15 May

Born on this day

1856 Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss pioneer, who achieved first ascents of Mount Cook in New Zealand in 1894 and Aconcagua solo in 1897. He died in 1917, aged 61.
1940 Tadeusz Łaukajtys, Polish climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 1983. He died in 2015, aged 74.
1943 Kazuyo Fujikura, Japanese lady climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2007.
1947 James Arnold, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2014.
1948 Renato Casarotto, Italian climber, who ascended Broad Peak North (7490 m) solo in 1983 (first ascent) and Gasherbrum II in 1985. He died in 1986 on K2, aged 38.
1951 Michel Zalio, French climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1991.
1954 Steven Goryl, American climber, who ascended Everest in 1994.
1955 Boris Mednik, Russian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1996.
1958 Manuel Álvarez, Spanish Asturian climber, who ascended Gasherbrum I in 1996 and died on descent, aged 38.
1958 Mark Alan Richey, American climber, who ascended Ngozumpa Kang (7916 m) in 1985 and Everest in 1991.
1961 Enrico Rosso, Italian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1989.
1961 Kim Jong-Won, Korean climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2018.
1962 László Gál, Hungarian climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2011.
1962 Luis Alvarez, Mexican climber, who ascended Everest in 2016.
1963 David Mark Shuttleworth, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1964 Ram Chandra Shrestha, Nepalese Newari climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2003.
1965 Jesús Martínez, Spanish Galician climber, who ascended Everest in 1996, Dhaulagiri I and Cho Oyu in 1997, Gasherbrum II and I and Broad Peak Foresummit in 1998 and Lhotse in 2000.
1966 Irina Zisman, Russian lady climber, who ascended Everest and Manaslu RP in 2019.
1966 Li Kai, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1967 Christopher Dovell, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2009.
1968 Alessandro Mario Busca, Italian climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1994, Dhaulagiri I in 2001 and Everest in 2004.
1968 Marie-Thèrése Sophie (Soso) Lavaud, Swiss (also Canadian and French citizen) lady climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak and Cho Oyu in 2012, Everest in 2014, Gasherbrum II in 2015, Makalu in 2016, Broad Peak and Manaslu RP in 2017, K2 in 2018, Annapurna I, Kangchenjunga (on her 51st birthday) and Gasherbrum I in 2019, Dhaulagiri I in 2021, Lhotse and Manaslu M in 2022 and Shisha Pangma and Nanga Parbat in 2023, where she finished all 14 8000er Main-Peaks.
1969 Mackenzie Lawdon, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2006.
1969 Sergei Baranov, Russian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2011, Everest and Cho Oyu in 2013, Makalu in 2014, Kangchenjunga in 2018 and Annapurna I in 2019.
1970 Phurba Ongel II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1970 Mariusz Andrzej Szczuraszek, Polish climber, who ascended Everest in 2017.
1971 Anil Bhattarai, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2005 and Cho Oyu in 2006.
1971 Francesco Maria Tiribelli, Italian climber, who ascended Everest and Lhotse in 2021.
1973 Yang Gao, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2013.
1975 Yan Wu, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2017 and Everest in 2018.
1975 Sandeep Toliya, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1976 Yao Xiao-Li, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1979 Nawang Nuri, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2012 and Everest three times (2013, 2016 and 2018).
1979 Victor Afanasiev, Russian climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023.
1980 Nima Kancha II (Ngima Kanchha), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2006, 2007 and 2012), Lhotse in 2008 and Manaslu M twice (2024 and 2025).
1980 Kili Pemba (Kilu Pemba), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu RP three times (2002, 2009 and 2021), Cho Oyu twice (2002 and 2005), Everest ten times (2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019. 2021 and 2022), Dhaulagiri I four times (2010 -no ev.-, 2011, 2022 and 2026), Lhotse three times (2012, 2018 and 2019), Manaslu M three times (2021, 2023 and 2025), Annapurna I and K2 in 2023, Makalu, Gasherbrum II, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak and Shisha Pangma in 2024 and Kangchenjunga in 2025.
1980 Hilda Sterczer, Hungarian lady climber, who ascended Gasherbrum I and Broad Peak in 2007.
1982 Kristina Nina Ađanin, Serbian lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2008.
1983 Yuki Inayoshi, Japanese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2013 and K2 in 2018.
1983 Viridiana Álvarez Chávez, Mexican lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2015, Everest in 2017, Lhotse and K2 in 2018, Kangchenjunga on her 36th birthday in 2019, Annapurna I and Dhaulagiri I in 2021, Makalu in 2022 and Shisha Pangma, Cho Oyu, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, Broad Peak and Manaslu M in 2023, where she finished all 14 8000er Main-Peaks.
1984 Padam Tamang, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest three times (2017, 2022 and 2024) and Manaslu M in 2025.
1985 Pasang Karma II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1986 Jesús Antonio Rosales, American climber, who ascended K2 in 2018.
1987 Tsering Dendu ("Small"), Tibetan climber, who ascended Cho Oyu twice (2006 and 2008) and Everest three times (2007, 2008 and 2012).
1988 Anup Rai, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest four times (2019, twice in 2021 and 2022) and Manaslu RP twice (2019 and 2021).
1991 Tashi Chhumbel, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest four times (2013, 2017, 2019 and 2024), Lhotse in 2022 and Manaslu M in 2024.
1991 Rupert Guy Jones-Warner, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2018, Annapurna I in 2019 and Kangchenjunga in 2022.
1991 Ksenia Samarina, Russian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1991 Lakpa (f), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2019.
1994 Tenje, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2022, 2024 and 2025).
1995 Inayat Ali, Pakistani climber, who ascended K2 twice (2022 and 2024).
1999 Ongel, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
2002 Pasang Nurbu (b), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
2003 Furba Gelzen, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.

First ascents on this day

1955 Makalu (8485 m) by a French party.
1979 Khumbutse (6639 m) by a Slovenian party.
1983 Jichu Drake South-Peak (about 6790 m, Bhutan-Tibet border) by an Austrian party.
1986 Saser Kangri III (7495 m) by an Indian party.

Gone on this day

1973 Takao Matsuda, Japanese climber, who participated in the first ascent of Yalung Kang the day before, disappeared on descent, aged 31.
1992 Giovanni Calcagno, Italian climber, who ascended Tirich Mir twice in 1975, Broad Peak in 1984, Gasherbrum II and I during 13 days in 1985, K2 in 1986 and Nanga Parbat in 1987, disappeared on Denali (McKinley), aged 49.
2006 David Sharp, British climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2002, died on Everest, aged 34.
2007 Shinichi Ishii, Japanese climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2003 and Everest on this day, died on descent, aged 63. It was the second climber with the same name, who died on Everest. Another Shinichi Ishii died in an avalanche back in 1985.
2010 Han Xin (40), Li Bin (47) and Zhao Liang (34), Chinese climbers, who ascended Dhaulagiri I two days before, died on descent.
2013 Aleksei Bolotov, Russian climber, who ascended Makalu in 1997, Everest twice (1998 and 2002), Lhotse Central-Peak in 2001, Dhaulagiri I in 2005, Cho Oyu in 2006, K2 in 2007, Annapurna I in 2008, Manaslu RP in 2009, Gasherbrum I and II in 2010 and Kangchenjunga and Broad Peak in 2011, died on Everest, aged 50.
2018 Ang Dawa (a), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Makalu in 2018 and died on descent, aged 31.