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2000
Dr.
Charles Houston (United States)
Medical doctor, mountaineer, university professor and author, Dr.
Charles Houston first brought high altitude pulmonary edema to the world's attention. Born
in 1913, Houston has spent over fifty years studying problems caused by lack of oxygen and
exploring the  mechanisms of the body's acclimatization to high altitude. He has conducted
leading research into acute mountain sickness, high altitude retinal hemorrhage and
cerebral edema. Since 1975, he has organized the world renowned International Hypoxia
Symposia.
Dr. Houston's mountaineering career began in 1925 in the
Alps. In 1936, he led a British-American Expedition, which climbed Nanda Devi (26,250
feet) in northern India. Then, in 1938 Houston led the first American expedition to K2
(28,250 feet) in Pakistan. In 1950, he was part of the first reconnaissance group to the
south (Nepal) side of Mt. Everest. He returned to K2 in 1953 and to Everest in 1981.
Houston has written many books and scores of articles about
mountain medicine and his own climbs. His most recent book, Going Higher: Oxygen, Man
and Mountains was published by The Mountaineers Books in October 1998, a revision of
three previous editions, and won the Mountain Exposition Award at the Banff Mountain Book
Festival in 1998.
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