[Nfb-new-hampshire] Fw: A sightless vision of summits in winter for Nashua man

[Ed Meskys]

Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 9:16 AM
Subject: A sightless vision of summits in winter for Nashua man


A sightless vision of summits in winter for Nashua man
Blind hiker Randy Pierce of Nashua and his guide dog, Quinn, are the subject 
of
"Four More Feet," a documentary
film screening at the University of New Hampshire on March 25.
Manchester Union Leader Saturday, 2013_03_23
JUSTIN FULLER A new film chronicles Nashua resident Randy Pierce's winter
ascension
to New Hampshire's 48 4,000-foot peaks. By GRETYL MACALASTER Sunday News
Correspondent
DURHAM -- When Randy Pierce, a blind hiker from Nashua, was about to embark 
on a
journey last winter to summit all 48 of New Hampshire's highest peaks in one
cold
season, novice filmmaker Dina Sutin asked if she could tag along and film 
the
journey.
The result is a documentary titled "Four More Feet," which will have its
Seacoast
premiere in the University of New Hampshire's Memorial Union Building on 
Monday
night
at 7 p.m. The title has multiple meanings: one focusing on the four-legged
support
of Pierce's dedicated guide dog, Quinn, and a second that is shared as the 
film,
and the journey, progresses. Sutin said she got much more out of the 
experience
than
she was expecting when she began filming in December 2011. In a word, she
described
the experience of following Pierce as "humbling. And, she added, audiences 
seem
humbled
as well once they've seen the film. You immediately reconsider your own
abilities
when you see someone that has an alleged disability who is so well adapted 
and
manages
to continue to do all the things they love seemingly effortlessly," Sutin 
said.
The
key word there is "seemingly. In fact, Pierce's life has been far from
effortless.
Shortly after graduating from UNH in 1988, he began losing his vision to a
neurological
disorder that also confined him to a wheelchair for one year, eight months 
and
21
days. Two successful experimental treatments got him out of the chair and on 
his
feet. Friends with the UNH Outdoor Education program then got him out on the
mountains.
Last March, Pierce, Quinn and co-hikers Justin Fuller and Kyle Dancuse, 
another
UNH
alum, completed their journey. Sutin chronicled it all: three months, 200 
miles
and
88,000 feet of elevation. At the beginning of the winter of 2011-12, 46 
hikers
were
on record for summiting New Hampshire's 48 peaks in a single winter. Pierce
became
the first blind person to accomplish the feat, and Quinn became the first 
guide
dog
to do so. Having a guide dog willing and excited to walk tough terrain came 
by
chance,
Pierce said. He showed an incredible aptitude for it," Pierce said of Quinn.
Guide
dogs are not trained for this kind of thing. Most of the trails in the White
Mountains
are the type of environment they are trained to avoid. Throughout the film,
Pierce
said, Quinn's happiness is in evidence - from his wagging tail to his 
boundless
energy.
In the end, Pierce said, what the pair accomplished first and foremost is
"ability
awareness versus disability awareness. That's an issue he speaks about to
students
all over the state through his charity 2020 VisionQuest, founded in 2010. 
The
goal
of the organization is to "inspire people to reach beyond adversity and 
achieve
their
highest goals," Pierce said. His winter hiking journey began as a way to 
lead by
example. His message is about choice. The challenge is real, and it has a 
real
impact
on every one of us," Pierce said. The choice of how we respond to that 
challenge
is always ours, and the choice we make will have a bigger influence on our 
life
than
any challenge ever could. I like to think I'm verification of that theory. 
One
of
his next goals is to summit the 48 peaks in the non-winter seasons. He, and
Quinn,
already are more than halfway to their goal. I hope to be climbing in life 
for a
lot longer still," Pierce said. Accompanied by "the Mighty" Quinn and Sutin,
Pierce
will be in attendance at Monday's screening to answer questions after the 
film.
For
a limited time, the DVD will be available for purchase online at
www.2020visionquest.org
. gmacalaster at newstote.com .