible Tourism Toolkit

To support Queensland’s tourism industry to become more accessible and inclusive to all visitors, the following resources have been developed by Get Skilled Access (GSA) and TravAbility on behalf of the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport.

• Accessible communication and brand guidelines
• Activity access information template
• Venue access information template
• Built environment checklist
• Five online learning videos
  • Module 1 – Defining disability, accessibility and inclusion
  • Module 2 – The language of disability
  • Module 3 – Inclusive mindset and universal design
  • Module 4 – Misconceptions and unconscious bias
  • Module 5 – Business case for accessible tourism

Go to the Accessible Tourism Toolkit webpage:

The resources were developed as part of the Accessible Tourism in Queensland project.

Adaptive MTB Advancements

Helping paraplegic riders return to the sport they love

For the first time in 16 years, Renee Junga is considering a return to competitive downhill mountain biking.

In 2006, she suffered spinal injuries when she crashed at the Mountain Bike World Championships at Rotorua in New Zealand.

“I got a bit too keen, overshot a jump and fell on my head and sustained a spinal cord injury,” Junga said.

Now, finally bike technology has started to catch up, with adaptive three-wheeled bikes being produced where the riders can be strapped to their seats.

Read Full Story

We are Undefeatable

When you’re managing a long term health condition, being active is about finding what works for you. We are Undefeatable – a great resource from the UK

Includes Ways to Move – We Are Undefeatable

Jack started wheelchair skateboarding

Jack Van Hees, 18, has not been able to walk for six months because of a major tic from Tourette syndrome (TS) that causes his legs to give out from under him.

“When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Tourette’s, and then three months after my diagnosis … I couldn’t get my legs to move,” he said.

It has happened twice since then, but this latest onset has dragged on much longer.

“It’s tough — one day I’ll be walking and the next day I won’t.”

This latest bout left the avid skateboarder from Emerald, 270 kilometres west of Rockhampton, without anything to ride. But thanks to a community fundraising campaign Mr Van Hees has purchased an adaptive wheelchair and rejoined the local scene and the adrenaline has been pumping ever since.  Read More

Builds off-road ‘wheelchair’ for wife

Disabled folks are often restricted from enjoying activities like hiking, trekking, and camping. Heck, most daily activities like visiting a mall or going to the supermarket can be incredibly difficult if a building is not compliant with the American Disabilities Act’s standards for accessible design. So, after the YouTuber JerryRigEverything, or just Jerry, created a “wheelchair” for his wife so they could do adventure activities together, he realized everyone should have access to his invention.

The couple doesn’t call the creation a wheelchair at all, instead, they simply refer to it as The Rig. It’s available for purchase right now, but here’s why it’s so awesome. “Personally, I love my light blue Rig,” wife Cambry shared in a video demonstrating the product. “We’ve put over a thousand miles on it and it’s taken me places I never in a million years thought I could go, like on a hike to a waterfall in Hawaii or up a canyon on packed snow.”  Read More

Source: Upworthy

Shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton to return to qualify for the World Surf League

Key points

• Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a 4-metre tiger shark in Hawaii in 2003
• She returned to the surf one month after the attack and has a slightly modified board
• She has announced she’ll be competing on this year’s World Surfing League qualifying series tour

Her key to success is focusing on what she can achieve.

“If I moped around thinking how I only have one arm then I would have had a very different life.

Read More

Source: ABC News

Including Children and Youth with Disabilities in the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines

The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth use the tagline Sweat, Step, Sleep, Sit and a logo in the shape of a “4” to represent a “new movement paradigm that emphasizes the integration of all movement behaviours occurring over a whole day” – moderate to vigorous physical activity (“sweat”), light physical activity (“step”), sleep, and sedentary behaviours (“sit”). But what about the kids and teens who cannot stand, step, or sweat? The Guidelines do not include any evidence-based recommendations for children and youth with a disability.

To address this gap, a team of researchers from Queen’s University and the University of British Columbia set out to learn more about the potential inclusivity of the “sweat, step, sleep, sit” guidelines, and how the resource can be adapted for kids and teens of all abilities. Handler and colleagues (2019) interviewed 15 mothers of children and youth ages 6-17 with diverse physical and intellectual disabilities about their perceptions of the guidelines, and whether or not they considered them to be inclusive. READ MORE

Source
Sport Information Resource Centre, Canada

Paraplegic motocross rider says she is ‘better now than before the accident’

Christina Vithoulkas was riding high on life as a motocross and freestyle motorcyclist in September last year when a mistimed jump left her with a broken spine.

The new ‘gender-inclusive’ rules for sports clubs

A set of new gender-inclusive guidelines have been handed out to sports clubs across Australia in a bid to accomodate transgender athletes.

