27 January

Born on this day

1912 Arne Naess (sr.), Norwegian pioneer and philosopher, who led the successful expeditions to Tirich Mir in 1950 (also summited!) and Tirich Mir East in 1964. He died in 2009, aged 96.
1944 Ronald (Ron) Oliver, American climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2004.
1947 Yoshinori Hasegawa, Japanese climber, who ascended Nanda Devi in 1976.
1950 Nikolai Smetanin, Russian climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 1992.
1956 Aphi Gigani, Georgian climber, who ascended Dhaulagiri I in 1995, Everest in 1999 and Lhotse in 2000.
1961 Josef (Sepp) Doppler, Austrian climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2002 and Gasherbrum II in 2006.
1964 Jean-François Etienne, French climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2007.
1968 Jyamang Bhote, Nepalese Bhutia climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1996.
1969 Matthew (Matt) Green, American climber, who ascended Everest in 2009.
1970 Pasang Temba II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest seven times (2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013).
1971 Libor Uher, Czech climber, who ascended K2 in 2007, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 2010 and Broad Peak in 2014.
1972 Bjorn Vandewege, Belgian climber, who ascended Everest in 2007.
1974 Kul Bahadur Ale Magar, Nepalese climber, who ascended Everest in 2003.
1975 Pema Nuru, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2010 and 2011), Cho Oyu in 2013 and Manaslu in 2014.
1976 Yoshinobu Kato, Japanese climber, who ascended Manaslu twice (1997 and 2006), Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 2001, Lhotse in 2002, Annapurna I in 2003, Everest twice (2005 and 2008) and Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma in 2006. He died in an avalanche on Kula Kangri (7538 m) in autumn 2008, aged 32.
1978 Ibon Azkune, Spanish Basque climber, who ascended Shisha Pangma Central-Peak in 2004.
1981 Pemba Chhoti II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest eight times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011).

Gone on this day

2006 Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 1993, Shisha Pangma Central- and West-Peaks in 1994, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 1996, Lhotse in 1997, Manaslu in 2000, K2 in 2001, Annapurna I in 2002, Dhaulagiri I, Nanga Parbat and Broad Peak in 2003 and Shisha Pangma in 2004, died on Makalu, aged 40.