is back. After a ten-year absence from the Khumbu Valley, a place he鈥檚 either lived or visited consistently between 1974 and 2000, Hackett returned to Nepal this spring to work at Everest ER. In his ten-year absence, the Telluride-based doc who wrote the Bible on high-altitude illness, , has worked as the tour doctor for the Rolling Stones, is writing a book about his 40 years of living and climbing in the Khumbu, and is finally publishing a second edition of his 30-year-old classic tome. Exact pub date is to be determined, but look for it in stores within the next year. Here鈥檚 Hackett鈥檚 take on…
Altitude sickness: “My big thing now is, look, nobody should be dying of altitude sickness. It鈥檚 all about education: the right way to use Diamox, the right rate of ascent, and how to monitor your body. We need a lot more education out there for the lay person.”
Medical advances in treating altitude sickness: “There are definitely some new advances, especially with pulmonary edema, but the best way to prevent pulmonary edema is still descent and oxygen. There will never be a drug as good as descent and oxygen.”
What he鈥檚 most interested in studying now: “What鈥檚 most interesting to me is the effect of high-altitude for people with common health conditions like pregnancy, diabetes, and heart disease. I take it case by case, but going to high altitude with these conditions is much more manageable than people realize. I鈥檓 much more liberal because I鈥檓 much more knowledgeable.”
How climbing Everest has changed since he was the 111th person to summit in 1981: “The problem with Everest is that it鈥檚 not about climbing anymore. It鈥檚 about punching your ticket. There鈥檚 part of me that thinks it鈥檚 an inevitable evolution, but where does it stop? You know what would put an end to this? A huge, massive landslide so the height would drop below that of K2.”
What it feels like to almost literally cough up a lung upon descending from his solo summit of Everest: “That night it was 13 hours round trip. I had had nothing to eat or drink because my water bottle was in my pack and it froze. We started hydrating and when my lungs started to get a little moisture I thought I had pulmonary edema, but actually it was all the pus that started getting loose and copious because my airways had been entirely dry, so I started coughing and coughing and choking and choking. I finally coughed up this huge thing and it was a perfect bronchial cast. I almost died on a piece of my lung.”
Why he decided to return to the Khumbu after a ten-year absence: “I had to get back here just for my own soul.”
–Stephanie Pearson