20 August

Born on this day

1947 Ivan G. Valchev, Bulgarian climber, who ascended Everest in 1984 and Makalu in 1998.
1948 Kazbek Khamitsayev, Russian climber, who ascended Everest in 1995.
1950 Song Gui-Hwa, Korean lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1951 Max Lutz, German climber, who ascended Lhotse in 1977.
1956 Manoel Augusto Morgado, Brazilian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009 and Everest in 2010.
1958 Charles Ely (Charley) Mace, American climber, who ascended K2 in 1992, Gasherbrum II in 1993, Manaslu RP in 1997, Everest twice (2001 and 2017) and Cho Oyu in 2014. He also finished the Kosciuszko-version of the Seven Summits in 2006 and the Carstensz-version in 2008.
1960 Viktor Rier, Italian climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
1961 Alberto Zerain, Spanish Basque climber, who ascended Everest in 1993, Makalu in 1995, Lhotse in 2001, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 2006, K2 in 2008, Kangchenjunga in 2009, Dhaulagiri I and Manaslu RP in 2016 and Annapurna I in 2017. He died in 2017 during an attempt of the Mazeno ridge on Nanga Parbat, aged 55.
1961 Jorge Antonio Salazar, Mexican climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 2007, Everest in 2008 and Shisha Pangma in 2010.
1962 Shelley McKinlay (nee Ballard), Canadian lady climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1995.
1963 Manel de la Matta, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu in 1993. He died on K2 one day before his 41st birthday.
1963 Liang Yi, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1964 Claes Torbjörn Hallström, Swedish climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1965 Pema Temba, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (1993 and 2005).
1967 Chuwang Nima (aka Chhewang Nima), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest eighteen times (1994 twice, 1996 twice, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and twice in 2010), Cho Oyu twice (2002 and 2003) and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2004. He died in an avalanche on Baruntse in autumn 2010, aged 43.
1967 Koichi Murayama, Japanese climber, who ascneded Manaslu RP in 2013.
1968 Lee Bong-Yeul, Korean climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2003.
1969 Dragan Jaćimović, Serbian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1998 and Everest in 2000.
1970 Dendi II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1971 Lhakpa Nuru VII, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2006 without supplementary oxygen and 2007).
1971 Phurba Chhoter (aka Ang Jangbu), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twelve times (2005, twice in 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023), Cho Oyu in 2006 and Lhotse twice (2019 and 2022).
1973 Peter Mayer, Austrian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2007.
1974 Asmus Norreslet, Danish climber, who ascended Everest twice (2000 and 2001).
1974 Mingmar IV, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2014.
1974 Sun Ye, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2017.
1974 Maria José (Pipi) Cardell, Spanish Andalusian lady climber, who ascended Gasherbrum I in 2023 and Nanga Parbat in 2025.
1975 Anders Erik Karl Bergvall, Swedish climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2014, Everest in 2016 and Lhotse in 2018.
1975 Zhang Da-Xiao, Chinese climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2017 and Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II in 2019.
1975 Zhu Wei-Yong, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.
1977 Pemba Chumpi (Pema Chhumbi), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2017, 2021 and 2022), Makalu in 2018, Annapurna I in 2019, Manaslu M twice (2023 and 2024) and Dhaulagiri I in 2025.
1979 Nga Tashi II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga in 2022, Makalu and K2 in 2023 and Everest in 2025.
1980 Sipra Majumdar, Indian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2005.
1981 Dmytro Semerenko, Ukrainian climber, who ascended Everest in 2018 and K2 in 2021.
1982 Kim Dong-Eon, Korean climber, who ascended Everest in 2009.
1982 Tukte, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2021, 2022 and 2026).
1984 Jaco van Gass, South African climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2011.
1985 Ena Vrbek, Croatian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2009.
1986 Jennifer Berrocal Barboza, Costa Rican lady climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
1987 Thi Thanh Nha (Celine) Nguyen, Vietnamese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2022.
1987 Guo Ming-Lun, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest and Lhotse in 2025.
1988 Seema Goswami, Indian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2016.
1989 Elyse Dalton Ping Medvigy, American lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2016 and Gasherbrum II in 2021.
1989 Sha Feng, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest and Lhotse in 2025.
1990 Ngima Tshering, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2019 and 2022).
1991 Chhiring Namgel/Namgyal, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest eight times (2012, 2013, 2016, 2018, in 2021 twice, 2022 and 2023), Dhaulagiri I (WRFS) in 2017, Lhotse and Manaslu RP twice (2019 and 2021), K2 three times (2021, 2022 and 2023), Nanga Parbat and Broad Peak in 2022, Makalu in 2023 and Manaslu M twice (2023 and 2024).
1995 Dawa XIV, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2022 and 2024), Manaslu M twice (2023 and 2024), Lhotse in 2024 and Makalu, Nanga Parbat and Dhaulagiri I in 2025.
1995 Lhakpa Sonam V, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
2001 Ngima Dorje III (Ngim Dorjee), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2024, 2025 and 2026) and Manaslu M in 2025.

First ascents on this day

1959 Pik Moskva (6785 m) by a Russian party.
1965 Ghul Lasht Zom (6652 m) by an Austrian party.
1968 Shah Fuladi (appr. 5060 m) by a Japanese party.
1969 Shingeik Zom West-Peak I (c. 7170 m) and II (c. 7150 m) by an Austrian party as well.
1981 Kang Yisay (aka Namling, 6401 m) by a Japanese party.
1983 Aikache Chhok (6595 m) by an Italian party.
1985 P. 6140 m (SW of Syn Qing Feng) by a Sino-Japanese party.
2008 Chong Kumdang Ri II (7004 m) by an Indo-French party.
2012 Lugzi Pombo (6414 m) by an Indian party.

Gone on this day

1988 Jang Yong-Il, Korean climber, died after reaching Broad Peak Foresummit, aged 37.
1989 Oswald Gassler, Austrian climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma in 1985, Cho Oyu in 1987 and Nanga Parbat in 1988, died in the Alps, aged 41.
1997 Tatsuya Harada (62), Japanese climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1995, Mitsuo Hiroshima (54), who ascended K2 in 1977, and their four Japanese companions Shigeru Nagasawa (47), Seijiro Nakagome (50), Yoshiki Kitota (38) and Nade Shibata (57), died in an avalanche on Skilbrum (7360 m).
2018 Ian Edward (Ted) Atkins, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2004, Makalu in 2008, Kangchenjunga in 2011 and Lhotse in 2012, died, aged 59.