Ask David Montesanti what it takes to reach the top of Mount Everest, and he won’t start with the cold or the altitude. He’ll tell you it’s the same thing that gets him through eye surgery: total focus, no room for a wandering mind, one movement at a time.
Dr. Montesanti is an ophthalmologist and eye surgeon at Eye Care & Vision Associates in Buffalo, NY, and on May 22nd, he reached the top of Mount Everest after more than a year of training that carried him through eighteen hours above 26,000 feet.
How Dr. Montesanti Made the Decision to Climb Mount Everest
Dr. Montesanti has always been an adventurous person, but it was his wife who brought him into climbing about 15 years ago, starting in the Adirondacks. As he got his bearings and some positive reinforcement along the way, he progressed to bigger peaks like Kilimanjaro, the Rockies, Denali, Indonesia, and Aconcagua in Argentina, which is the second-highest of the Seven Summits behind Everest itself.
His 2024 trip to Indonesia stood out beyond the climb itself because of the group of 13 climbers, four became close friends.
With that trip behind him, 2026 became the year he set his sights on Everest.
Learn more about Dr. Montesanti’s background as one of the ophthalmologists and eye surgeons at ECVA.
One Year of Training for the World’s Highest Peak
Reaching Everest’s summit took a full year of training built around three pillars:
- Aerobic exercise to raise his VO2 max
- Elevation acclimation through repeated climbs up and down mountains, including a rim-to-rim-to-rim trek across the Grand Canyon
- Leg and upper body strength work.
For eight weeks before the climb, he also slept in a tent fitted with a generator that lowered the oxygen levels inside, training his body for the low-oxygen conditions waiting on the mountain.
Summit Day
The push from base camp to the summit and back takes five days total. Summit day itself takes about 18 hours. After resting at Camp 4 from noon to 9 pm, climbers depart for the final push around 10 pm, nine hours up to the summit, then nine hours back down to Camp 2.
Dr. Montesanti officially reached the summit on May 22nd. About 1,000 people attempt Everest each year, but only around five days offer conditions safe enough to summit, which makes crowding a real danger on the mountain. The climb was far from easy, physically and mentally. Along the route, Dr. Montesanti saw firsthand how unforgiving it can be.
Why Eye Protection Becomes Critical on the Mountain
For most climbers, eye safety is one item on a long checklist of gear and precautions. For Dr. Montesanti, it carries a little extra weight, since two of Everest’s physical hazards affect the exact part of the body he spends his career protecting.
The first is glare. Sun reflecting off the snow and ice is intense enough that climbers require Category 4 goggles, the darkest rating made for civilian use, to avoid snow blindness.
The second hazard is corneal freeze. The surface of the eye can freeze if it’s exposed too long, so proper eyewear on summit day gets treated as seriously as any other piece of gear.
Both hazards are a reminder that even on the tallest mountain in the world, some of the biggest risks are also the smallest and easiest to overlook.
The Focus That Connects Climbing and Surgery
Dr. Montesanti describes climbing and surgery as demanding the same kind of focus. Both require tuning everything else out and locking in on the exact movement you’re trying to make happen, with no room for mistakes and no room for a wandering mind. That same focus carries into his work at the practice, whether he’s performing cataract surgery or LASIK surgery.
Those same habits are what patients experience every time they sit down for a comprehensive eye exam or a surgical procedure at Eye Care & Vision Associates. The discipline that carried one of ECVA‘s surgeons to the top of the world is the same discipline he brings to every patient in Buffalo, NY.
For Dr. Montesanti, the feeling of reaching the summit mirrors the feeling of a successful surgery. A sense of accomplishment and success.
As for what’s next for Dr. Montesanti, he is already planning his next climb, which is Mount Whitney. This time, his wife will join, the same person who introduced him to climbing in the first place.
Curious what steady, focused eye care looks like up close? Schedule an appointment at Eye Care & Vision Associates in Buffalo, NY, online or by calling 716.631.EYES (3937) to meet Dr. Montesanti and the rest of our team.