The Great NetXperiment!

t’s been 10 years since Ian Altman got the news that his body had an incurable problem

When first stunned with the news you have multiple sclerosis, you’re not

sure what to think. They tell you it’s chronic and debilitating, Altman said during an interview last

week.

But doctors don’t tell you exactly what the effects will be. They don’t

know. Those with MS say it affects everyone differently.

Altman has been fortunate. Yes, he has spent scary, frustrating days and

weeks with numbness that makes him clumsy. And the fingers of his right hand have a pretty much permanent “pins and

needles” feeling.

But most of the time the 34-year-old is going full-bore, teaching at

Colorado Timberline Academy north of Durango and living an outdoors-oriented lifestyle. A couple years ago, he and

friend Brian Murray mountain biked the Colorado Trail from Molas Pass to town in one day - 12½ hours in the saddle.

Backcountry skiing above Silverton, ice climbing near Tamarron, scaling mountains in Canada’s Bugaboos and

Chile/Argentina’s Patagonias - Altman’s out doing it. There was a time doctors would have warned against such extreme

exploits.

“For a long time they said, ‘Just sit back and relax,’” Altman said.

“Medically they’ve proved it’s good to exercise.”

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