20 May

Born on this day

1945 Yves Morin, French climber, who ascended Annapurna I in 1979 and died on descent, aged 33.
1950 Lee Sang-Ho, Korean climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1955 Kuo Yu-Cheng, Taiwanese climber, who ascended Everest in 2006.
1956 Floriano Castelnuovo, Italian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1988 and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1994.
1958 Sergei Petrov, Russian climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 2005.
1959 Götz Wiegand, German climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1994, Cho Oyu in 1997, Manaslu M in 1999 and Makalu in 2000.
1959 Jan Kalousek, American climber of Czech origin, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2000.
1960 Yasuyuki Furuta, Japanese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
1964 Matteo Bonalumi, Italian climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 2021 and Broad Peak in 2023.
1965 Marcus Tobia, Venezuelan climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1998 and Everest in 2001.
1967 Juan Sebastian Montes, Chilean climber, who ascended Everest in 1992.
1967 Momtchil Vassilev Bochniakov, Bulgarian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1968 Michael James Lindaas, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2006.
1969 Iñigo Loyola, Spanish Basque climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2006.
1970 Lhakpa Thundu I (Lhakpa Thudu/Tindu), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest nine times (2001, 2004, twice in 2006, twice in 2007, 2009 and twice in 2010), Annapurna I in 2002, Cho Oyu in 2006 and Manaslu RP in 2008. He died in 2016 in an avalanche on Ama Dablam, aged 36.
1971 Hitendra Chandrakant Mahajan, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1972 Hannes Gröbner, Austrian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2013.
1974 Reinhard Grubhofer, Austrian climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1974 Hugues François Marie André Duplantier, French climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2018.
1975 Stein Tant, Belgian climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1976 Jan (Honza) Trávníček, Czech climber, who ascended Gasherbrum I in 2009, Manaslu RP twice (2011 and 2021), Annapurna I in 2012, K2 in 2014 and Cho Oyu in 2016.
1976 Gao Lian-Miao, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1979 David L. D'Angelo, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2004.
1982 Phurba Kusang I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2006.
1983 Tashi Phinzo 1 (Tashi Phuntsok), Chinese (Tibetan) climber, who ascended Cho Oyu three times (2001, 2003 and 2013) and Everest thirteen times (2004, 2005, twice in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017).
1984 Narayan Singh, Indian climber, who ascended Makalu in 2019.
1986 Rahul Kumar Tyagi, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1987 Yang Wen-Bo, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
1988 Mohamad Asyraf Mohamad Halim, Malaysian climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1990 Edwin Spottswood (Woody) Bailey, American climber, who ascended Everest and Lhotse in 2013.
1992 Pema Khando Chinyam, American climber, who ascended Makalu in 2022.
1997 Prince Tamang, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.

First ascents on this day

1953 Mera (6470 m, the original one !) by a British party.
1962 Nupchu (6044 m) by a Japanese party.

Gone on this day

2004 Shoko Ohta, Japanese lady climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2002 and Everest in 2004, where she died on descent, aged 63.
2004 Park Mu-Taek, Korean climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 1996, Kangchenjunga and K2 in 2000, Shisha Pangma in 2001, Everest in 2002, Lhotse in 2003 and again Everest in 2004, where he died on descent, aged 34.
2004 Hristo Ganchev Hristov, Bulgarian climber, who ascended Everest on this day, died on descent, aged 26.
2004 Jang Min, Korean climber, who ascended Everest two days earlier, died on descent, aged 26.
2006 Susan (Sue) Nott, American lady climber, who ascended Kamet in 2005, died on Foraker, aged 36.
2008 Nil Prasad Gurung, Nepalese climber, who ascended Makalu two days earlier, died on descent, aged 33.
2012 Ralf Dieter Arnold, German climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 2008, Cho Oyu in 2010 and Everest in 2012, where he died on descent, aged 41.
2013 Lee Hsiao-Shih, Taiwanese climber, who ascended Everest in 2009, Manaslu RP in 2011 and Lhotse in 2013, where he died on descent, aged 57.
2014 Chhanda Gayen, Indian lady climber, who ascended Everest and Lhotse in 2013 and Kangchenjunga in 2014. Two days later she died on Yalung Kang, aged 34.
2016 Eric Ary Arnold, Dutch climber, who ascended Everest on that day, died on descent, aged 36.
2019 Bogdan Jankowski, Polish pioneer and author, who was member of many expeditions to High Asia including Kunyang Chhish in 1971, Lhotse in 1974, Everest in 1980 during the first winter ascent, twice K2 in winter (1987/1988 and 2002/2003) and twice Nanga Parbat in winter (1996/97 and 1997/98), died, aged 81.