Cross Posted from Climbing.com

By Dougald MacDonald / The Mountain World

Charles Houston, a pioneering American climber and altitude researcher, died at his home in Vermont on September 27. He was 96. Houston was part of the Anglo-American team that made the first ascent of 25,643-foot Nanda Devi in 1936, and he attempted K2 in 1938 and 1953. Houston’s research and writing on high altitude (notably the 1980 bookGoing High and the 2005 work Going Higher) were instrumental in helping climbers understand the process of acclimatization and the dangers of high altitude pulmonary edema and other mountain ailments.

Charles S. Houston in 2008.

Phil Powers, executive director of the American Alpine Club, has written a short remembrance of Houston at the AAC blog.

Tags: American Alpine Club, charles houston, climber, Going High, Going Higher, K2, Nana Devi, pioneer

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