26 October

Born on this day

1931 Hisashi Tanabe, Japanese pioneer, who participated in the first ascent of Himalchuli (7893 m) in 1960.
1939 Walter Franz Xaver Lang, German climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009.
1951 Mikhail Sitnik, Ukrainian climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga in 1993.
1952 Hisashi Hashimoto, Japanese climber, who ascended Everest in 1998, Gasherbrum II in 2003 and Makalu in 2008.
1959 Jalal Cheshmeh Ghasabani, Iranian climber, who ascended Rakaposhi in 1997, Everest twice (1998 and 2005), Lhotse in 2002 and Broad Peak in 2008.
1960 José Francisco Saldaña, Spanish Andalusian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009, Gasherbrum II in 2012, Manaslu RP in 2014 and Broad Peak in 2022.
1962 Renate Schmid, Swiss lady climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 1995.
1962 Davorin (Davo) Karničar, Slovenian climber, who ascended Annapurna I in 1995 and Everest in 2000. He made the first complete ski descents from both mountains. In 2006 he also finished the Kosciuszko-version of the Seven Summits. He died in 2019, felling a tree, aged 56.
1963 Masanori Kanayama, Japanese climber, who ascended Broad Peak Foresummit in 1988.
1964 Lou Guo-Long, Chinese climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 2010.
1968 Ian Parnell, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2005.
1968 Mark Alexander Wilkins, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1972 Takashi Sano, Japanese climber, who ascended K2 in 1996. He died in 1998, aged 25.
1973 Ramesh Kumar Lagwal, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2004.
1973 Phurba Thundup, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2004. He died in 2006 in an avalanche on Pumori, aged 32.
1974 Chhiring Dorje, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1995, Cho Oyu seven times (1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2014 and twice in 2016), Manaslu RP three times (1996, 2011 and 2015), Everest seventeen times (1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, twice in 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, in 2018 twice, 2024 and 2026), K2 in 2008, Makalu twice (2009 and 2010) and Lhotse in 2009.
1975 Zhang Wei, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest and Manaslu RP in 2009, Dhaulagiri I in 2010 and Lhotse in 2013.
1976 Anton Seleznev, Russian climber, who ascended Everest in 2014.
1977 Kumari Gyanmala Ranapal, Nepalese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1978 Dawa Nuru III (aka Danuru), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 1997, Everest fourteen times (1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013) and Cho Oyu nine times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2011).
1979 Lukáš Svoboda, Czech climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1981 Ram Sharan Upreti, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2021.
1981 Jure Skrbec, Slovenian climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1982 Zhang Li, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1983 Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya, Singaporian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2021 and Everest in 2023.
1984 Santa Kumar Maharjan, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1984 Wojciech (Wojtek) Kukuczka, Polish climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1985 Gevorg Gasparyan, Armenian climber, who ascended Everest in 2026.
1986 Timo Allan Ilmari Jaatinen, Finnish climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1987 Chan Chiao-Yu (Tri-Fish), Taiwanese lady climber, who ascended Lhotse and Manaslu RP in 2018, Makalu and Everest in 2019 and Dhaulagiri I and K2 in 2022.
1988 Gyaljen Nuru, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2013, 2016 and 2018).
1989 Illina Frankiv, Canadian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1989 Hannah Elizabeth Wise, American lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1989 Ahmad Mohammad Mousa Bani-Hani, Jordanian climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2023, Makalu in 2024 and Manaslu M in 2025.
1991 Yoo Seon-Pil, Korean climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2012.
1992 Nils Riva, Swiss climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023.
1993 Guillaume Marie Henri Christian Desombre, French climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2022.
1993 Hari Bahadur Gurung, Nepalese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
2000 Dorchi X, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2025 and Annapurna I and Lhotse in 2026.

First ascents on this day

1970 Sita Chuchura East-Peak (6611 m) by a Japanese party. The Main-Peak (6662 m) is probably still unclimbed!
1987 Lapche Kang I (aka Labuche Kang I, 7367 m) by a Sino-Japanese party.
2018 Lunag Ri (6895 m) by an Austrian party.

Gone on this day

1986 Hizuru Nakamura, Japanese climber, who ascended Himalchuli and died on descent, aged 31.