While a third-year cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he sustained an injury in a skiing accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Seven years later, he and his teammates made history with Team Everest ’03, the largest cross-section disability team ever to reach Mount Everest’s base camp. That point is more than 3,000 feet higher than any geographical point in the continental United States. The journey to base camp took 18 days.