The guidelines, developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission alongside Sport Australia and the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS), look to create and promote “inclusive environments in sport at all levels, from community to elite, across Australia”.

Guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport (2019)
(Australian Human Rights Commission)

Access doesn’t mean paving pathways!

Designing for access in outdoor spaces doesn’t mean paving pathways.

A reckoning with assumptions about who wants to spend time in nature. Read More

Source
Antonia Malchik, High Country News
May 13, 2019

Taking part with disabled people: Non-disabled people’s perceptions

A new report from the Activity Alliance in the UK shines a light on non-disabled people’s attitudes on inclusive activity with disabled people.

Recommendations

• Increase public awareness of disabled people, especially in relation to being active. This must aim to challenge perceptions and create a more accurate and diverse picture of active disabled people among their non-disabled peers.
• Embed inclusivity in many more opportunities so disabled and non-disabled people can be active together.
• Celebrate and share experiences of inclusive activity with representation for all impairment groups.

Read More

Accessible Trails

“The beauty of hiking is that it is for all abilities. There isn’t a person with a disability that we couldn’t take out on a hike”

Paraplegic reaches Everest Base Camp

An Australian paraplegic who lost the use of his legs as a teenager has climbed to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, using mostly his hands, and the occasional piggyback ride from a friend.

Everest Base Camp can only be reached by foot or helicopter, and the trek usually takes between nine to 12 days to complete.

Scott Doolan, 28, managed to do it in 10 days, becoming the first paraplegic to complete the feat with minimal assistance.

Wheelchair Climber

A car accident seven years ago stripped professional Hong Kong rock climber Lai Chi-wai of his ability to walk, but this did not stop him climbing up a mountain that is roughly the height of New York’s Empire State Building.

Adaptive Surfing Team at Worlds

The ACCnet21 Australian Adaptive Surfing Team have jetted out to California, setting their sights on medals at the 2017 Stance ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship set to be held at La Jolla for the third year running.

How Cycling is Helping Veterans Find Peace at Home

For many members of our armed forces, returning home signifies the beginning of a different type of battle.

The laser focus that allows you to keep your tires tracking on the trail’s narrow tread. The playful challenge of picking your way through the rocks strewn on the trail. The hooting and hollering of buddies behind you. The sounds of nothing but nature. Hurtling downhill or huffing up. Most of the time, there’s something about a bike ride that feels healing, rejuvenating, calming, therapeutic. Rarely do we return home feeling worse than when we left.

That bike-joy is now being harnessed by some U.S. war veteran support groups. For some vets, the ride is what gets them to leave the house in the first place—and then allows them to put away the bike and carry on afterward.

Source
REI CO-OP Journal

Inaugural Adaptive MTB Camp

A Better World for Disabilities

A better world for wheelers and people with disabilities – Google Maps’ call to arms

Google’s Map and Local Guides team have taken to their blog overnight calling on people with disabilities and their family, carers and friends or even the general public to help add information relating to accessibility about venues, places of interest and transport stops and interchanges

I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much

Stella Young

Some choice quotes:

I was teaching in a Melbourne high school, and I was about 20 minutes into a year 11 legal studies class when this boy put up his hand and said, “Hey miss, when are you going to start doing your speech?” And I said, “What speech?” You know, I’d been talking them about defamation law for a good 20 minutes. And he said, “You know, like, your motivational speaking. You know, when people in wheelchairs come to school, they usually say, like, inspirational stuff?” (Laughter) “It’s usually in the big hall.” And that’s when it dawned on me: This kid had only ever experienced disabled people as objects of inspiration.

You might have seen the little girl with no hands, drawing a picture with a pencil held in her mouth. You might have seen a child running on carbon-fiber prosthetic legs. And these images, there are lots of them out there, they are what we call “inspiration porn.” And I use the term porn deliberately, because they objectify one group of people for the benefit of another group of people. So in this case, we’re objectifying disabled people for the benefit of nondisabled people. The purpose of these images is to inspire you, to motivate you, so that we can look at them and think, “Well, however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person.”

And that quote, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude,” the reason that that’s bullshit is because it’s just not true. No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp. Never.

Stella Young died unexpectedly on December 6, 2014. She was 32.
She wished to be no one’s inspiration!

The inaugural nudie Australian Adaptive Surfing Titles A Huge Success

The inaugural nudie Australia Adaptive Surfing Titles have been run and won in fun waves at Cabarita on the far north coast of New South Wales.

Miracle on the Mountain Play Outside Park to provide environment for kids with disabilities

Outdoor play is an essential part of childhood, providing time and space for kids to imagine, climb, run, socialize and explore in the great outdoors. But for many children with disabilities, outdoor play is often enjoyed from the sidelines. However, a new park on the South Cumberland Plateau (Tennessee) is making outdoor fun available to children of all abilities.

