Fla. Man Wins National Memory Competition in NYC
A Florida man who trained for a national memory competition by memorizing a randomly shuffled deck of cards as he climbed Mount Everest won the mental bout Saturday and broke a U.S. record.
Nelson Dellis, 28, of Miami, said his rigorous training for the challenge required him to reshuffle the deck of cards at each new altitude in his climb.
“I was getting my best times the higher I got,” said Dellis, who was surprised at his ability to stay focused as he made his way toward the summit before having to stop because of problems with his oxygen mask. “I was getting so much, much less oxygen up there.”
It was the second year in a row that Dellis won the USA Memory Championship, which was held in Manhattan. He also broke a record for memorizing 330 random numbers in five minutes, besting the previous record of 248 numbers in five minutes, which he himself set last year.
“It’s all tricks,” Dellis explained of his win. “I don’t have a good memory naturally. It’s something I learned and taught myself.”
Among the tricks he relies on is an ancient method he refers to as the “journey method,” where he visualizes memorized objects as he moves mentally through a place he knows well. To recall the information, he mentally walks back through the journey.