20 February

Born on this day

1925 Ruedi Schatz, Swiss pioneer, who participated in the first attempt on Dhaulagiri I. Together with his companion Peter Braun he reached ca. 7600 m on May 29, 1953, the day of the first ascent of Everest. He died in Switzerland 1979 on a canoe trip, aged 54.
1932 Thomas Walton (Tom) Patey, British (Scottish) pioneer, who participated in the first ascent of Rakaposhi in 1958. He died while climbing in Scotland in 1970, aged 38.
1939 Kazimierz Głazek, Polish climber, who participated in the first ascent of Broad Peak Central (aka Zhongyang, 8011 m) in 1975. He died in 2005 in Tunesia, aged 66.
1941 Siegfried (Sigi) Hupfauer, German climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 1973, Everest in 1978, Shisha Pangma in 1980, Gasherbrum I in 1982, Broad Peak in 1986, Gasherbrum II in 1987, Nanga Parbat in 1988 and Cho Oyu in 1990.
1953 Vasili Yelagin, Russian climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga in April 1989 and three weeks later again by traversing the South-, Central-, Main- and West-Peaks. He also ascended Cho Oyu in 1999 and Everest in 2003.
1955 Klaus-Dieter Grohs, German climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1998, Broad Peak Foresummit in 1999 and Nanga Parbat in 2001. He died in a fall on K2 in 2003, aged 48.
1956 Andrej Belica, Slovak climber, who ascended Nanga Parbat North-Peak (7816 m) in 1978 (first ascent!).
1956 Jordi Gazquez, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 2006.
1956 Kim Momb, American climber, who ascended Everest in 1983. He died in 1986 after an avalanche in Canada, aged 29.
1957 Yukihiro Michiwaki, Japanese climber, who ascended Makalu in 1982.
1961 Philip (Phil) Powers, American climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 1987 and K2 in 1993.
1965 Bogusław Stanisław Ogrodnik, Polish climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2004 and Everest in 2006.
1965 Gabino (Xabi) Txikon, Spanish Basque climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009.
1967 Dawa Chhiri II (aka Dawa Tsiri), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Makalu three times (1999, 2004 and 2008), Everest four times (2000, 2005, 2006 and 2013), Cho Oyu three times (2003, 2007 and 2016), Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2005, Manaslu RP three times (2006, 2008 and 2011), Dhaulagiri I in 2009 and K2 in 2012.
1967 Ang Yau-Choon, Singaporean climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1967 Dawa Tshering I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (1988 and 2002), Dhaulagiri I in 1990 and Cho Oyu in 2005.
1968 Pushkar Shah, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1969 Reiner Taglinger, German climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2006 and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2007.
1969 Jürgen Kress, German climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1971 Robert Kelso Smith, British climber, who ascended Cho Oyu three times (2011, 2024 and 2025), Everest nine times (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025), K2 twice (2018 and 2021), Lhotse twice (2019 and 2025) and Manaslu RP in 2019.
1972 Elias (Elio) Schijlen, Dutch climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2005 and Gasherbrum II in 2011.
1975 Ivan Titov, Russian climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023 and Everest and Lhotse in 2024.
1978 Ingemar Enberg, Swedish climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2005.
1978 Tshering Palden Bhote, Nepalese Bhutia climber, who ascended Everest six times (2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2016), Cho Oyu twice (2002 and 2003) and Manaslu M in 2023.
1980 Nima Nurbu, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest eleven times (2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2022 and 2024), Cho Oyu three times (2003, 2005 and 2016), K2 and Broad Peak Foresummit in 2017, Manaslu RP in 2018 and Lhotse and Manaslu M in 2023.
1980 Fernando Errecalde Bilbatua, Spanish Aragonese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023.
1982 John Nettleton, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1982 John Warwick Dover, Australian climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.
1983 Pasang Temba III (aka Pasang), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest thirteen times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024), Cho Oyu twice (2007 and 2016), Makalu in 2009 and Manaslu M three times (2023, 2024 and 2025).
1983 Sofyan Arief Fesa, Indonesian climber, who ascended Everest in 2011, where he also finished the Carstensz-version of the Seven Summits.
1985 Sunita Singh Choken, Indian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1986 Lorenzo Filippo Croce, Swiss climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023.
1992 Sahil Ajay Patel, British climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2021.
1994 Ke Ye, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
2001 Pemba Ongchhu, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu M twice (2024 and 2025).
2008 Emma Renee Schwerin, American lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.

Gone on this day

1988 Michael J. (Mike) Cheney, British adventurer and journalist, who stayed in Nepal for more than 30 years. He organized mountaineering and trekking adventures and informed worldwide about mountaineering in Nepal, cooperating with Miss Hawley. He died, aged 59.