24 October

Born on this day

1934 Sir Walter William (Wally) Herbert, British pioneer, who in 1969 achieved the first undisputed arrival at the North Pole. He and his companions did a unique 463 days-crossing of the Arctic Ocean from Alaska to Svalbard. He died in 2007, aged 72.
1937 Janusz Baranek, Polish climber, who ascended Lhotse in 1979.
1951 Rafael Vidaurre, Spanish Valencian climber, who ascended Nanga Parbat in 1986 and Everest in 1991.
1954 Rudolf Roozen, Austrian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1998.
1957 Lim Hyung-Chil, Korean climber, who ascended Lhotse in 1988.
1958 Markus Oser, Swiss climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009.
1960 Wolfgang Güllich, German free-climber. He died after a car-crash in 1992, aged 31.
1961 Werner Scheidl, Austrian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1999.
1962 Peter Gschwendtner, Austrian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2002, Everest in 2004, Makalu in 2008 and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2013.
1963 Christopher (Chris) Jones, Irish climber, who ascended Everest in 2009.
1963 John Sloan Carney, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1964 Oh Se-Cheol, Korean climber, who ascended Nuptse West-Peak II in 1988 (7732 m, first ascent) and Lhotse in 2004.
1964 Paul Garry, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2008.
1967 Gregory Yanagihara, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2000.
1967 Tan Bo-Tao, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2017.
1968 David C. Roskelley, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1969 Rudy Buccela, Italian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1995.
1969 Martin Heuger, Slovak climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2011.
1971 Sean James Disney, South African climber, who ascended Everest twice (2006 and 2010). He also finished the Carstensz- and Kosciuszko-versions of the Seven Summits in 2006.
1972 Xu Bin, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023 and Everest in 2024.
1973 Yannick Graziani, French climber, who ascended Makalu in 2004, Broad Peak Foresummit in 2008, Broad Peak in 2011 and Annapurna I in 2013.
1973 Anna Svavarsdóttir, lady climber from Iceland, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2003 and Manaslu RP in 2014.
1975 Phur Temba II (Fur Temba), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1977 Nang Chombi, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest four times (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008) and Cho Oyu in 2002.
1977 Rita Dorje I (aka Ang Rita Dorje), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest nine times (2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, twice in 2010, 2011 and 2013), Manaslu RP three times (2010, 2011 and 2012) and Lhotse in 2011.
1979 Shyam Bahadur Tamang, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1980 Dong Hong-Juan, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2012, Everest in 2013, Gasherbrum II and Cho Oyu in 2014, Gasherbrum I in 2016, Dhaulagiri I (WRFS), Makalu (FS), K2, Broad Peak Foresummit and Nanga Parbat in 2017, Lhotse, Kangchenjunga, Broad Peak and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2018, Annapurna I and Manaslu M in 2021, Dhaulagiri I and Makalu in 2022 and Shisha Pangma in 2023, where she finished all 14 8000er Main-Peaks.
1981 Masoud Kalafchi, Iranian climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1982 Ngima Nuru III, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2016, 2018 and 2019).
1985 Zachary Hunter Smith, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
1987 Bonita Gina Norris, British lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2010 and Lhotse in 2012.
1987 Lauri Antt Sakari Hilander, Finnish lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1988 Chang Yuan-Chih, Chinese climber, who ascended Makalu in 2019.
1991 Jazli Abraham Ezekiel Shafeeq, Singaporean climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
1995 Chongwa Dawa, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu in 2018.
1995 Rahul Singh, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2026.
1996 Jonathan Gabriel Gérard Lamy, French climber, who ascended Everest and Makalu in 2022 and Annapurna I in 2023.
1997 Maxwell Charles Bond, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.
1997 Chhiring Bhote II, Nepalese climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga in 2023 and Everest in 2026.

First ascents on this day

1955 Yangra (aka Ganesh I, 7429 m) by a Franco-Swiss party.
1970 Churen Himal (7385 m) by a Japanese party.
1978 Langtang Lirung (7227 m) by another Japanese party.
2013 Kishtwar Kailash (6486 m) by an American party.

Gone on this day

1964 Toni Kinshofer, German pioneer, who ascended Nanga Parbat in 1962, died by a fall on Battert, aged 30.
1984 Ang Dorje I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (1978 and in spring 1984), Annapurna I in 1980, Kangchenjunga in 1982 and Manaslu (?) in 1983. He died with his companion Yogendra Thapa by a fall on Everest, aged 35.
1989 Jerzy Kukuczka, Polish climber, who ascended Tirich Mir East-Peak in 1978, Lhotse in 1979, Everest in 1980 (new route), Makalu in 1981 (new route), Broad Peak twice (1982 and 1984 by a new route), Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 1983 (both by a new route including the first ascent of Gasherbrum II East), Broad Peak Central during the new route to Broad Peak in 1984, Dhaulagiri I and Cho Oyu in winter 1985, Nanga Parbat in summer 1985 (new route), Kangchenjunga in winter 1986 (first winter ascent), K2 in summer 1986 (new route), Manaslu RP in autumn 1986 (new route), Annapurna I in winter 1987 (first winter ascent), Shisha Pangma in autumn 1987 (new route) and Annapurna I East-Peak in 1988 (new route by the South face). He died during the attempt to ascent the then unclimbed Lhotse South face in a fatal fall, aged 41.
1999 Ginette Harrison, British lady climber, who ascended Everest in 1993, Cho Oyu in 1997, Kangchenjunga in spring 1998 (first female ascent), Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in autumn 1998 and Makalu in 1999. She died in an avalanche on Dhaulagiri I, aged 41. The same avalanche killed Dawa Dorje (40), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Cho Oyu twice (1991 and 1997) and Dhaulagiri I in 1995.
2019 Robert Paragot, French pioneer, who achieved the first ascent of Kumbhakarna (aka Jannu, 7711 m) in 1962 and ascended the Muztagh Tower just one week after the British first ascent party in 1956. He died on this day, aged 92.