Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr

Hugh was the youngest of five children. He had 2 older brothers, and two older sisters. He grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania. From an early age the Herr’s often took the summer vacations to national parks, often traveling as far as Mt. Rainier and Yellowstone. So from a young age Hugh developed a love for the outdoors. As the boys grew older there Dad started to take them on mountaineering trips up some of the Northwest’s Volcanoes. It was these trips that inspired Tony, Hugh’s oldest brother to take up rock climbing. Naturally what his older brother was going to do, Hugh was going to do.

They started climbing on some of the near by cliffs, and boulders, but as they became older and sought more difficult climbs they headed up to New York’s Shawgunks. The brothers soon found themselves driving to the Gunk’s almost every weekend, not a quick trip, at a driving time of 6 hours! They spent their time

It wasn’t long till he became the best climber at the Gunk’s. On any weekend one could find him going up some of the hardest routes in the nation, or pioneering new ones! At the age of seventeen Hugh was on top of the world. That winter he and one of his friends, Jeff planned a climb of the notorious Mt. Washington. Mt. Washington, found in New Hampshire is home to some of the most inhospitable winter weather in the world. The summit holds the record for the fastest recorded wind speed at 236 miles an hour. It is a mountain to which many have lost their lives.

After returning from the rehabilitation center, it was only a matter of weeks before he had coxed his eldest brother Tony into going climbing. He was weak, but at the same time he noticed one benefit, he weighed less. It wasn’t long till his strength started to return, with the return of his strength his climbing improved. He was quick to learn how to place his feet and was soon climbing at a 5.8 level. As his climbing improved, he found walking more and more difficult. He was developing soars on the stumps of legs, and pain was again becoming unbearable.

His family had been an important part of his life. The hospital even set up the adjacent room so that his family could stay there. His mother stayed the entire time he was in the hospital, and his father was there as often as possible. His sisters and brothers flew in or drove in when the chance presented itself. His high school gymnastics team visited him, as did many others.

After the operation, he had to deal with the phantom pains that would keep him up at night. He was also tortured when he would look down and he the flat sheets where his legs used to be. His medication dosage was drastically decreased from one shot an hour to one shot a day. His mother left the hospital after this because she was unable to deal with pain in caused her to see

Some topics in this essay:
Eventually Hugh, Hugh Jeff, York’s Shawgunks, Jeff Hugh, Hugh Herr, Mt Washington, Rainier Yellowstone, Naturally Hugh, , Northwest’s Volcanoes, hardest routes, hardest routes nation, white conditions, soon found, found themselves, climb decided, gunk’s weekend, climbing improved, rehabilitation center, gymnastics team, bivy gear,