How should an educational institution be judged?
Some argue that the famous--or infamous--alumni tell you what you need to know. So, then, what do we make of Whittier College, who graduated one Richard M. Nixon? Or Eureka College, who granted a degree to a fellow name Ronald Reagan?
Then there is the Wharton School. It's the business college of the University of Pennsylvania*--an Ivy League institution. It includes, no doubt, any number of alumni who have succeeded in corporate and related fields. On the other hand, its most famous degree-holder is yet another ex- (and I hope he remains so!) President: the self-described "very stable genius."
Then again, some might argue that a more fair barometer of an institution's quality is its current students. A Wharton sophomore I'm about to mention has accomplished things that aren't directly to the world of mergers, acquisitions and such. But he might be able to parlay his exploits into influence in marketing, advertising or other areas--or a career as a motivational speaker.
Never mind that he's run marathons under extreme conditions or crossed the United States on a bicycle he bought for $300 on Craigslist. He has accomplished something that perhaps no other cyclist has achieved.
And he did it on a real bicycle, not an eBike or one with any other form of mechanical assistance.
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| Ryan Torres, on campus with the bike he rode up Ojos del Salado. Image from Wharton Stories. |
As if it weren't enough that Ryan Torres pedaled across the driest--and one of the hottest--places on Earth, he capped it off by making the highest known climb on a bicycle.
Parts of Chile's Atacama Desert, in addition to experiencing heat rivaling that of India and the Arabian deserts, have never recorded any precipitation. It abuts the Pun se Atacama, a high plateau that's part of the High Andes mountain range. (If you know anything about high plateaus, they tend to be dry: something I discovered in Colorado.) The "crown" of it, if you will, is Ojos del Salado, a dormant volcano whose peak rises 6893 meters (22569 feet) above sea level on the Chile-Argentina border.** In other words, it's higher than the highest peaks in most of the world's other mountain ranges. But, unlike those other summits, it doesn't have a glacier or snowcap because it's so dry.
Torres began his ride through the desert with Leo Teneblat, his friend and fellow endurance athlete. They'd planned to scale Ojos together, but Teneblat had to drop out due to a medical emergency before Torres reached the base at the summit. That makes an already seemingly-impossible ride even more incredible.
Now, I know Wharton is primarily a business school. But I have to ask: Does his ride get Ryan Torres credits toward his degree? If it doesn't, well, it's quite the line to include on his resume!
*--Someone who flunked out of U Penn is even more famous than most people who graduated from it. I'm talking about Candice Bergen!
**--Interestingly, Ojos is not the only tall mountain to tower above borders: Mont Blanc straddles France and Italy and Mount Everest abuts Nepal and Tibet.
