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Conrad Anker (born November 27, 1962) is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. [ 2 ] In 1999, he located George Mallory 's body on Everest as a member of a search team looking for the remains of the British climber who was last seen in 1924 ...
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- Overview
- What happened?
- How did you get down?
- How did David cope with the emergency?
- Who organized the rescue?
- Were you awake for the procedure?
- I’ve always wondered what would happen if you got sick in a foreign country. Do they take insurance?
- How did you get home?
- Were they able to figure out how or why this happened to you?
- Are you going to change your lifestyle as a result of this?
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Climber Conrad Anker speaks candidly about his rescue from an unclimbed peak in Nepal.
On November 16, Conrad Anker, 54, one of the world’s most accomplished alpinists, had a heart attack while climbing in the Himalaya. At the time he was clinging to a wall of ice and rock, just below 20,000 feet on the northwest face of 22,660-foot Lunag-Ri, with 26-year-old Austrian climber David Lama. It was the pair’s second attempt on the tallest unclimbed mountain in Nepal. (There are a couple higher unclimbed summits in Nepal, including Machhapuchhre at 22,942 feet, but they are considered sacred and closed to climbers.)
Most climbers his age are content to rest on their laurels, but Anker is an outlier, a man who has been pushing the cutting edge of alpinism for the past three decades. Four years ago, he summited Everest without supplemental oxygen as a member of a National Geographic expedition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first American ascent. Anker and his teammates worked closely with the Mayo Clinic, whose doctors studied the climbers before, during, and after the expedition to learn more about the impacts of high-altitude climbing on the human body. Anker was the only team member to summit without supplemental oxygen, an effort, he admits, on which he may have pushed a touch too far.
“They did all these tests on me, and they said I tested like a person half my age,” said Anker. “But I definitely cooked a few brain cells, and it felt like I had weakened my heart, like I charley-horsed it or something.”
It has been a particularly challenging year for Anker, who in April helped recover the body of his best friend and climbing partner Alex Lowe, who was lost in 1999 in an avalanche, along with fellow climber David Bridges, on Mount Shishapangma in Tibet. Anker was caught in the same avalanche but miraculously survived. In the aftermath of the tragedy 16 years ago, Anker and Lowe’s widow, Jenni, fell in love and married, and Anker has helped raise Lowe’s three sons.
National Geographic reached Anker via Skype, shortly after he returned to his home in Bozeman, Montana. Sitting at his desk, with a framed photo of Yosemite Valley in the background, Anker spoke candidly about the incident that nearly cost him his life.
I was six pitches up the route that David and I attempted last season. It starts out with vertical ice and mixed climbing and hanging belays. We were trying to move really fast on the first few pitches, because they’re in this funnel where you’re exposed to rock and icefall. At about 9:30 a.m., I was seconding [following] with a pack on, and I felt...
David led the rappels down. As we hiked down through the icefall I realized that I had a numb lip and pain in my left arm. Every time you go into the doctor's office they always have these charts: How to recognize a heart attack, how to recognize stroke, how to perform the Heimlich maneuver. You're not committing them to memory, but with repeated e...
He was just so focused and caring and knew exactly what was going on. When we got to Advanced Base Camp, we met up with Tensing and Martin, two of our staff, and I said, "Yeah, I got this. I'm just going to heal up." David said, "Hey, this is serious. You need to go out now. Don’t think you can just work through the pain. You need to get a helicopt...
I told David he needed to call Global Rescue, but we didn’t have their number because it was in my wallet down at base camp. [Editor’s note: Global Rescue provides rescue insurance for all members of the American Alpine Club.] So David called our outfitter, who figured out that a helicopter operated by Manang Air was in the area. They picked up Lakpa, who runs air traffic control at Everest Base Camp. It was lucky because he’s a Sherpa and he knew right where we were. He’s also a friend; he’s been to Montana to visit. We flew to Lukla and they took me off and said, "Can you just sit for a bit?" I didn't protest, but inside I’m thinking, Well, yeah, but I’m kind of hurting. While they loaded up rice, a microwave, and some other crap, I'm sitting in this little shed, sheet white, breathing through severe pain.
They finally got me to Siddhartha Hospital in Kathmandu. It’s the ex-pat hospital, started by David Shlim. It’s a reputable hospital, and the cardiologist that I worked with was trained in the U.S. The first thing they did was put me on an EKG, which showed an abnormality, then they did an angiogram. They put an iodine-based dye in your blood system and then x-ray your chest. It showed a major blockage. They were planning to just assess the problem and then do something about it the next day, but it was so serious that they said I needed angioplasty right away. They told me there's a one percent chance there could be a complication and a .01 percent chance that the complication could lead to fatality. I had no choice, so I told them to take care of it.
Yeah, they went in through my arm. I could feel it tickling around in there. My arm is still tender. It feels like it got run over by a mountain bike. The tool they use is like a micro-[auger] with a J-hook at the end. The doctor worked it up through my arteries, and every time he came to a fork he knew where to go. He got to the blockage and then ...
"We don't take Blue Cross,” they said. “Are you willing to pay for all this?" They got my passport, and they had my credit card. They wanted me to pay for a nurse, but I just had one of my Sherpa buddies come and stay with me. He slept in the room and brought me tea and took care of me. I was in the hospital for two nights. A bunch of kind people c...
VF was super-helpful. [Editor’s note: "VF" stands for VF Corp, the corporation that owns The North Face. Anker is a founding member and captain of The North Face Athlete Team.] They flew Jenni over, and then we both flew back to the States, business class. It was the first time I’ve ever flown business class overseas, and it was incredible. My seat...
I’ve been working with Dr. [Bruce] Johnson for the past five years as part of a study looking at the effects of climbing at high altitude on the human body. It’s kind of a mystery where this came from. There's no history of heart disease in my family. My grandparents all lived into their late eighties, early nineties. My dad lived to 84. My mother ...
Yeah. When I look at red meat now, it's totally different. We brought a ton of meat up there, little pork chops and bacon. I've always seen the iron and protein as a benefit to climbing at altitudes. I never eat the fat off pork chops, but on this trip we were chewing on it. It's supercold, so you want to make sure that you stay warm, and you get t...
Alpinist Conrad Anker shares his harrowing experience of suffering a heart attack at 20,000 feet on an unclimbed peak in Nepal. He recounts how his partner David Lama organized his evacuation by helicopter and how he recovered from the ordeal.
Mar 17, 2021 · In Montana’s Hyalite Canyon, Conrad Anker ice-climbs a popular route dubbed “The Thrill is Gone.” At 58, the internationally celebrated alpinist no longer aims for the highest peaks.
Conrad Anker is a world-renowned climber who has scaled peaks in Antarctica, the Himalaya and Montana. He also produces documentaries about nature, culture and adventure, such as Facing Meru and National Parks Adventure.
Dec 11, 2017 · Learn about Conrad Anker, a prolific climber who has summited Everest three times, discovered George Mallory's remains, and visited Antarctica 11 times. Find out his age, years of experience, and his goal for this expedition.
Conrad Anker, a renowned alpinist, led a team that made a documentary film about George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who disappeared on Everest in 1924. He also found Mallory's body and free-climbed the notorious Second Step, the crux of the route.
