Expedition Doctor and Climber
Anchorage, AK
Age: 35

Since becoming an emergency room physician, Ramirez, 35, of Anchorage, Alaska, has tailored his work schedule to fit his climbing regimen. But as one of two expedition doctors, he puts his care-taking duties first. He grew up in New York's Westchester County, climbing in the Adirondacks. After graduating with a degree in biology and zoology from the University of Vermont at Burlington, where he ice climbed, he attended the New York Medical College, graduating in 1983 and then spending three years in residency. From that time on he changed jobs frequently to tour the nation's climbing hot spots.

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A few years back he narrowed it down to Alaska, and Hawaii where he surfs. His life has the feel of a "Northern Exposure" episode, working as one of a dozen E.R. docs — part-time in Anchorage's Providence Medical Center — and spending a week of every month as a doctor in a remote Eskimo fishing village. He has climbed the West Buttress of Moose's Tooth and tried Hunter and Huntington several times. Outside Alaska, he has spent several seasons in Yosemite and last year attempted the Eiger's North Face. The team was stopped by heavy rockfall, including a small one that struck Ramirez in the neck on the famed Hintertoisser Traverse. He relishes fulfilling his long-held dream of being a climber in the Himalaya. "But if someone is getting sick then that role is going to take over," he says. "Being a doctor is what I do and climbing is secondary."