12 December

Born on this day

1923 Verena Bolinder (nee Müller), Swiss wife of Anders Bolinder, who together achieved several first ascents in the Andes. She died in 2003 under mysterious circumstances in France, aged 79.
1928 Hansrudolf (Hansruedi) von Gunten, Swiss pioneer, who ascended Everest in 1956.
1947 Johann Schopf, Austrian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1999.
1948 Inmaculada (Macu) Fernández, Spanish Andalusian lady climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1992.
1948 Toshiaki Kobayashi, Japanese climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 1978. He disappeared on Everest in 1982, aged 34.
1951 Fedor Konyukhov, Russian climber and adventurer, who ascended Everest twice (1992 and 2012). He travelled three times to the North Pole (1988 a full traverse of the Arctic Ocean, 1989 and 1990) and once to the South Pole in the season 1995/1996. He finished also the Kosciuszko-version of the Seven Summits in 1997. In 2002 he also crossed the Atlantic Ocean by rowing solo and established a new speed record. In 2016 he was the second and fastest person, who circumnavigated the world in a hybrid hot-air helium balloon.
1954 Robert Gasser, Italian (South Tyrolean) climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1991.
1958 Penelope Ann Webster, lady climber from New Zealand, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1959 Jean-Noël Urban, French climber, who ascended Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma in 2005, Gasherbrum II in 2006 and Everest in 2007. He died on Gasherbrum I in 2008, aged 48.
1960 Merab Khabazi, Georgian climber, who ascended Everest in 1999. He died in 2005 on Ushba, aged 44.
1960 Matthew Tammen, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2013.
1965 Johannes (Hannes) Posch, Austrian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2004.
1968 Jigmey Namgyal, Indian climber, who ascended Kamet in 2001 and Everest in 2008.
1968 Christoph Gauβ, Austrian climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1972 Dai Bao-Zhong, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019 and Everest in 2021.
1973 Marius Flygind, Norwegian climber, who ascended Everest in 2005.
1974 Bhim Bahadur Bhujel, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1975 Emil Balazs Neszmelyi, Hungarian climber, who ascended Everest twice (2016 and 2022).
1977 Gu Hyung-Jun, Korean climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2004, Cho Oyu in 2006 and Everest in 2008.
1977 Zhang Xiang-Hai, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1977 Pema Chhiri, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
1979 Noelle Cristina Wenceslao, Philippine lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1981 Jon Alexander (Alex) Txikon, Spanish Basque climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 2003, Makalu and Cho Oyu in 2004, Shisha Pangma twice (2007 and 2010), Dhaulagiri I and Manaslu RP in 2008, Annapurna I in 2010, Gasherbrum II in 2011, Lhotse in 2013, Nanga Parbat in 2016 (first winter ascent) and Manaslu M in winter 2023.
1982 Eberhard Mach, German climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2001.
1982 Lin Kai-Ning, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023.
1985 Tapi Mra, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2009.
1985 Tshering Pemba, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest eleven times (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024), Cho Oyu twice (2009 and 2011) Manaslu RP three times (2015, 2017 and 2021), Lhotse twice (2017 and 2018), K2 and Broad Peak Foresummit in 2017 and Manaslu M twice (2023 and 2024).
1986 Seyed Vase Seyed Mousavi, Iranian climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 2010.
1986 Stephen Raymond David Green, British (Scottish) climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1986 Peter Kiss, Hungarian climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga in 2013, where he died on descent, aged 26.
1988 Dawa Finjo, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.
1988 Sreesha Ravindran, Indian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
1990 Chhiring Lama, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest four times (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022), Manaslu RP in 2018 and Manaslu M in 2023.
1996 Furdeni, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Makalu and Manaslu M in 2024.

Gone on this day

2001 Ardito Desio, Italian pioneer, who led the successful K2 first ascent expedition in 1954, died in Rome, aged 104.