READ MORE

parkrun is for everyone!

In November last year we had our first wheelchair participant, Zac Schumacher, who provided us with feedback about the course from his perspective and all that was required was a change of position for the finish chute. From that day we now run the finish chute parallel to the pathway allowing runners to finish on the grass (for ease of knowing who is a parkrunner) and the wheelchairs and prams to finish on the path.

READ MORE

Better Experience with new Beach Wheelchair

Wheelchair bound find freedom under the sea

The Paradox of Integration: Building a Panacea or Exacerbating a Partition?

The Norseman, the world’s toughest ironman race – on one leg

When Brant Garvey was born with half his right leg missing, doctors had a message for his parents: “Be prepared that he’s not going to be able to do things that other kids can do”.

Today, he is training to conquer the world’s toughest race, The Norseman

The Blind Mountaineer Who Conquered Everest

On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

In 2008 he climbed Carstensz Pyramid on the island of Papua New Guinea, completing the Seven Summits, the highest point on every continent.  This accomplishment closed the circuit on a 13-year journey that had begun with his 1995 ascent of Denali. He is joined by a select company of only 150 mountaineers to have accomplished the feat.

A Life Changer

For Hank, who has a spinal injury, being able to take part in mountain bike racing saved his life.

“I was ex-army, I was going downhill self-medicating with alcohol and medication and got to the point where I said, I gotta do something about this.”

“It’s taken me 20 years. 1993 is when I went into this chair. People were saying there’s not much you can do. Well I’m doing it.”

Brisbane amputee swims English Channel

Brisbane amputee Michael Powell has completed one of the world’s most gruelling physical challenges by swimming the English Channel.

Mr Powell, 55, lost part of his left leg in a tractor accident when he was four, but two years ago made the decision to take on the 32-kilometre swim between England and France to raise money for charity Foodbank Queensland, and has so far collected more than $13,000

Mr Powell, the sixth amputee to swim the English Channel, completed the swim in 15 hours and 25 minutes, landing at Wissant in France.

Skydive accident survivor rediscovers passion for life

A far north Queensland man whose passion for adventure landed him in a wheelchair is training for one of the toughest open water swims in Queensland.

Jonas Lutke, 28, became a partial quadriplegic following a mid-air skydiving accident over Goondiwindi, southern Queensland, in 2014.

“I had a big jump in the middle of the day with 10 people and basically I got caught off guard and my friend and I got entangled in the sky,” Mr Lutke said.

The sky-diving instructor said he was freefalling at around 200 kilometres per hour when they collided.

“Once I got hit I knew something wasn’t right, my whole body just went numb,” he said.

First quadruple-amputee climbs Kilimanjaro

In 2012, Kyle became the first quadruple amputee to climb – actually bearcrawl – the 19,340 feet to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro without the aid of prosthetics. His 10-day ascent was widely covered by the press, followed on social media, and raised money and awareness for wounded veterans as well as Tanzanian schoolchildren. Upon his return, Kyle won his second ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability.

Dinesh Palipana becomes Queensland’s first quadriplegic medical intern

A Queensland medical graduate who was left quadriplegic after a car accident says being offered a place as an intern at the Gold Coast University Hospital is “incredible and surreal”.

Dr Palipana said he wanted to encourage other people with disabilities to follow their dreams.

“Just because you have a physical impairment doesn’t mean things are cut off so I hope we’ve shown what is possible.”

Vision-impaired skier Debbie King finds a way to hit the slopes of Mount Buller

Seasoned skier Debbie King grew up on the slopes of Victoria’s Mount Buller and thought she might have to give up the sport she loved when she suddenly lost her vision overnight.

In 2008, Debbie was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Head Drusen and lost her peripheral vision, leaving her with just 15 per cent of her total sight.

A few years later, Debbie returned to the slopes but found it difficult to negotiate the crowds.

“When I lost my vision I’d been attempting to ski at Mount Buller and it was just becoming far too dangerous,” Ms King said.

People weren’t aware that I couldn’t see them and there were a few close calls.

Paul Pritchard climbs Tasmania’s Totem Pole 18 years after it nearly killed him

Paul Pritchard nearly died trying to climb the Totem Pole in 1998.

Eighteen years later, he has returned and successfully conquered the slender sea stack on Tasmania’s east coast.

Mr Pritchard was one of Britain’s leading climbers in the 1980s and ’90s, travelling the world to scale new heights.

“To go where no-one else has ever been.”

Mr Pritchard said he saw a magazine article in the late 1990s about Steve Monks, the first man to conquer the Totem Pole.

“I thought, ‘My gosh, that just is amazing. I’ve got to do it’,” he said.

First-Ever Female Wheel Chair Backflip: Katherine Beattie

Everest: Mark Inglis