29 July

Born on this day

1917 André Vialatte, French pioneer, who ascended Makalu in 1955. He died in 2007, aged 89.
1944 Jim Bridwell, American free-climber. He died in 2018, aged 73.
1948 Josef Tschoten, Austrian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1990.
1949 Sergio Martini, Italian climber, who ascended K2 in 1983, Makalu in 1985, Nanga Parbat and Annapurna I in 1986, Gasherbrum II in 1987, Shisha Pangma in 1988, Cho Oyu three times (1988, 2001 and 2006) Dhaulagiri I in 1989, Broad Peak in 1993, Gasherbrum I in 1994, Kangchenjunga in 1995, Manaslu RP in 1996, Everest twice (1999 and 2009) and Lhotse in 2000, where he finished the fourteen 8000ers (LT 7).
1950 Zbigniew (Ziggy) Skirucha, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2007.
1951 Vadim Leontiev, Ukrainian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1997, Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2000, Manaslu in 2001 and Lhotse in 2002.
1952 Makoto Ishibashi, Japanese climber, who ascended Makalu in 1982. He died in 1985 by a fall on Ama Dablam, aged 32.
1958 Jay Sieger, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2003 and Makalu in 2004, where he died on descent, aged 45.
1959 Michael Zunk, German climber, who ascended Manaslu RP (?) in 1995 and died on descent, aged 35.
1959 Genadij Makusev, Lithuanian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1961 David Hume, Australian climber, who ascended Makalu in 1995 and died on descent, aged 33.
1963 Masahide Matsumoto, Japanese climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 2000 and K2 in 2004.
1963 María Paz Valenzuela, Chilean lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1963 Miki Niwa, Japanese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2018.
1964 Karel Mašek, Czech climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2008, Everest in 2010 and Manaslu RP in 2011.
1965 Ruchia Takahashi, Japanese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2000.
1965 Einar Stefansson, climber from Iceland, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1995 and Everest in 1997.
1966 Pedro Rodríguez, Spanish Castilian climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1992 and Everest in 2001.
1970 Trevor Martin Stuart, Canadian climber, who ascended Everest in 2016.
1971 Eduard Sallent, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Nanga Parbat in 1997.
1971 Kim Hong, Korean climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1997.
1971 Yang Ling-Ling, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1972 Pasang Tshering (a), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2006.
1972 Otto Bock, Austrian climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak and Cho Oyu in 2012.
1972 Chen Zhi-Hong, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1973 Denis Urubko, Russian-born (during his earlier 8000er career Kazakh citizenship, renounced in 2012) climber with Russian (2013) and Polish (2015) citizenships, who ascended Everest in 2000, Lhotse twice (2001 and 2010), Gasherbrum I twice (2001 and 2023), Gasherbrum II five times (2001, 2011, twice in 2019 and in 2022), Kangchenjunga twice (2002 and 2014), Shisha Pangma in 2002, Nanga Parbat twice (2003 and 2025), Broad Peak three times (2003, 2005 and 2022), Annapurna I in 2004, Manaslu M twice in 2006, Dhaulagiri I in 2007, K2 twice (2007 and 2022), Makalu twice (2008 and the first winter ascent in 2009) and Cho Oyu in 2009, where he finished the fourteen 8000ers (LT 14, NT 2). His second ascent of Gasherbrum II in 2011 was the first ascent of a Pakistani Main-8000er in winter.
1977 Julia Walser-Köfler, Austrian lady climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 2007.
1980 Nurbu Chhiring I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest nine times (2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024), Cho Oyu three times (2009, 2011 and 2014), Manaslu RP in 2019 and Lhotse in 2022.
1980 Prem Dorchi (Pema Dorchi) Lama, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1983 Simon Vincent Guillaume Garcia, French climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2017.
1985 Anand Ashok Bansode, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1987 Fedor Kuprichenkov, Russian climber, who ascended Everest in 2022 and K2 in 2023.
1988 Satish Kumar, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2026.

First ascents on this day

1976 Gharkun South-Peak (c. 6500 m) by a Japanese party.
1989 Lukpe Lawo Brakk (6593 m) by a British party.
1989 Choktoi Spire (c. 6100 m) by a Spanish party.
1991 Sani Pakkush (6952 m) by an German party.

Gone on this day

1975 Marek Kęsicki (25) and Andrzej Sikorski (27), Polish pioneers, who participated in the first ascent of Broad Peak Central (Zhongyang, 8011 m), died on descent.
1987 Fayyaz Hussain, Pakistani climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 1979 and Broad Peak in 1985, died in an avalanche on Gasherbrum I with his companions Fakhar-ul-Islam, Khalid Khan and Mohsin Ali.
1996 Lorenzo Mazzoleni, Italian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1988, Everest in 1992 and K2 on this day, where he died by a fall on descent, aged 29.
1998 Eric Escoffier, French climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II, Gasherbrum I and K2 in only 21 days in 1985, Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1986 and Cho Oyu in 1997. He died on Broad Peak, aged 37.
2007 Jiří Daněk, Czech climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2005, died by a fall on Gasherbrum I, aged 45.