Disease claims climber before last ascent

By RAY WEISS
Staff Writer
Andrew Hebson never fulfilled his final dream.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, took his life before he climbed Ecuador's Mount Chimborazo, the world's highest volcanic peak, rising 20,702 feet.

Hebson, who split his latter years between Ormond Beach and Jacksonville, was diagnosed with the terminal illness in January 2005. He died Feb. 29 at age 54.

Last September, Hebson worked out regularly, pushing his failing muscles with the help of a son for a November expedition that was rescheduled for this spring.

Hebson grew up in the mountains of Virginia and Kentucky and started climbing them as a young boy. As an adult, he made his living as a commercial diver, custom boat builder and racehorse owner. In his free time, he competed much of his life as a weightlifter and bodybuilder, winning many awards.

But climbing the world's highest peaks became his true passion.

Among his conquests were the grandest peak in 2000, Mount Everest, rising 29,028 feet, and Mount Cho Oyu in 1999 at nearly 27,000 feet.

Hebson and Cindy Chapman of Ormond Beach climbed Mount Pico de Orizaba in Mexico in 2003, where the final 4,000 feet was vertical ice. They reached the summit of the 19,000-foot mountain at sunrise Thanksgiving Day. It was her first climb, a life-affirming experience she won't forget -- just like she won't forget her friend's courage and strong will.

"It's an awful shock," she said on hearing Friday of Hebson's death. "What I'll remember most was that he never gave up. He never gave up."

ray.weiss@news-jrnl.com