25 September

Born on this day

1926 Arthur Karr (Art) Gilkey, American pioneer, who attempted K2 in 1953, but died there in an avalanche, aged 26.
1938 Jan G. Smith, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1986.
1940 Norman Croucher, British climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1995.
1946 Janusz Majer, Polish climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1984.
1951 Walter Schmidt, Austrian climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 1999 and Cho Oyu in 2002.
1957 Charles Scott Woolums, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1998 and Everest seven times (2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012). He also finished the Carstensz-version of the Seven Summits in 2005.
1957 Wang Zhi-Wei, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2017.
1960 Leonardo Enrique (Leo) McLean, Argentinean climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1960 Mark Anthony Pinnock, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1961 Yasushi Aoki, Japanese climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2000.
1962 Olivier Besson, French climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2000 and Everest in 2003.
1963 Dawa Nuru II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1992 and Everest eight times (1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007).
1965 Dirk Hermann Stephan, German climber, who ascended Everest in 2007. He also finished the Kosciuszko-version of the Seven Summits in 2007 and the Carstensz-version in 2008.
1966 Jordi Bayona, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Everest in 2000.
1967 Hwang Dong-Sik, Korean climber, who ascended Lhotse in 2000.
1967 Wang Chien-Min, Taiwanese climber, who ascended Everest in 2010, where he also finished the Carstensz-version of the Seven Summits.
1968 Krishna Bahadur (Jeta) Tamang, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest three times (1999, 2002 and 2007), Cho Oyu three times (2001, 2003 and 2006) and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2005.
1969 Luis Wolfgang Álvarez, Chilean climber, who ascended Broad Peak Foresummit in 1999, Gasherbrum I in 2001 and Nanga Parbat in 2007.
1969 Liu Yong-Zhong, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest three times (2009, 2019 and 2024), Manaslu RP in 2011, Makalu in 2012, Kangchenjunga and Cho Oyu in 2013, Annapurna I in 2015 (disputed!), Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 2016, Dhaulagiri I, K2, Broad Peak Foresummit and Nanga Parbat in 2017, Lhotse and Broad Peak in 2018 and Manaslu M in 2023.
1971 Namgyal III, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest seven times (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019 and 2022), Kangchenjunga in 2009 and Cho Oyu twice (2013 and 2014).
1971 Nima VII, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2017.
1973 Stephan Erich Keck, Austrian climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma in 2004, Manaslu RP in 2012, Cho Oyu in 2013 and Everest in 2019.
1974 Subir Bakshi, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2022.
1975 Sophie Lenaerts, Belgian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2016 and Broad Peak Foresummit in 2021.
1976 Cristina Prieto, Chilean lady climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1999 and Everest in 2001.
1978 Martin Koukal, Czech climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2004. In 2003 he also won a gold medal in 50 km cross country skiing at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme.
1978 Liu Yang, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.
1979 Sébastien Sasseville, Canadian climber, who ascended Everest in 2008.
1980 Luo Ri-Jia, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2018 and Everest in 2019.
1981 Lakpa Gyaljen II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2018 and 2019).
1982 Slavi Bogdanov Nestorov, Bulgarian climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
1982 Saulius Damulevičius, Lithuanian climber, who ascended Manaslu (LFS) in 2016, Gasherbrum II in 2019, Broad Peak and K2 in 2022, Gasherbrum I in 2023 and Makalu in 2025.
1983 Yamuna Prasad Paneru, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2012.
1985 Lhakpa Tashi, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest seven times (2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024), Cho Oyu in 2014, Lhotse twice (2021 and 2022), Manaslu RP in 2021, K2 in 2022, Makalu and Manaslu M in 2023 and Gasherbrum I in 2025.
1987 Shera Gyalzen, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twelve times (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, twice in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024), Manaslu RP twice (2017 and 2018) and Manaslu M in 2023.
1987 Vladislav Darinskii, Russian climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1989 Jacob Oliver Gardner, British climber, who ascended Everest in 2021.
1990 Sandra Gómez Fernández, Spanish Catalan lady climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1996 Jayson Launce Funnell, South African climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.

First ascents on this day

1928 Qullai Istiqlol (earlier Pik Lenina, 7134 m) by a German party.
1963 Kohe Naser Khosraw (aka M2, 6424 m) by a Polish party.
1968 Sangthang (~6430 m) by an Indian party.
1972 Phabrang I (6172 m) by an Japanese party.
1981 Chamlang Central-Peak (7010 m) by Doug Scott and Reinhold Messner.
2015 Thulagi Chuli (7059 m) by a Russian party.

Gone on this day

1986 Marcel Rüedi, Swiss climber, who ascended Tirich Mir in 1975, Dhaulagiri I in 1980, Gasherbrum II, Gasherbrum I and Broad Peak in just 15 days in 1983, Manaslu M and Nanga Parbat in 1984, K2 and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1985 and Cho Oyu and Makalu in 1986. He died on descent of Makalu by exhaustion, aged 47.
1989 Ajiwa, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (1988 and 1989), died in an avalanche on Dhaulagiri I, aged 36. Another Nepalese Sherpa climber, Kami Sarki (20), died in the same avalanche as well.
2005 Kazimierz Głazek, Polish climber, who participated in the first ascent of Broad Peak Central in 1975, died in Tunesia, aged 66.
2009 Clifton Harlan Wells Maloney, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu the day before, died on descent, aged 71.