CLIMBING HIGHER

Eagle completes all seven major summits

Growing up in Morehead, in the foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest, Ben Mattingly (Class of 2000) was always into nature, taking advantage of nearby Cave Run Lake and Red River Gorge. His journey from the Appalachian Mountains to the highest mountain peak in the world was a bit unexpected, though.

Ben is a graduate of Rowan County Senior High School and grew up spending many hours on MSU’s campus. His dad, Dr. Bruce Mattingly (Class of 1974), was a professor of psychology and his mother, Debbie Stinson (Class of 1974, 1993), was the director of the child development associate (CDA) program.

Ben considered being a professor but his interest in biology and chemistry led him toward the medical field.

After college, he and his wife, Jenni Bond Mattingly, both pursued medical careers. Jenni studied in MSU’s physician assistant program, a partnership with the University of Kentucky (UK), and Ben enrolled in medical school at UK.

During medical school, they had three children, Jared, Adam, and Amber. Raising a family during this time was a challenge and the Mattingly family faced it head-on.

Ben realized he loved the fast-paced life of emergency medicine and accepted a residency position practicing emergency medicine in Massachusetts. However, he wanted to travel and proposed moving the family to another country. The Mattinglys set off for New Zealand, where they lived for a year.

In New Zealand, Ben taught a course on wilderness medicine, combining his interests in the outdoors and his ever-increasing adventure bug. Ben realized a need for emergency medical training in wilderness areas and contemplated starting a wilderness medicine fellowship.

As the program grew, they realized this was a bigger opportunity. They established a business called Wild Med Adventures, offering medical education courses in remote locations to prepare medical professionals for emergencies where hospital access is limited.

Through this journey, Ben became interested in mountaineering and took his first wilderness medicine fellow to climb Aconcagua – one of the seven major summits of the world.

He never set out to continue tackling the seven summits, but he found himself at Carstensz Pyramid – a major summit in Indonesia – and then Mount Vinson in Antarctica. Then, they led a trip to Tanzania and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro followed by Mount Elbrus – the most prominent peak in Russia and Europe.

With five summits completed, Ben decided he might as well go for all seven. By this time, the Mattinglys had moved back to Morehead and Ben’s adventures continued with his family in tow.

His wife Jenni participated in most of the trips and climbs, and his dad, Bruce (who he convinced to take up mountaineering at age 60), also joined him, summiting four of the seven summits. Their daughter, Amber (now an MSU Eagle), summited Kilimanjaro at 13.

Watch Ben’s interview about his experience!

Summit six was Denali in Alaska – the highest peak in North America – which he climbed with his dad, eldest son Jared, and friend Clayton Camic (Class of 2001). Now, all that remained was Everest.

While scaling summits requires months of both physical and mental preparation, Everest requires even more physical strength and mental toughness.

In April 2023, 27 people – including Ben, Jenni, Amber, Bruce, and Wild Med participants – began the trek to Everest Base Camp at the bottom of the mountain over three weeks. From there, Ben and Bruce continued the trek but Bruce became ill and had to turn back. Ben pressed toward the summit with just the sherpa.

“Everest is dangerous – people die. I would ask myself if this quest was selfish...” Ben said. “But I focused on just the experience. If I had to give up and turn back, I was going to be okay with that. I wasn’t going to push it, but just try to enjoy each step of the experience.”

After weeks of climbing, Ben reached the summit on May 17, 2023. Despite a knee injury during his descent, Ben made it safely down over several more days.

Ben hopes to help others make these summits, but in a safe and well-managed way. Wild Med has added more Everest treks to their agenda and will return in April 2024.

“We love adventure – and we love teaching medicine,” Ben said. “To have a career that allows Jenni and I to do both is amazing.”