A rare disease stole his sight by the time he turned 14. His mother was killed in a car accident after his freshman year in high school. But Eric Weihenmayer, 39, never let adversity limit his ambition. He went on to make history as the first blind man to scale Mount Everest in 2001. He wrote "Touch the Top of the World," which was made into a film for A&E.

His most recent film project, "Blindsight," is a documentary about his expedition to get six blind Tibetan teenagers to climb the north side of Mount Everest. He also co-authored "The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles Into Everyday Greatness.'' "Blindsight" is now playing at the Harris Theater, Downtown. He lives in Colorado with his wife and daughter.

Q: Which is the more difficult side of Mount Everest to climb?

A: Well, they both have their challenges. The south side has the notorious Khumbu icefall right out of base camp. It's 2,000 or more feet of vertical ice. So in that respect I would say the south side is harder. But the north side also has its challenges. It is a windy, cold environment. It's rocky trails. It is a long way from base camp to advance base camp. So it's like saying which great white shark is the friendliest.

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Q: You say you weren't afraid of being blind. You were afraid of being forgotten.

A: I think it's a myth that when you go blind that you're afraid of the dark. I would sit in the cafeteria my freshman year as a newly blinded person, and I would hear the excitement, the food fights, the jokes, the laughter, the adventure all passing me by. I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to be in the thick of things. I wasn't afraid to see darkness. I was afraid that I would sit on the sidelines and that I would listen to life go by and that I would never be part of something important. You know, my life wouldn't have meaning. I think in a way that fear (obviously it was negative) sort of became a motivator, a fuel that drove me.

Q: What was the feeling you had the first time you reached the top of a mountain?

A: Everyone wants to feel like they have the capability of doing great things, but I didn't know if I did or not. Climbing Mount McKinley [in Alaska, the highest mountain peak in North America] and standing on that summit was definitely like a wake-up call that I had what it took to do big stuff.

Q: People climb for the challenge and sometimes the view. Granted, it can be obscured by clouds. Do you experience a kind of interior picture?

A: It's sort of a convenient myth that people climb mountains for the view. As you said, a lot of times you stand on the summit and you are looking down on a sea of clouds. Beyond that there is a view. But it's not a sweeping view of distance. I'm feeling the terrain of the snow and the rock under my feet and the steepness of the terrain and the wind and the sun in my face and the sound of space. You know, when I get up high I can hear sound vibrations moving through space. It's a very awe-inspiring sound. So there is a sense of view, it's just not visual.

Q: What do you see when you dream?

A: I see in a way that I used to see, which is like very fuzzy shapes and shades of gray.

Q: What about the idea that you can't see the extreme drops or get vertigo?

A: I think in certain ways I stopped seeing life in terms of black and white, advantage or disadvantage. A lot of times you can make advantages or disadvantages in almost any situation. A lot of it is sort of within your control and your mind set to do that. I just think I'm very thankful to be there. So I guess not being afraid of drop-offs, that can be an advantage if you make it one. I would say equally, imagine falling into the unknown. Again it's how you discipline your mind to see the world.

Q: Did your other senses get sharper as your sight diminished?

A: Sure, and I don't know exactly the right word for that. I will say you learn to use those other senses better. You learn to squeeze more information and awareness out of those other senses. Beyond that you learn to perceive beauty through those other senses.

Q: In "Blindsight" it never appeared that the team and teenagers were roped together.

A: In the beginning we were roped up for training for rock climbing. When you are hiking on trails you normally aren't roped up. I think it's important for people, even blind people, to be doing things and feeling a sense of freedom as much as possible.

Q: Roping up has an advantage, but if one falls don't you all go into the crevasse?

A: [Laughs.] Sure, exactly and that's a great thought you have because it's not necessarily increasing your safety, it's a matter of sharing your risk. What it makes you do is it forces you to be responsible for each other. You are not just responsible for yourself, you are responsible for your team. Your life depends on it. It is a terrifying way to travel.

Q: You not only had to deal with blindness. You lost your mother as well. It could have been a devastating combination.

A: Yeah, I mean death is like adversity of the worst kind. I go back to that idea of listening to life go by. I don't think my mom would have wanted me to be a victim, sitting in a dark room. I think she, sort of in a way, has guided me to, you know, take on challenges and try to make an impact.

Marylynn Uricchio's new Seen now publishes on Saturdays at postgazette.com/seen. Coming this week: Big hair is back.