Disabled Explorers to Take on the Continental Divide

By Disabled World - 2008-07-12 Find more articles like this in our Disability travel category.

Email article

Print

Three explorers are leaving Phoenix, Arizona, at the beginning of July to take on an expedition along the Continental Divide - 24 days, spanning three countries, nine states, and 2700 miles.

What makes this trip unique is that two of the team members are amputees, and they are out to prove to other disabled people that anything is possible.

Lance Blair, 35, team leader and founder of the organization Disabled Explorers, lost his lower leg in his early twenties and knows first-hand the challenges of getting on with one's life after such a traumatic injury.

Now a nurse working in Phoenix hospitals, Blair has become a well-known advocate for new amputees, providing them with counseling as well as inspiration he is an active Boy Scout leader and regularly camps and explores with his children in their specially equipped Toyota FJ Cruiser.

"What Lance is doing is an inspiration to all of us," said Scott Brady, publisher of Overland Journal, the main sponsor of the expedition. "He has a passion for the outdoors, for wild places, and he wants to share that passion with others. Through Disabled Explorers, Lance is also able to show the disabled community that anything is possible, with the right preparation, planning, and equipment. The team's specially equipped four-wheel-drives allow them to see places and experience things not usually available to people with limited mobility."

Departing from Phoenix along a highway route through Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, Disabled Explorers hopes to bring attention to vehicle-based exploration and the wonderful sights normally only accessible to the able bodied. Drawing from overlanding traditions of South Africa and Australia and using 4WD vehicles equipped with fridges, GPS tracking, and recovery equipment, Disabled Explorers wants anyone with a physical mobility issue to know they can access and enjoy the historic areas and backcountry beauty the world has to offer.

Disabled Explorers was born out of the need for a resource to help anyone with a physical mobility issue who has the desire to reach the remote regions of the world. As a Tread Lightly- Trained organization, there is also a strong focus on conversation and preservation so these areas will be around for future handicapped visitors.

Disabled Explorers does more than provide an example or the inspiring stories of those who are already traveling the backcountry. They also provide Ride-Along events, where a passenger seat is available to anyone who wants a taste of off-highway trekking, as well as driver training and guided trips.
 
The Continental Divide Expedition will involve 24 days of travel with stops in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks to contrast the difference between standard handicap access and the freedom of exploring from your own vehicle. In addition, the trip will have a 5-day stop in Ouray, Colorado, for the FJ Summit, which is a national gathering of over 600 Toyota FJ Cruiser owners. Disabled Explorers endorses Toyota's popular 4WD because of its suicide-style doors that gives wheelchair users ease of access to stow or retrieve their chairs.

Throughout the Continental Divide Expedition, the team will make appearances at events designed to inspire people of all abilities, although one of the team's primary audiences will be the growing number of military service men and women who are returning home from the Middle East as new amputees.

Other team members are Tyler Winslow, who has spent years exploring the Southern California wilds will provide home base support; Michael Doyle, an amputee and active off-highway explorer who frequently travels through Mexico and helps with off road racing teams; and Mike McCambridge, webmaster and tech-guru for Disabled Explorers. While neither he nor Tyler is disabled they demonstrated the support the handicap community can have and the integration possible between the able and disabled in all areas of life.

For more information, photos, and to schedule interviews please contact:

Lance Blair
Disabled Explorers
DisabledExplorers.com
+1 602 451 6079
lance@disabledexplorers.com
2303 N 44th St Suite 14-1160
Phoenix, AZ 85008

Scott Brady
Overland Journal
OverlandJournal.com
+1 928 777 8567
scott@overlandjournal.com