08 April

Born on this day

1902 Andrew Comyn Irvine, British pioneer, who died on Everest together with George Mallory in 1924, aged 22.
1911 René Dittert, Swiss pioneer, who, for example, participated in the first ascents of Satopanth (7075 m) in 1947 and Abi Gamin (7355 m) in 1950. He also was a member of the famous Swiss Everest expedition in 1952. He died in 1983, aged 72.
1937 Sebastian (Wastl) Wörgötter, Austrian climber, who ascended Tirich Mir in 1975, Lhotse in 1977, Annapurna I in 1982 and Cho Oyu in 1987.
1940 Xavier Eguskitza, Spanish Basque climber, mountain chronicler and researcher. He died in 2018, aged 77.
1946 Andrzej Bieluń, Polish climber, who ascended Rakaposhi in 1979 and participated in the first ascents of Yazghil Dome SW-Peak (c. 7300 m) and Disteghil Sar East - Peak (7696 m), both in 1980. He died in 1983 by a fall on Api (7132 m), aged 37.
1953 Huang Der-Hsiung, Taiwanese climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2000 and Cho Oyu in 2006.
1955 Louis John Mariorenzi, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2011.
1958 Osamu Shimizu, Japanese climber, who ascended Gasherbrum I in 1986 and Cho Oyu in 1988.
1959 Lyudmil Yanakiev, Bulgarian climber, who ascended Annapurna I in 1989.
1962 Steve John Harvey, climber from New Zealand, who ascended Everest in 2006.
1964 Hu Zhi-Wei, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1965 Mark Van't Hof, Dutch climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2012.
1966 Nigel Hart, British climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2005 and Everest in 2007.
1966 Sergio Zigliotto, Italian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2017.
1967 Emmanuel Exposito, French climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 2004 and Cho Oyu in 2005.
1967 Klaus Roger Tscherrig, Swiss climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2004, Gasherbrum II in 2008 and Everest in 2017.
1969 Todd Logan Pendleton, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1974 Chi Yong-Jun, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1976 Darren Jade Robertson, Australian climber, who ascended Everest in 2010.
1977 Wang Shuang, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2023.
1979 Vikas Kumar Mehra, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2004.
1982 Dhirendra Shahi, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1985 Gao Cheng, Chinese climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1988 Eric Otto, Canadian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2007 and Everest in 2008.
1989 Andreas Stefan Steindl, Swiss climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1994 Rabin Karki, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2019.
2004 Virendra Singh Samant, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.

Event on this day

1958 Chinese Mountaineering Association founded in Beijing.

First ascent on this day

2008 Pulha Ri (6404 m) by a Swedish party.

Gone on this day

1921 Oscar Johannes Ludwig Eckenstein, British pioneer, who led the first serious expedition to K2 in 1902, died, aged 61.
2009 Piotr Morawski, Polish climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma in 2005 (first calendar winter ascent), Cho Oyu, Annapurna I East-Peak and Broad Peak in 2006, Nanga Parbat in 2007 and Gasherbrum I and II in 2008, died on Dhaulagiri I, aged 32.
2012 Dawa Tenzing I (aka Da Tenji), Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest five times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010), Cho Oyu twice (2004 and 2007) and Manaslu RP in 2011, died on Everest, aged 41.