Four paraplegic climbers celebrate victo ry

“I waited to be sure there were no problems before I posted this from "The Record Searchlight" in Redding, CA

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MOUNT SHASTA — As Muffy Davis eyed Mt. Shasta from a distance, she looked on with pride knowing she and three fellow paraplegic climbers had reached the summit of the 14,162-foot snow-capped mountain.

"I can't believe I was up there," Davis, 29, of Sun Valley, Idaho, said at Bunny Flats on Sunday after reaching the summit Saturday afternoon. "It was unreal to be on top of the world, and now being down here looking up at where you've been, I'm amazed I was able to get up there with my arms," she said. "It was by far the most challenging thing I have done, both physically and mentally, in my life."

Davis, Mark Wellman, 42, of Truckee, Peter Rieke, 48, of Pasco, Wash., and Keegan Reilly, 21, of Corvalis, Ore., became the first paraplegic climbers to reach the Mt. Shasta summit.

The four climbers used "Snowpods," nonmotorized vehicles that resemble a miniature tank or tractor. The climbers move the pods with hand cranks, which work a system of 42 gears and propel the 45-pound Snowpods.

It took the group seven days to reach the summit on a route that covered 41/2 miles and about 7,000 vertical feet”

“That's cool! I've seen those snowpods on either Discovery Channel or OLN. Neat idea.”

“Now that is way cool I am very happy form them!I think it is great that people like that don't let anything stop them.

8)”