21 February

Born on this day

1908 Hans Ertl, German pioneer, who made the first ascent of Sia Kangri (7422 m) together with Albert Höcht in 1934 (the expedition leader was Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth). He also was a well known mountaineering film pioneer. In 2000 he died in Bolivia, aged 92.
1942 Horst Bergmann, Austrian climber, who ascended Everest in 1978. He died in 1992, aged 49.
1953 Shomi Suzuki, Japanese climber, who ascended Kumbhakarna (aka Jannu) in 1976, Kangchenjunga in 1980 and Everest in 1983.
1954 Nikolai Shustrov, Russian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1995.
1956 Artur Rudolph, German climber, who ascended Everest in 2009, where he also finished the Carstensz- and Kosciuszko-versions of the Seven Summits.
1957 Renalto (René) Ghilini, French (Italian born?) climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 1980 and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1999.
1961 Constantin (Ticu) Lacatusu, Romanian climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1992, Everest in 1995 and Cho Oyu in 1998. He also finished the Carstensz-version of the Seven Summits in 2001.
1961 Peter Fessler, Austrian climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1999, Gasherbrum I in 2004 and Manaslu RP in 2007. He died in 2009, aged 48.
1961 Helmut Laaf, German climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1963 Shinji Sasahara, Japanese climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1994.
1966 Anatoli Lutov, Belarusian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2004 and Nanga Parbat in 2007.
1967 John Neal Lowry, Canadian climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1967 Per Stefan Brohn, Swedish climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2016.
1968 Ang Mingma I (aka Mingma), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twelve times (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019), Cho Oyu twice (2009 and 2014), Manaslu RP in 2010 and Lhotse and Manaslu M in 2022.
1968 Gregor Rex, German climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 2006.
1968 John Andrew Stephen, Canadian climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1972 Tracy Ann Walters, American lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1974 Patricio (Ramiro) Tisalema, Ecuadorian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2005 and Everest in 2006.
1976 Clayton Vernon Matthews, Canadian climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1977 Lu Shui-Gu, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2015.
1978 Ang Dano, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga twice (2018 and 2019).
1981 Da Rinji, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2017, 2021 and 2022).
1981 Cheung Chi-Fai (Paul), Chinese climber, who ascended Everest and Lhotse in 2019.
1982 Erik Zeller Severinghaus, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1983 Danilo Callegari, Italian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2016.
1984 Erix Asdrubal Salas Abasolo, Mexican climber, who ascended Everest in 2021 and K2 in 2022.
1986 Asha Kumari Singh, Nepalese lady climber from the Danuwar tribe, who ascended Everest in 2008.
1989 Darinji, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1994 Lakpa Dendi II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2017 and 2022).

First ascent on this day

1972 Piramide (Patagonia, Chile, c. 2800 m) by an Argentinean party.

Gone on this day

1987 Noel E. Odell, British pioneer, who, accompanied by Harold William Tilman, achieved the first ascent of Nanda Devi in 1936, died, aged 96.