12 February

Born on this day

1934 Jozef Psotka, Slovak climber, who participated in the first ascent of Nanga Parbat Forepeak in 1971, ascended Kangchenjunga in 1981 and Everest without bottled oxygen in 1984, where he died on descent, aged 50.
1941 Naomi Uemura, Japanese climber and adventurer, who ascended Ngozumpa Kang II in 1965 (first ascent) and Everest in 1970. He also made several outstanding Polar solo expeditions, one of them was the first solo expedition to the North Pole in 1978. He disappeared in 1984 on Denali (McKinley), aged 43.
1951 Aaj Tenzing, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2004.
1955 Yoshimasa Sasaki, Japanese climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2003.
1957 Kiyohiko Suzuki, Japanese climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma in 1989 and Everest in 1994.
1958 Toshihiko Tamura, Japanese climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2003 and Everest in 2004. He also finished the Kosciuszko-version of the Seven Summits in 2005.
1960 Wesley Orlando Morris Marks, British climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
1963 Mao Jian-Ong, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1966 John Baxter Gillespie, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1972 Li Xiao-Dan, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1972 Bartłomiej Andrzej Paczóski, Polish climber, who ascended Everest in 2019, K2 in 2023 and Annapurna I in 2025.
1977 Samuel Peter Sealey, Australian climber, who ascended Everest in 2017.
1977 Liv Sansoz, French lady climber, who ascended K2 in 2024.
1979 Kunzang Gyatso Bhutia, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2008.
1979 Jang Jae-Yong, Korean climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1982 Fumiaki Nishikawa, Japanese climber, who ascended Everest in 2022.
1984 Conor McGahon, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1987 Kaji I (Pasang Kaji), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest four times (2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013) and Lhotse in 2024.
1988 Michael Robert Henrion (Mike) Posner, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2021.
1989 Almir Kymbatbaiuly, Kazakh climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1991 Feng Jian-Fei, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2022.
1994 Bidyachand Singh Phairembam, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1998 Abid Asad, Pakistani climber, who ascended K2 in 2022.

Event on this day

1985 First winter ascent of Cho Oyu (8188 m) by a Polish party.

Gone on this day

1988 Tullio Vidoni, Italian climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1984, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 1985 (within 13 days), K2 in 1986 and Nanga Parbat in 1987, died in an avalanche in the Italian Alps, aged 40.
2000 Taeko Todo, Japanese lady climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1996. She died in the Japanese Alps, aged 38.