26 February

Born on this day

1890 John Baptist Lucius Noel, British pioneer, photographer and filmmaker, who participated in the Everest expeditions in 1922 and 1924. He died in 1989, aged 99.
1900 Fritz Wiessner, German born pioneer, who led the American expedition to K2 in 1939 and, with Pasang Dawa Lama, reached ca. 8382 m without bottled oxygen. He died in 1988, aged 88.
1956 Satoshi Kimoto, Japanese climber, who ascended Everest in 1985 and Cho Oyu in 1992.
1958 Dawa Wangchu, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Lhotse Shar in 1989.
1960 Franco Nicolini, Italian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2002.
1961 Kiyoshi Furuno, Japanese climber, who ascended Himalchuli in 1986 and Everest in 1995.
1964 Oleg Grigoriev, Uzbek climber, who ascended Everest in 1998.
1964 Jindřich Hudeček, Czech free-climber.
1970 Karl Paratscha, Italian (South Tyrolean) climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1970 Gina Cleopatra Badescu, Romanian lady climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2019 and Manaslu RP in 2021.
1972 Bayarsaikhan Lkhasuren, Mongolian lady climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2023.
1975 Álvaro Sebastián Aldana, Argentinean climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2016.
1976 Pablo Betancourt, Argentinean climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1977 Rinji III, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
1980 Kuntal-Ajit Joisher, Indian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2014, Everest twice (2016 and 2019) and Lhotse in 2018.
1980 Kevin Nishant Joseph, Indian climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 2017.
1986 Dorchi III, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest seven times (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022), Cho Oyu in 2016, Manaslu RP twice (2017 and 2021) and K2 in 2022.
1989 Dawa VI, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu RP twice (2018 and 2020), Everest in 2019, Makalu twice (2019 and 2025), Cho Oyu in 2019, Annapurna I in 2021, Broad Peak and Manaslu M in 2023, K2 in 2024 and Kangchenjunga, Gasherbrum I and Dhaulagiri I in 2025.
1989 Rebecca Jane Siew-Ling Heah, Australian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.
1992 Norbo Dorjey, Indian climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023.
1993 Omnika Dangol, Nepalese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2022.
1993 Mingma Chhiri VI, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1993 Tenjing V, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2024 and 2025).
1997 Phurba Kusang II (Phurbu Kusang), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Lhotse three times (2018, 2021 and 2022), Makalu in 2019, Manaslu RP three times (2019, 2020 and 2021), Everest five times (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025), Annapurna I and Nanga Parbat in 2023, Manaslu M twice (2023 and 2024) and Kangchenjunga and Gasherbrum II in 2024.
2004 Lhakpa Tenji II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
2005 Sonam IV, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2021.

Event on this day

2016 First winter ascent of Nanga Parbat (8125 m) by a Spanish Basque-Italian-Pakistani party.

First ascent on this day

1937 Ojos del Salado (6893 m) by a Polish party.
1937 Nevado Tres Cruces Sur (6748 m) by a Polish party.

Gone on this day

1984 Ramón Biosca, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Disteghil Sar in 1982, died, aged 30.