Trio of injured Iraq veterans stands tall on Rainier

MOUNT RAINIER --

A sniper's bullet in Iraq in 2006 took Ryan Job's sight, but not his grit, his determination and his love of the outdoors.

All three were in evidence as the 27-year-old former Navy SEAL from Issaquah became one of three current or former servicemen, severely injured in Iraq, to reach the top of Mount Rainier on Wednesday with the help of volunteer guides. They returned Thursday afternoon to cheering supporters in the Paradise parking lot.

"Ryan was great," said Micah Clark of Richland, founder of Camp Patriot, the 3-year-old nonprofit that organized the event. "He's so strong. He's just a moose. He just put on his pack and trudged along."

Job, who hiked and backpacked often in his youth but never considered climbing Rainier, said that even without sight, he could sense the majesty of the 14,411-foot peak, especially approaching the summit.

"You can feel the altitude. Everything feels bigger. Everything feels open. There's no sound except the wind. The air is crisper, colder, and you feel like you're on top of everything."

Job was on a rooftop patrol in Ramadi on Aug. 2, 2006, when a sniper's bullet struck the rifle he was holding in front of his face. Pieces of the shattered weapon tore through his face, severing one eye and damaging the nerves of the other, leaving him completely blind.

Also on the Rainier climb were Chad Jukes, 24, an Army Reserve staff sergeant from Logan, Utah, who lost a foot after his vehicle struck an anti-tank mine in Iraq in December 2006, and Marine Sgt. Joey Martinez, of San Antonio, who was nearly blinded by a roadside bomb in al-Anbar province in 2006.

Martinez said he could see the outlines of shapes, and some colors, on the hike, but not details. Jukes, who used a prosthetic device shaped like a climbing crampon, was able to keep up a good pace on the snowfields.

Job, the most severely disabled of the three, was roped to as many as three guides at once during the most dangerous parts of the climb. On a normal ascent, climbers have as much as 20 feet of rope between them, but with Job, guides were roped just 3 feet away, using the tension on the rope to help signal him where to step.

"Where they told me to put my foot, that's where I put my foot," Job said.

It's unusual -- but not unprecedented -- for a blind person to climb Mount Rainier. Park officials said they didn't know how many sightless people have gone up the mountain, but one 1981 expedition reached the summit with five blind climbers.

This week's 21-member Camp Patriot party took a day longer than many Rainier ascents, starting up the mountain Tuesday, resting at Camp Muir, just above 10,000-foot level that evening, then starting toward the summit about 11 p.m.

The group reached the summit about 8 a.m. Wednesday, then returned to Camp Muir for a second night. On Thursday, Job and the two experienced guides flanking him, Curtis Fawley and Art Rausch, were the final members of the group to reach Paradise, arriving about 2:30 p.m.

Current and former guides from Rainier Mountaineering Inc. and International Mountain Guides donated their services for the event.

Job, who now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., is studying for a business degree online, assisted by a computer with voice-recognition programming. His younger brother, Aaron, is a Marine reservist who has completed two tours of duty in Iraq. The Seattle Times published a series of stories on the family during Aaron Job's deployments in 2003 and 2004.

Ryan Job said that although the Rainier climb was rigorous, it did not compare to the training he endured to become a Navy SEAL.

"This was a single event. BUDs [SEAL training] went on for months and months."

This was the second Rainier ascent for Camp Patriot, which took two injured veterans to the summit last year. The organization also envisions taking disabled veterans fishing, hiking, kayaking and skiing, and is planning a lodge in Montana as a permanent home for some of its adventures.

Clark, the organization's creator, is a 39-year-old former Navy Corpsman who, after his military service, helped train police officers and special-forces units, working in the United States and Afghanistan.

It was on a fly-fishing trip to Montana after returning from Afghanistan that Clark was inspired to form Camp Patriot, which recruits sponsors to help fund its events.

"I felt that if I have this opportunity, so should my brothers and sisters in the military," he said. "I want to help them focus on their abilities, not their disabilities."

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com