18 May

Born on this day

1924 Anders Bolinder, Swedish born pioneer, who achieved first ascents of 6000ers in Peru in 1952 and in the Puna de Atacama in 1956 and 1965. He was an excellent Himalayan chronicler and was Honorary member of the Himalayan Club. He became Swiss citizen at the end of his life and died there in 1987, aged 63.
1932 Rudolf Wurzer, Austrian climber, who ascended Nanga Parbat in 1978.
1933 Donald Desbrow Whillans, British climber, who made the first ascent of the South Face of Annapurna I in 1970 together with Dougal Haston. He also ascended Tirich Mir in 1975. He died in 1985, aged 52.
1938 Takao Suzuki, Japanese climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 1990 and Cho Oyu in 1992.
1944 Alain Paret, French climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1997 and Gasherbrum II in 2000.
1945 Donald Brian Healy, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1946 Günther Messner, Italian (South Tyrolean) climber, who ascended Nanga Parbat in 1970 and died on descent, aged 24.
1948 Louis Bowen, American climber, who ascended Everest in 1992. He finished the Carstensz- and Kosciuszko-versions of the Seven Summits in 1998 as well.
1954 Paul Jaccard, French climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1956 Jordi Anglès, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Makalu in 1990. He died on K2 in 1995, aged 39.
1957 Sharon Wood, Canadian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 1986.
1957 Miguel Ángel Sánchez, Argentinean climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 1990 and Cho Oyu in 1993.
1961 Janez (Johan) Jeglič, Slovenian climber, who ascended Everest in 1990 and Nuptse NW-Peak in 1997, where he died, aged 36.
1961 Josep María Maixé, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Annapurna I in 1987 and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1993.
1963 Mikel Reparaz, Spanish Basque climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1990, Everest in 1992 and Gasherbrum II in 1997.
1964 Juan Carlos Cirera, Spanish Aragonese climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1997.
1964 José (Jens) Rivadeneira Jimenez, Ecuadorian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2018.
1966 Markus Hutnak, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1995.
1966 Éva Baranyi, Hungarian lady climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009.
1968 Thilen, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest seven times (1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006), Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1999, K2 twice (2004 and 2007), Cho Oyu in 2004, Shisha Pangma in 2006 and Makalu in 2008.
1971 Jesús Morales, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 2008, Everest in 2012 and Broad Peak in 2014.
1971 Eric Douglas Murphy, American climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2012 and Everest three times (2017, 2018 and 2019).
1973 Phu Tashi III, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2004 and Lhotse and Manaslu RP in 2006.
1976 Nima Gyalzen I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest eleven times (1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2018), Cho Oyu in 2003 and Manaslu RP five times (2006, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2017).
1976 Pasang I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2003, 2007 and 2013).
1980 Pasang (f), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009.
1981 Courtney Woodward (Cory) Richards, American climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2010, Gasherbrum II in 2011 (first winter ascent!) and Everest twice (2016 and 2017).
1982 Vijendra Kuriyal, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1983 Geoffrey Peter Schellens, American climber, who ascended Everest and Lhotse in 2017 and K2 in 2018.
1983 Riten Jangbu (aka Tashi), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest four times (2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019) and Lhotse in 2023.
1985 Ang Tendi, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2017 and Kangchenjunga twice (2018 and 2022).
1988 Irina Galay, Ukrainian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2016 and K2 in 2021.
1989 Liang Hao, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2021.
2000 Yaroslav Samsonenko, Ukrainian climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.

First ascents on this day

1956 Lhotse (8516 m) by a Swiss party.
1971 Dhaulagiri II (7751 m) by an Austrian party.
1992 Syn Qing Feng (aka Bukadaban, 6860 m) by a Japanese party.

Gone on this day

1973 Japanese climbers Sadatoshi Takahashi, Masanori Hama, Tadashi Ushigoe and Kazumi Katagiri and Nepalese Sherpa climber Rinje were killed in an avalanche on Annapurna I.
1982 Peter Boardman, British climber, who participated in the first ascents of Everest's SW Face in 1975 and Kangchenjunga's North Face in 1979, was last seen the day before on Everest's NE Ridge, and probably died on this day, aged 31.
1982 Joe Tasker, British climber, who also ascended Kangchenjunga by its North Face in 1979, died on the NE Ridge of Everest as well, aged 34.
1999 Tadeusz Kudelski (44, Poland) and Pascal Debrouwer (29, Belgium) died on Everest's NE Ridge descending from the top. The latter also ascended Cho Oyu in 1992.
2004 Nils Antezana, Bolivian born American climber, who ascended Everest in 2004 and died on descent, aged 69.
2004 Jay Sieger, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2003 and Makalu in 2004, where he died on descent, aged 45.
2004 Baek Joon-Ho, Korean climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2000 and Lhotse in 2003, died on Everest, aged 36.
2005 Christian Kuntner, South Tyrolean climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1991, Manaslu RP in 1992, Broad Peak in 1993, Dhaulagiri I in 1994, Everest in 1995, K2 in 1996, Shisha Pangma in 1998, Gasherbrums I and II in 1999, Makalu in 2000, Nanga Parbat in 2001, Kangchenjunga in 2003 and Lhotse in 2004. He died on Annapurna I, aged 43.
2006 Vitor Negrete, Brazilian climber, who ascended Everest twice, in 2005 and again in 2006, where he died on descent, aged 38.
2009 Věslav Chrzaszcz, Czech climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2005, died on Everest, aged 47.
2019 Dipankar Ghosh, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2011, Lhotse in 2012, Kangchenjunga in 2014, Manaslu RP in 2016, Dhaulagiri I in 2017, Cho Oyu in 2018 and Makalu in 2019, where he died on descent, aged 53.