Charlie Linville's right leg was amputated just below the knee in 2011 after he stepped on a bomb in Afghanistan.  Now he's inspiring all of us here in Idaho.

 

They say the third time's a charm.  That's definitely true in Linville's case.  After two failed attempts to reach the summit of Mount Everest because of huge natural disasters in recent years he's finally done it.  Word just came in this morning that Linville was standing on top of the tallest mountain in the world.  He's currently working his way down.

 

Linville arrived at base camp on April 17, was held up by some bad weather but finally made it to the advanced base camp on May 2.  He started his climb early this week and made a push for the summit late last night.

 

Back here in Boise his wife Mandi had a sleepless night checking weather conditions and waiting for a call from the summit which came in about 9:30 this morning.

 

“It’s time to go into celebration mode,” she said. “I’m going to throw him the biggest freaking party. It’s come full circle. It’s only fair that something so risky and so scary — it’s only appropriate that we celebrate the victory.”

 

Linville has trained for three years for this moment.  His previous setbacks came in 2014 when an avalanche separated the base camp from base camp 2 where sixteen guides were killed and then in 2015 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal killing thousands and caused several avalanches on Mount Everest.

 

Congratulations to Charlie, his wife, and his kids.  Truly a remarkable feat that inspires us all and makes us proud.  Now get back to Boise safe and sound!

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