Weihenmayer was born September 23, 1968, in Princeton, New Jersey. At 15 months old, he was diagnosed with juvenile retinoschisis, with blindness the expected outcome by age 13. At age 16, he started using a guide dog. He tried rock climbing, and found he was a natural at scrambling up a face using his hands and feet to find holds.

In 1999, Erik Weihenmayer, his father and business manager Ed, team leader Pasquale Scaturro, and President Maurer agreed that the NFB would sponsor a training expedition to Ama Dablam in the spring of 2000 and the 2001 expedition to Mt. Everest. Erik's determination to achieve his dreams and his refusal to let blindness stand in his way provided a powerful vehicle for the Federation's message that blind people can compete and can be adventurers.

At 10:00 a.m. Nepal time on May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the only blind man ever to stand on the summit of Mt. Everest. He was part of an incredibly strong, talented, and cohesive team, almost all of whom summited Everest that day and all of whom had worked hard for years to make the fulfillment of this dream possible. Their names are Eric Alexander, Luis Benitez, Brad Bull, Jeff Evans, Steve Gipe, Didrik Johnck, Chris Morris, Mike O'Donnell, Pasquale Scaturro, Erik Weihenmayer, and Dr. Sherman Bull, father of Brad, as well as videographers Michael Brown and Charlie Mace.

As a result of this accomplishment he was featured on the cover of Time magazine. He also completed the Seven Summits in September 2002, one of only 150 mountaineers at the time to do so, but the only climber who achieved this while blind. In 2008, he also added the Carstensz Pyramid thus completing the Eight Summits. Weihenmayer has also made noteworthy climbs up the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite in 1996, and ascended Losar, a 2,700-foot (820 m) vertical ice face in the Himalayas in 2008.

In 2017, Weihenmayer was named one of "The 25 Most Adventurous Men of the Past 25 Years" by Men's Journal.

According to Wikipedia - nfb.org