Vision-Impaired Woman Marathon Runner Conquers Remarkable Feat by Climbing 14,000 Feet

Envision a woman with limited sight scaling a 14,000-foot peak. If you think this is impossible, then you are yet to meet Oidvin. Born in Korea without a vision in her right eye and a minuscule peripheral vision in her left eye, she embarked on a groundbreaking odyssey!

When this woman decided to scale the heights of Mt. Langley, everyone on her team was shocked. However, Oidvin was not someone to get scared and sit back. She believed in living life and facing new challenges. Thus, out she went for the hike! 

From blindness to heights: Eline Øidvin’s inspiring mountain climb

Oidvin’s team members could not believe the fact that she was ready for the hike. They were very much tensed and worried about how the trek would go. To get accustomed to the perilous terrain, Oidvin did an approximate hike of 9000 feet on Mt.Whitney. The guide was initially handholding every move of Oidvin. However, as time passed, he realized that she could sense all the hurdles just from holding his hand lightly. He was also amazed at how fast and smoothly Oidvin glided through the rough trail. 

In the most surprising way, Oidvin could sense all the turns and trees and even tell whether they had pines or leaves. This is a special sonar-like ability possessed by people who have been visually impaired since childhood. The phenomenon is called echolocation. 

As the summit grew nearer, the landscape became more challenging. The visual limitations of Oidvin acted like a boon as she could not see the steep slope of the summit. Finally, after a grueling climb, Oidvin did manage to put her foot on the 14000 ft high Mt.Langley. However, this was not the first taste of adventure that Oidvin had. 

Gritty Oidvin’s remarkable journey 

After being adopted and raised away from her homeland, Oidvin tried to fit in with others. She forced her Norwegian parents to buy her a bicycle. However, that didn’t turn out to be the brightest of ideas. With a significant amount of vision impairment, Oidvin ended up with cuts and bruises after crashing her bike. 

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This incident from childhood did not peg back her willpower. While on a trip, Oidvin came across a group of runners who asked her to tag along. Surprised, she hesitated at first. However, a doctor was present in the group who specialized in mentoring blind runners. Soon after, she got a call for participating in a marathon, and guess what? She won! 

From there on, life became an adventure for Oidvin. And her decision to scale Mt.Langley was a full circle. 

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