Our speaker today was Dr. Weasel, a general surgeon at Monument Health and enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and first Native American to summit Mt. Everest. He shared his life lessons and experiences climbing Mt. Everest in 2023. Climbing Mount Everest was challenging and complicated as he made his way to basecamp and the four camps, as well as the process of ascending and descending. Dr. Weasel was reminded of his own mortality and desire to keep gratitude at the forefront of all he does and is. It taught him that unsurmountable things can be accomplished one step at a time. He shared stories of the extreme temperatures, avalanches, ice storms, “death zone”, crevices, high winds, and experiencing hallucinations. He shared the unique and emotional experience of the “field of cairns”, a memorial field to those who have lost their lives on Everest. Dr. Weasel enjoyed time with other climbers, visited a local school and connected with an OBGYN clinic while in Nepal. He was gifted an “eagle feather” from his Tribe to place at the Top of Everest as a symbolic gesture for the Lakota and indigenous people around the world. To learn more about his climb and his other climbing goals, see Monument Health Magazine https://magazine.monument.health/article/on-top-of-the-world.
