18 July

Born on this day

1947 Nikolai Sitnikov, Russian climber, who ascended Everest in 1995.
1947 Eckhard Schmitt, German climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1999.
1950 Mark Udall, American climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga in 1990.
1957 Kusang Dorje, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Manaslu RP twice (2002 and 2011).
1957 Atle Heum, Norwegian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2014.
1958 Luboš Pavlík, Czech climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 1997. He died in a car accident in 2000, aged 41.
1960 Yevgeni Klinezky, Russian climber, who ascended Kangchenjunga (twice) and Yalung Kang in 1989.
1961 Diego Wellig, Swiss climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1985, Broad Peak in 1986, Gasherbrum II in 1988, Gurla Mandhata in 1990, Everest twice (2002 and 2012) and Cho Oyu in 2006. He also finished the Carstensz- and Kosciuszko-versions of the Seven Summits in 2002.
1963 Pavel Bém, Czech climber, who ascended Everest in 2007, K2 in 2012, Manaslu in 2015 and Nanga Parbat in 2018. He also finished the Carstensz-version of the Seven Summits in 2011.
1964 Wang Hua, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1966 Demetrio Carrasco, Mexican climber, who ascended Everest in 2002.
1966 Olga Nováková, Czech lady climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2004 and Cho Oyu in 2009.
1970 Ireneusz Wolanin, Polish climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2006.
1972 Luis Guillermo Benítez, American climber, who ascended Everest six times (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007).
1972 Firat Eren, Turkish climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2006 and Everest in 2007.
1973 Mads Granlien, Danish climber, who ascended Gasherbrum I in 1998, Nanga Parbat in 1999 and Everest in 2000.
1975 Chewang Dorje I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1994, Cho Oyu in 1996 and Everest five times (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004).
1975 Pasang Karma III, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2013.
1976 Li Huan-Long, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2024.
1978 Vincas Petrokas, Lithuanian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1979 Mingma Nurbu I, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2005 and 2007).
1981 Jhampa (Qiangba, Champa), Chinese climber, who ascended Everest twice (2007 and 2016).
1981 Kami Dorchi, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest three times (2018, 2022 and 2024).
1981 Florian-Razvan Barsan, Romanian climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025 and Makalu, Everest and Lhotse in 2026.
1983 Jia Yu-Hong, Chinese climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2019.
1987 Bhanoo Pathak, Indian climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
1987 Safrina Latheef Kolukkiyil Puthanpura, Indian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2025.
1989 Luis Antônio Felber, Brazilian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2009.
1993 Helene Georgette Marie-Josee Drouin, French lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2021.
1993 Chhepal II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2022.
1998 Lobsang Choten, Indian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2026.

First ascents on this day

1928 Pik Trapetsiya (6048 m) by a German party.
1935 Kharta Phu (7213 m) by a British party.
1937 Nilgiri Parbat (6474 m) by another British party.
1980 Latok IV (aka Duomo, 6131 m) by a Japanese party.
1987 Runse (6175 m) by an Indian party.

Gone on this day

1972 Peter Scholz, German climber, who ascended Nanga Parbat in 1970, died by a fall in the Alps.
2006 José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1998, Gasherbrum II in 2000, Everest in 2001 and Nanga Parbat in 2006, where he died around this day on descent, aged 41.
2007 German climbers Arne Heckele (46), who ascended Cho Oyu in 1996 and Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 1998 and Ernst-Robert Zauner (51), who ascended Cho Oyu in 2004 and Broad Peak in 2007, died in an avalanche on Gasherbrum II.
2009 Cristina Castagna, Italian lady climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2004, Gasherbrum II in 2005, Dhaulagiri I in 2007, Makalu in 2008 and Broad Peak Foresummit on this day, died on descent, aged 31.
2018 Daniel Araiza, Mexican climber, who ascended Manaslu in 2017, died on Artesonraju in Peru, aged 29.
2021 Henri Sigayret, French climber, who ascended Annapurna I in 1979 and Gasherbrum II in 1985. He died on this day, aged 87.