Leading up to the 1996 climb in which Dr. Kenneth Kamler played a crucial role aiding survivors of that disastrous ascent, Doctor on Everest is the never-before-seen portrait of how medicine is performed and lives are saved - or lost - in perilous conditions.

Through this intimate, gripping, and often humorous first-person account, Dr. Kamler describes in sharp detail what life was like on Everest — how he treated his fellow climbers for everything from altitude sickness to severe pulmonary edema and epidural hematoma; how he negotiated his dual role as doctor and climber; and how he reconciled the difficult separation from home and family to pursue his lifelong dream.

Throughout, Kamler recalls with sensitivity and insight the effects of fear, stress, and adrenaline on the entire group. He draws vivid portraits of his climbing companions, including Rob Hall, leader of the New Zealand team, who perished just below the summit in '96, and Nima Tashi, a Sherpa still walking on broken and dislocated ankles more than a year after a climbing fall. These and other relationships, forged under such mortal conditions, are rendered here so poignantly as to be unforgettable. Certain to be a classic of mountaineering literature, Doctor on Everest puts the reader in the place of a climbing doctor and reveals a deeper understanding of what it takes for both the human body and mind to function at high altitude.