Charles S. Houston, Pioneer in Altitude Medicine and Renowned Mountaineer

After a rich, provocative journey through a life fully lived, Charles Snead Houston, MD, friend and mentor to many of ARC's staff and ARCF's Board passed away on September 27th 2009.

Throughout his career as a scientist, physician, teacher, author and filmmaker, Charlie, one of the world's foremost authorities on high altitude medicine and physiology, has been gathering and disseminating the knowledge of high places and their impact on humans.

In 1960, Charlie brought to world attention High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), which even today kills the unwary who go too high, too fast.
He led numberous mountaineering expeditions to Alaska and the Himalaya. Seminal high altitude research on how humans adapt to hypoxia was performed on Mount Logan in the Yukon from 1967 to 1979, and in high altitude chamber studies -Opertion everest I in 1946 and Operation Everest II in 1985.

Wishing to promote distribution on knowledge about this exciting field, Charlie initiated the International Hypoxia Symposia, which continues under the auspices of ARC.

To further his legacy, ARC has enbarked on a major fundraising drive to endow the Charles S. Houston Chair in Altitude Medicine and Physiology. To contribute to the Endowed Chair.

PBS's NOW has more information about Charlie Houston, including an internview with him from 1994.