He finds peace and quiet atop the world’s tallest peaks.
He hasn’t let being a double amputee hold him back. In March of this year, Torres cycled across the Andes before setting out to climb the highest active volcano in the world, the 22,600-foot Ojos del Salado (or Eyes of Salt, after the large eye-shaped salt lagoons on the mountain's slopes) on the Argentina-Chile border. To prepare, he worked with Josh Meltzer, personal training manager at Equinox La Costa in Carlsbad, California. “I trained him like an able-bodied individual,” Meltzer says.
The trek was arranged by The Heroes Project, an organization that gives wounded veterans the chance to complete life-changing expeditions. It also hosts the annual Cycle for Heroes event, now in its eighth year, which will take over the Santa Monica Pier on November 10.
Furthermore caught up with Torres ahead of the event to talk about his attempt to summit the world’s tallest volcano, what The Heroes Project means to him, and what's next.