A high-altitude climber for 25 years, Lee Hoedl of Fargo, North Dakota, is comfortable being uncomfortable while constantly pushing boundaries.
From Denali to Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua to Cotopaxi, the teacher by trade has summited some of the world’s most famous peaks.
“I’m just an ordinary person. Anyone can do what I do,” said Hoedl. “I just have an immense amount of determination. That’s the dividing line.”
Hoedl adds once he’s up there, “everything is stripped away. Everything. There’s only the moment. That next step, the look, the view.
“You have to be in that moment. Especially when you’re roped in with the guys that you’re with and gals that you’re roped in with. They depend on you. You depend on them.”
There really is a risk of dying when you factor in extreme weather, altitude sickness, falls or avalanches.
“There always is. You crossing the street today, there’s a chance of death,” said Hoedl.
There’s also a high chance of injury. Something Hoedl has been dealing with more at the age of 62.
‘You’re suffering a TIA’
Watching him work out, you wouldn’t know Hoedl, also a prolific runner approaching 100 total marathons, has been dealing with Barrett’s esophagus, high blood pressure and neurological issues.
Most recently, training on Mt. Rainier for a future trek to Everest Base Camp, Hoedl experienced a transient ischemic attack in the summer of 2024.
“One of the guides was an EMT (emergency medical technician) and he recognized it right away. He said ‘squeeze my hand,’ and I could squeeze with one and couldn’t with the other. ‘Smile,’ I could smile. He said, ‘You’re suffering a TIA. Just relax,’” said Hoedl.
The ministroke caused him to lose balance, twisting his knee and seriously tearing his left medial meniscus. Potentially ripping away his dream of reaching Everest.
“I’ve known him personally for many years but then got to know him as a patient more recently,” said Bruce Piatt, M.D., with Sanford Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.
‘Thank God I had these doctors’
A former mountain climber, Dr. Piatt is one of the physicians charged with helping Hoedl recover and stay active. The goal: keeping the knee injury from crimping Hoedl’s style.
“He kind of came in with a knee that initially was billed as kind of a meniscus tear in the knee. But in evaluation with him, we found that he had more significant problems than just that. He also had a degenerative arthritic condition starting in the knee. Which means the articular cartilage on the end of the bone is wearing down as well. That’s a much more challenging thing to try to treat for patients,” Dr. Piatt said.
No repair of the meniscus – instead Dr. Piatt recommended an injectable treatment called viscosupplementation every six months.
“That is a normal substance in cartilage and what it appears to do is reduce the inflammation or inflammatory response in the knee. That also kind of takes away the pain element for him. So, allows him to be more active and do things he wants to do and not suffer through them,” Dr. Piatt said.
Thankful for the treatment, Hoedl said, “I’ve been very blessed to have very few injuries until this past year and it all cascaded one into another on top of each other. Thank God I had these doctors one after another that helped me along the way. They all built on each other.”
Photo courtesy of Lee Hoedl
‘Lead a more comfortable, active lifestyle’
With the pursuit of Everest Base Camp anchoring Hoedl’s day-to-day, acupuncture is also providing stability for the journey. Of course, Hoedl would love to summit Everest but at more than 29,000 feet he admits that’s asking too much of his knee.
“The acupuncture helps to lubricate the joints a bit to get freer range of motion, lead a more comfortable, active lifestyle which is definitely Lee’s jam. And get people doing what they want to do out of life,” said licensed acupuncturist Adriane Maag Carney.
With 30 to 40 needles per session, the visit takes about 45 minutes to complete.
“Adriane has been really good for me. It relieves the pain. It opens up all kinds of channels within my body. I feel healthier. I’m not sure why more people don’t utilize it. They should,” Hoedl said.
And then her patients are off. In Hoedl’s case, dialed in for a hike in the Himalayas.
“I think it’s amazing. I didn’t know there was anyone locally that climbed all of these mountains because Fargo is so flat,” joked Maag Carney.
‘Move on and reset your goals’
In March, Hoedl was able to reach Everest Base Camp and the Khumbu Icefall – 80 miles roundtrip of hiking up to 18,000 feet and back down.
“It was unbelievable. It was amazing,” said Hoedl. “Because you’re not only going to a physical place that most people have never been to or never will.”
Dr. Piatt adds, “that’s really exciting to see and very satisfying. It’s kind of the thing that gets us up every morning enjoying what we do.”
While Everest Base Camp isn’t the summit, the expedition was still incredibly meaningful.
“I always wanted to do that. Well, when all this unfolded last year, it tore it apart. You have two choices; you can be depressed about it, give up or you can move on and reset your goals. So that’s what I did. I reset it to go to base camp,” Hoedl said.
“You can’t spend your time focusing on just the finish line, on just the summit. When I climb with my teams I tell them your summit is wherever we end up.”
Hoedl says, “I got exactly what I wanted. Sometimes you just have to reset your goals.”
‘I still feel strong’
As you can imagine, Hoedl’s goals don’t stop there. He’s also completed 22 triathlons.
“He’s not the typical person for his age by any means,” said Dr. Piatt. “He’s much more active than the average patient we tend to see. But I equate what he’s doing to a lot of the younger athletes we take care of. People who are very keen on what’s happening with their body. They’re very tied into trying to take care of it as best they can but at the same time be willing to push through some of the symptoms they’re having with it to get the benefit out of the activity that they’re doing.”
Graduating into life with a pill box isn’t Hoedl’s favorite but he’s making the most of his new reality.
“That’s not me. I feel like at 60, it’s the new 30 for me. I still feel strong,” Hoedl said.
Still ascending, Hoedl and his son Nicholas summited Mount Baker in Washington state this August.
“I’m not going to spend my days worrying about getting older, about a simple knee injury. Yeah, it was bad. It twisted it, it tore it. I get that. But I’m not going to let that stop me. I’m going to slide into home base on my very last days,” said Hoedl.
In addition to climbing mountains, Hoedl volunteers once a week at Sanford Children’s Hospital Fargo. He’s also an author and in July published his third children’s book titled “Johnny Avalanche and the Trek to Everest Base Camp.”
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Posted In Brain & Spine, Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Symptom Management
