May 30, 2008 6:39 am US/Mountain
Colorado Climber Rises From Ashes Of Addiction
DENVER (CBS4) ―
-
-
Ben Cort who works with Phoenix Multisport talks with CBS4's Brooke Wagner.
-
-
Phoenix Multisports helps people overcome addictions by getting them involved in a variety of events.
In September of 2006, experienced climber Ben Cort was ice climbing Longs Peak when he lost his footing and fell 800 feet. It was like dropping 80 stories onto rock. Yet, somehow, Cort survived.
"I feel great," Cort said in a follow-up interview with CBS4's Brooke Wagner.
It has been a long road for Ben, now 29. His major shoulder injury required multiple surgeries, and he has been through months of physical therapy. Recovery also ignited a major life change; Cort left his promising job at a Fortune 500 company to work at Phoenix Multisport, a non-profit that helps fight addiction through activity and camaraderie.
Cort joined forces with climbing buddy Scott Strode, founder of Phoenix and fellow recovering substance abuser. Cort went into treatment for alcohol and drug abuse when he was a teenager. He's excited to help others find passion in a sober life.
"You don't have to go two degrees of separation from yourself to think of someone you know who has an addiction issue," said Cort. "We know what it's like to wake up four days into your sobriety and not know up from down."
Strode started Phoenix Multisport in 2006. He said he picked up his first beer when he was ten and put down his last one when he was 24.
"I looked back on the last eight years and I had raced Ironman tiathalons and been to the Himalayas and it was really because of my newfound sober life that I had that sort of gift. So, I thought, how can I give this to other people?" Strode said.
Boulder-based Phoenix Multisport currently has 250 members, but Strode and Cort hope to take it nation-wide within the next five years. Members climb, bike, hike, run, and swim their way into a sober life, instead of feeling empty and alone.
"Without their beer or their drug, it's really scary for a lot of folks," said Strode. "There's a lot of people out there early in their sobriety trying to find something else. And, really, the idea is, their life's supposed to be better. Phoenix is about finding experiences, whether it's climbing your first fourteener or just going to the climbing gym when you've never put on a harness. That's a big step for someone going through recovery," Strode said.
The activities, such as trips to Moab and weekend barbecues, are designed to help recovering abusers find support and life-long friends.
"You're sitting around the campfire, trying to be cool and not cry, while you listen to some guy talk about how just having someone to bond with changed his life," said Cort, "Someone will come to one event, then show up to the next one with five of their friends ... because it works."
Cort is traveling the nation, helping secure funding to increase the Phoenix membership and take it nationwide. Though Phoenix reaches out to all age groups, Cort and Strode also hope to reach a college crowd to "give them something cool to do and maybe they won't go binge drink later," according to Cort.
Strode makes it clear, Phoenix is not just for athletes, but for anyone striving to rise from the ashes.
"You don't have to be an Ironman to be part of this," Strode said. "Phoenix is just people who've never gotten on a road bike, never gotten on a mountain bike, but they've made a decision to change the way they live."
After battling addiction, then fighting for his life, no one can speak to that like Ben Cort.
"Life is 24 hours a day, so let's find something to get excited about and live it," Cort said.
Phoenix holds events every week. You can find the information at
Phoenix Multisport.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Company Offers Banana Coffins
Bulldozer Rampage: 5 Years Later
Slideshow: Colorado's Weirdest House
Stumble It!
Reporting
