When they finally reached point A, a whopping 8,800 meters above sea level, they had the entire South Summit, Hillary Step, and Summit Ridge to themselves. Dr. Mattingly and Pemba took time to soak in the stunning vistas, snapping pictures and resting for 30 minutes before beginning the descent. “I’m only halfway,” Dr. Mattingly told himself. “Be safe and don’t rush.”

Descending the mountain came with its own lows. Another climber slipped while attached to the same fixed line, suddenly pulling Dr. Mattingly off the surface and slamming him back into the hard ice with unexpected force. His knee was in severe pain, but Dr. Mattingly was almost certain that nothing was seriously injured. Still, the journey down became much more painful. (A later MRI showed a medial meniscus tear with bone marrow edema.)

“I couldn’t help but imagine that if I had broken my left leg, I would have died on the mountain,” he said.

Again stuck on the same rope as hundreds of other people, Dr. Mattingly and Pemba were tensely aware that one person could take out a whole group, and they endured a couple of close calls. The downward traffic was brought to a halt as they watched a deceased sherpa’s body being returned down the mountain. It was a gut-twisting reminder that as long as they were on the glacier, they were not out of the woods.

As they inched downward, Pemba’s phone fell out of his pocket, careening 2,000 feet off the side of the mountain and losing all their photos from the summit. He was distraught, but there was nothing they could do but carry on. Dr. Mattingly told Pemba not to worry about the photos because he had nothing to prove. “We enjoyed the summit together, and that is all that matters.”

Days later, after safely traversing the final icefall, relief poured over them as they made it back to the base camp. As Dr. Mattingly called Jenni to let her know he was safe, he celebrated by pouring himself a very cold glass of the Buffalo Trace bourbon he brought from his home state.

The Next Adventure

When you’ve reached the Seven Summits, what do you do next? True to his nature, Dr. Mattingly is not sitting still. To quench his adventurous side, he’s halfway through his pilot license and wants to learn about sailing and dive medicine.